1 November—Today is All Saints’ Day. As its name tells us in no uncertain terms, it honors all saints, including those among the over 10,000 venerated or at least recognized by the Roman Catholic communion who don’t have their own feast days as well as those venerated or at least recognized, usually less formally, by a number of Protestant communions.

Actual Christian saints have to be dead, by the way. But nobody has to be dead just to be saintly.

The saints of the Muslim ummah (communion) are called awliya Allah (Friends of Allah). Like Protestant saints, they’re not officially canonized. They’re simply recognized as being righteous, devout, and thoroughly special; and they don’t necessarily have to perform miracles. And, best of all, they can be saintly but don’t have to be dead.

The saintly souls of the Jewish communion, who also don’t have to be dead, are called chasidim (pious people) and/or tzaddikim (righteous people). They’re venerated for the same things for which Muslims venerate awliya Allah. Piously observant Jews may also be known as frummers.

A chasid can of course be a tzaddik. In fact, a chasid should be a tzaddik. But all too often we see that chasidim are not in fact tzaddikim.

Take, for instance, the inexplicably thriving Chabad Lubavitch commune, the fastest-growing Jewish movement in the world, sad to say. It’s the parent organization of the inexplicably surviving (in the sense of Michael Peloquin) local real estate deteriorationist duopoly Chabad Lubavitch of Litchfield County Inc. and Chabad Lubavitch of Northwest Connecticut Inc. The Chabad frummers call themselves Chasidim. Capitalized.

And Chasidim, like those of the local commune, do in fact observe all the silly rules and regulations that interfere with life as it should be. But . . . we won’t go there just now.

Historically, most of the Chasidic sects originated in Eastern Europe—largely in Ukraine—in the 18^th century. There are several well-populated Chasidic sects the world over, and over a hundred minuscule ones, most limited to followers of particular dynasties of rabbis. You wonder why. But that’s religion.

Back to the Roman Catholic communion, then, in addition to canonized saints who don’t have their own feast days, the Catholic Church also venerates—although rather less formally, of course—what it regards as “unknown saints” or “secular saints.” They’re essentially like dead tzaddikim. And it’s not unlikely that many unknown saints would have been canonized had they performed miracles or had their miracles been verified.

That’s religion . . .