Anytime I post Halloween content, I’m flooded with hate mail, telling me that I’m “wrong” and “ungodly” for celebrating such a “bad” holiday. One individual went so far as to claim that I was “inviting demonic possession into my family” because I reposted a picture of a stuffed pepper cut to resemble a Jack ‘o lantern.

Folks, that is absolutely crazy!

Halloween is about candy, pumpkins, face painting, costumes, and family fun. It’s not about Paganism, Satanism, Witchcraft, or mischief.  There is a difference between religion and religiosity—I know where the line is. It is NOT wrong for the Jewish community to participate. It is not evil, it is not wicked, it’s just harmless fun. 

We have to be careful not to become overly rigid and narrow-minded. That kind of fundamental thinking sucks every bit of joy out of life. It makes people a slave to the Laws, rather than understanding that the Laws are here to help, protect, and guide us. 

I grew up celebrating Halloween, within a Jewish home. It never affected me negatively, nor did it ever tempt me to embrace the dark side. Can that happen to people under extreme circumstances? I guess so, but it’s highly unlikely. Most of us recognize Halloween for what it is and stay away from anything that could be bad or dangerous. 

Please use common sense. God is good, religion is good, but being a fanatic is not. We need a healthy balance. Most secular celebrations are fine, whether it’s Halloween, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, etc. It doesn’t make us any less Jewish, it is not a sin, and participating—should you choose to do so—is definitely acceptable. 

I loved Halloween 30 years ago and I still love it today. I will keep celebrating because I know in my heart that it’s not immoral in any way. I’m not out in the cemetery at midnight, conjuring spirits; I’m buying a purple lipstick and eating a few Milk Duds. That’s all. 

I’m sure most of you will agree with my perspective, but if you don’t think Halloween is right, feel free to state why.

Are grocery prices a controversial topic? Based on the feedback I’ve gotten about this post, it would seem so. 

Quite frankly, I have been surprised to see so much negativity about Living on a Dime—the website, the YouTube channel, and its creators. Multiple readers have commented that they can’t stand them, they’re annoying, they manipulate prices, etc. It’s fine to have a strong opinion, but it can go too far.

A Facebook message was really over the top, accusing them of disability fraud, child custody battles, bankruptcy and even claimed the husband is into Wicca. When I informed this individual that I do not personally know the Living on a Dime team, he replied that I shouldn’t be “engaging in promotion of lies.”

Here’s the thing: I never promoted them. I don’t sell their products as an affiliate; I have never spoken to them, I have not even read their book. All I did was post a link, asking if it was possible to buy groceries for $26 per week. That’s it. Do I enjoy some of their articles on frugality and some of the recipes? Yes, but that’s not vouching for their business or for them as people.

Often times on Twitter, you’ll see a disclaimer that states: “Re-tweets are not an endorsement.” Similarly, when I post a link, it’s not something that has my 100% seal of approval. (In fact, many of the things I link to are subjects I don’t like.)

A link should not be misconstrued as an endorsement. When I work with companies in a sponsored capacity, either sharing a product, hosting a giveaway, or displaying an ad, that is something different. The context needs to be considered. 

If you don’t like a particular website or YouTube personality, that’s fine, but don’t try to turn me against someone and ask me to flag their channel for a petty reason. That’s childish and dumb. I don’t want to play that game. 

As the youngsters say, “You do you,” and I’ll do me. 

So much craziness and chaos has occurred during the past month, it’s hard to believe. I’m not just talking about 4 Jewish holidays, back-to-back, although that certainly was part of it. I mean additional stuff that was not anticipated and caused me to take a week off from blogging that definitely wasn’t planned. 

In no particular order, here are a few recent happenings:

Water Loss:

I briefly discussed how we lost it after a water main broke. That was fixed…sort of. On two more occasions, we have lost if for an hour and have experienced very low pressure intermittently. This has required numerous calls to resolve and has caused a ton of aggravation. 

Surgery:

An elderly relative from my extended family slipped on a wet sidewalk and required immediate ankle surgery. We had to travel to her (very long drive) and spent 5 days helping with the recovery. Thankfully, she seems to be on the mend.

Sinus Infection:

Yours truly is on a second course of antibiotics for a stubborn sickness that refuses to end. I started to feel ill the day after Rosh Hashanah. There were a ton of people in services that were coughing and sneezing, so I’m certain it was caught there. I tend to have low resistance when stressed and overtired anyway. 

This has caused considerable pain, nausea, and dizziness, which has left me unable to properly function and affected my mood very negatively. I have been so tired and irritable!

Housing Woes:

We have been trying to sell our home and move to a new one for quite a while. Recently, we had two offers fall apart at the last minute, both due to financing, and the property we wanted was taken off the market abruptly with no reason. I’m guessing we’ll be here over the winter and will try again in the Spring.

Temple Closure:

My childhood temple, that 4 generations of my family attended, is officially gone. Oh, how I have cried over this sad—and totally unnecessary—event. The closure was 100% preventable and caused by bad choices that involved an outrageously unaffordable new building, a truly terrible Board, changing Rabbis, and a decline in membership. Because of the bad direction, we stopped attending there quite a while ago, but I am still heartbroken to see what happened. 

So many memories, lifecycle events, Hebrew school, the people, what the temple itself represented in both the Jewish community and greater community as a whole—it’s just devastating to think that it’s no more. 

They had to sell the building and merge with a neighboring temple. Because one was Reform and the other Conservative, there are a lot of angry people. I see big problems ahead, lots of in-fighting, and suspect many folks will simply unaffiliate. 

Pet Problems:

We had two foster babies leave and three more take their place. Of course, none of them got along, and one had behavioral issues so extreme that he had to go back after only 23 hours. (Biting, scratching, fighting, and property destruction.) These critters are a delight…most of the time. When it’s bad, it’s really bad.

On the plus side, I had numerous readers reach out to me, asking why I wasn’t posting and wanting to know if I was ok. I want to thank you so much! I really appreciate how much you care and it’s always nice to be missed.

Fingers crossed, I’ll be back to blogging regularly, provided nothing else happens on the crazy side. 

I love you guys and thanks again for bearing with me when real life gets in the way. 

A comment left by a reader in Scottsdale, Arizona got me thinking about air conditioning. She mentioned that she uses it 10 months of the year, which seems like a lot.

The weather here in New England has been unusually hot this summer, with multiple 90 degree days. In my region, central air conditioning is rare; we rely on window units. I prefer the type that’s attached to the wall permanently. (I had one fall out of a second-story window once—never again!) Memorial Day is the most common start date and they’re off by mid September. 

In my home, we have one in each bedroom, plus another in the living room. We don’t run them all simultaneously (usually), and turn everything off when we’re away for more than 2 hours. 

I’m pretty wimpy when it comes to the heat, and it just boggles my mind that folks regularly deal with temps well above 100 degrees! So, my question for today is: how often do you need air conditioning? Daily, year-round or just as needed? Personally, if it gets above 85 degrees, mine is on.