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Since 2017, I have been teaching a First-year Writing Seminar listed under Jewish Studies titled Jews on Film: Visible and Invisible. The first fall I offered the course, I asked, right before Rosh Hashana “is anyone doing anything to celebrate Rosh Hashana?” My students, almost to a person, said, “we’re taking prelims.”
In my Jewish Studies classes, I never ask who is Jewish, but students tend to self-identify. More than half of the students who take the class identify as Jews. Of course, there are many ways of being Jewish, which means there are many ways of recognizing Jewish holidays. In this piece I hope to provide readers with some sense of the academic and emotional impact the Fall Jewish holidays have on students—especially First-year students.
All college students have to make decisions about time management. Students who observe the fall Jewish holidays almost always have to choose between observance and keeping up with their school work. Students need to weigh the potential consequences of missing as many as three days of classes in a ten day period—and then playing catch up on all the work they missed. If exams are scheduled on holidays, the decision can be even more freighted with anxiety. Prelims scheduled on or around Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are often the semester's first prelims: for first year students, they may be the first exams of their college careers.
During the remainder of this essay I hope to provide instructors—especially instructors of First-year writing seminars—with more information about when the holidays happen; how observance affects class participation; and how instructors can accommodate and support their students. At the bottom I include links for further information.
When and how are Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur Observed?
Rosh Hashana—the Jewish New Year—is celebrated in early Fall, usually in September. (The Jewish calendar follows a lunar calendar: dates float relative to the Gregorian calendar). In 2021, the holiday began at sundown on September 6. This was about as early as it gets. In 2024, the holiday will begin at sundown on Friday, October 2: about as late as it can be. Rosh Hashana is traditionally a two-day holiday (although some groups celebrate only the first day). Yom Kippur falls ten days after the start of Rosh Hashana. In 2024, Yom Kippur will run from sundown on Friday, October 11 to dark on Saturday, October 12.
Observant Jews spend considerable time in synagogue on all three days. Jews who strictly observe Shabbat—the sabbath—follow Shabbat rules on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Work of all kinds is forbidden on these days: for strict observers this includes riding in or driving a car, turning on a computer, and writing.
Most American Jews are not as strict in their observance. But plenty of people who rarely set fot in a synagogue show up for services on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
Then there’s the fast. On Yom Kippur, Jews abstain from eating or drinking from sundown on the first evening until dark the following evening. In practice, this amounts to a fast of about 26 hours. Fasting Jews will probably eat a big meal before going to services on Erev Yom Kippur (Yom Kippur eve), then try to manage without food (or water) until services end the following evening. On Friday, October 11, my family will sit down to dinner at about 4:45 pm, dressed for services. We will get up from the table in time to get to a service that starts at 6:15. The closing service the following day will begin at 6:15 p.m. This year, the fast officially ends at 7:29 pm on Saturday, October 12.
The combination of fasting and attending services for much of the day is exhausting. Even if one did not treat writing or using a computer as a violation of the holiday, anyone who observed the holiday with some combination of services and fasting would find schoolwork exceptionally challenging. It’s hard to read textbooks or solve problem sets when one has participated in several hours of services and hasn’t eaten in eighteen hours.
Jewish holidays come thick and fast in the fall. Sukkot begins soon after Yom Kippur: in 2024 Sukkot begins at sundown on October 16. Observant Jews follow Shabbat rules on the first two days and last two days of this eight day holiday. Fewer students are likely request accommodations for Sukkot, but, if they do, their request should be taken seriously.
What is the impact of holiday observance on schoolwork?
By now it should be clear that students will find it to be somewhere between challenging and impossible to fulfill both holiday observance and school obligations on these holidays. The most observant students—for whom religious observance is non-negotiable—will find ways to make up the work they miss. Students for whom observance may be flexible—the majority—will have to make difficult choices. For some students, these choices may come as a shock.
Cornell—especially the statutory colleges—draws heavily from New York State. Most people in New York state live in New York City or in the populous suburbs on Long Island and the Hudson Valley. Metro New York has the highest percentage of Jewish residents of any region in the country. (Metro Tel Aviv is the only metropolitan region in the worldwith more Jewish residents than Metro New York). Public school districts in New York City and many of the surrounding municipalities are closed on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. (This accommodates not only Jewish students, but Jewish teachers and school employees).
There’s also a social/familial layer: Rosh Hashana is a time for festive family gatherings. Breaking the fast at the end of Yom Kippur is a social event. As family events, these holidays are analogous to Christmas and Easter. Classes and exams are never scheduled on Christmas or Easter. Classes are almost always scheduled on Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, or both. Missing family gatherings may add a dollop of homesickness to the stew of difficult decisions faced by Jewish students. (In 2024, Yom Kippur falls at the beginning of October break, which may make things easier for some students to travel home).
What can FWS (and other) instructors do to support Jewish students?
First, and most important, instructors should provide reasonable accommodations. Recognize that on the holidays, students are not just absent from class. Students engaging in religious observance may find it difficult or impossible to do work on those days. Teachers should make it possible for students to catch up without penalty. (For more information about Cornell’s official policies on student accommodations, a link to the Dean of Faculty’s website is below. For information about accommodating religious holidays, a link to Cornell’s page on religious observance accommodations is also below).
Second, we often remind teachers that a student’s FWS is likely their smallest class. First-year students typically take a steady diet of large, exam driven classes. The small class size and the face-to-face student/teacher relationships in writing seminars might make it easier for students and instructors to negotiate accommodations.
Third, recognize that Jewish students may find this period emotionally challenging. Before starting college, the fall holidays likely involved some combination of religious ritual and family tradition. Academic considerations were probably negotiated within families. Before coming to Cornell, students from Metro New York or other areas with substantial Jewish populations may have attended schools that closed on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. (Since 2022-23, the Ithaca City Schools have been closed on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, as well as on Diwali and Eid al Fitr. Families and local religious leaders were vocal in support of this form of recognition for religious observance, but the advocacy that had the greatest impact came from ICSD students).
Finally, remember that, while college students need to make their own decisions about religious observance, a sense of loss may accompany some decisions. Students may be away from family, perhaps for the first time, during a season when they are used to celebrating together. The mounting stresses of time and academic pressure are compounded, for these students, by layers of stress that may be invisible, but are real nonetheless.
Links:
Academic Policies and Responsibilities: from the Cornell Dean of Faculty website.
Religious Observance Accommodations: from Student and Campus Life.
https://scl.cornell.edu/religiousaccommodations
Stanford University has a quick guide to religious holidays and holiday specific observance:
