The Israelites may have been slaves in Egypt, but at least they had Moses to part the waters of the Red Sea. On a cold day freshman fall, as I stood knee-deep in the Connecticut River for an Ecology and Evolution lab, I was not so lucky. To make matters worse, unlike the Israelites, I had had not so much as a crumb of unleavened bread since sundown the night before. It was Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the Jewish year, which is usually spent in temple, fasting, praying, and reflecting on the year that has passed. While my TA had been more than accommodating, allowing me to postpone a quiz that wet Monday afternoon, it would have been very difficult for me to skip the entire class in favor of religious observance.
I am sure that I am not the only Jewish Dartmouth student -- or professor -- who has found him or herself in this predicament of having to decide between religion and education on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year that precedes the Day of Atonement. Tradition dictates that the day be spent in Temple, or at least in abstaining from work. However, reality makes it difficult to miss class or ignore homework for a day. Thus, I would argue that Dartmouth needs a more flexible policy for students who want to observe these holidays but cannot afford to skip class. Going to class is, after all, a key Jewish value according to my grandmother.
The first argument that must be addressed is, of course, the contention that if accommodations are made for Jewish students during the Days of Awe, changes need to be made for students of all religions during their respective holidays. And while I agree that the College could be more sensitive to students of other religions, I recognize that part of being a pluralistic community is being aware in a way that still allows Dartmouth to function on a day-to-day basis. However, it must be acknowledged that the school year is oriented around the Christian calendar, with accommodations made to allow students to observe majority holidays such as Christmas. I am not arguing that the entire school year be changed so that I can observe the High Holidays or Passover at home - the irregularity of the Jewish Calender alone would make that difficult - but that greater attention be paid to the needs of significant portions of the Dartmouth Community.
The issue of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is particularly difficult this year because of the changing nature of the Jewish Calendar. These holidays, which usually fall in late September, this year come in early October. Ordinarily, the holidays fall just before students leave for school, or during the first classless weeks, eliminating the conflict between the need to attend class and the desire to go to temple. However, this year the placement makes things different, particularly because the holidays fall on a Tuesday and a Thursday. For those students with a 10A or a 2A, many of which are often discussion-based classes, the threat of missing 4 hours of class time looms large.
There is, however, a solution already built into the Dartmouth calendar -- namely, the humble x-hour. I therefore suggest that the administration extend the Wednesday x-hour period for both 10As and 2As during the Jewish High Holidays, and make professors aware of the conflict. Thus, if a student approaches a professor about the issue, or a professor him or herself needs to, the class can be rescheduled without loss of time and without creating conflicts for other students in the course. That way, Jewish students can spend the day in prayer, reflection and, in the case of Yom Kippur, misery, without the added penitence of class.
