October 2005

Is it okay to miss school for Jewish holidays like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?

Yes, it's okay to miss school for Jewish holidays, and it may send an important message about Jewish values. The right to miss school to attend religious services on holy days is protected by law, and students must be given ample opportunity to make up work they have missed during their absence for religious observances as required by Education Code Section 48205(a)(7)(b).

I have been saddened to hear from some of our young teens that they fasted all day at school on Yom Kippur. What devotion on their part! It is not only okay, but it is a mitzvah for them to take the day off from school and to come to the synagogue in honor of this sacred observance.

Our educational values. Jews value education, and we would never want our children to miss school for trivial reasons. That's why it's all the more significant when we say that it's worth missing school a couple of times a year for our sacred days. By choosing to be in the synagogue and with family on the holiest days of the Jewish year, we help to convey the sanctity of our heritage to the next generation.

Letter sent to schools. After discussing this issue with our president and board of directors, I have sent a letter to all of the public schools in Chico and to the superintendents in Paradise, Durham, and Oroville, explaining the major Jewish holidays and enclosing a seven-year calendar of major holidays. This one-page calendar will be available in our lobby for members to share with employers and for parents to share with school organizations and sports teams in helping them prepare their schedules. Such letters are sent out annually in the Bay Area and throughout other parts of the country.

I would not recommend anything to our members that I am not willing to fulfill myself. Although I grew up in a Reform Jewish family in Texas, where I was often one of only a handful of Jewish children in public school, my Jewish friends and I never attended school on the High Holy Days. My own children have stayed home not only on the High Holidays but on other major festivals. It was easy when they were in a Jewish day school, and yet they continued to do so in Jr. High and High School, with no ill effects on their academic progress. In San Antonio, most of their Jewish friends of all denominations were out of school and in synagogue at least on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Here in Chico, our youngest children have missed school for Jewish holidays, and we have found the teachers to be very accommodating and supportive.

Taking off is an accepted norm. In some areas with very large Jewish populations, the public schools are closed on Jewish holidays, but in most communities around the country, taking off to attend services is an accepted norm. Certainly, we are in a small minority in the Northstate, and it's harder to be different, but I believe that our neighbors will respect our faithfulness to our heritage. It's hard to be different, but it's also okay to be different at times. That's part of the message of Judaism, and one that is well worth teaching to our children.