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From: dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: MLK and Jewish holidays
Message-ID: <2474@utcsrgv.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 14-Oct-83 01:57:57 EDT
Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.2474
Posted: Fri Oct 14 01:57:57 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 14-Oct-83 11:00:58 EDT
References: <2550@teklabs.UUCP>
Organization: The Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto
Lines: 29

Steve, you're not entirely correct. Some schools, I'm sure, do
close on Jewish holidays. These are schools with large Jewish
populations. York University in Toronto, for example, closes on
the first day of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur.

If a large percentage of the school is going to be absent anyway,
it only makes sense to close the school.

Now, just what is wrong with these holidays, Velu? What do you think
we do on them? I'll tell you one thing: students who are away from
school on Jewish holidays are found in the synagogue. (If they're
not observant enough to be going to the synagogue, they probably
shouldn't miss school.) They are fulfilling specific religious
obligations of prayer and ritual. They are also not permitted to
write, travel by vehicle, or carry things outside, all of which
would make going to school rather awkward.

Now, what do the majority of Christian students do all day on
the "Christian" holidays with which our society blesses us, like
Xmas, Easter, Thanksgiving? How many of them are tied up all day
in church, to the extent that attending school would be impossible?

I too resent Velu's implication that Jewish students should not
be entitled to observe their religion freely.

Dave Sherman
Toronto
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 {cornell,decvax,ihnp4,linus,utzoo,uw-beaver}!utcsrgv!lsuc!dave