COLUMN: Class on holidays makes sense

From Josh Callahan's, "Under Construction," Fall '99 From Josh Callahan's, "Under Construction," Fall '99Are you going to class? To services? Are you going home? Going to family? What about fasting? All of the above are questions commonly thrown around among Jews at Penn this week as Monday's celebration of Yom Kippur approaches. This year, almost the entire series of Jewish holidays -- from last weekend's Rosh Hashanah to next week's fall harvest festival of Sukkot -- fall on weekends, eliminating the majority of direct class conflicts. Additionally, with the holidays falling so early in the semester, lost weekend study time is hardly something for students to fret about. Nevertheless, Yom Kippur's arrival this Monday leaves one major head-to-head battle between church and state. Penn students can check if our president is to be found in the synagogue or in College Hall. And students at another school with a major Jewish community, Yale, will be left to figure out which part of "For God? and for Yale" is really the most important. Some students feel there is an easy resolution to this conflict that affects so many University students: "Why doesn't Penn just cancel classes?" The current University policy in fact allows professors cancel classes at their discretion and also allows students to make up any assignments missed due to religious reasons. But for the majority of Penn's campus, Monday will be business as usual. And that's the way it should be. While it would simplify life for Penn's Jewish community if classes were canceled this Monday -- just as it would for students of other religions during major holidays such as the Catholic Ash Wednesday -- it would eliminate a valuable conflict. It is better for students to have to struggle with this conflict of faith. In fact, canceling classes would go against the spirit of this holiday season. The 10 days between Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, are meant to be a time of reflection: on the year just completed, on the year getting underway and on the choices we make in our lives. One of those choices is how to make room for religion in our increasingly secular society. For those who are truly observant or, conversely, have completely quit on religion, the choice is easy -- religion is either your first priority or irrelevant. But for most people, especially young adults, prioritizing the two is a much more complicated task. There is no better time to be presented with this conflict than during our university years, when we are largely free of our parents' influence, but have yet to establish firm traditions of our own. To complain about having to miss class is ludicrous. No, it is downright childish. Especially at Penn, where work can be made up without penalty. The rest of the world will hardly be as understanding as Penn is. With such a sizable Jewish population, not only is there a supportive Jewish community, but this is probably the most Jewishly aware group of non-Jews in the world. An easy example: when someone asks where you were on Monday, and you say, "It was Yom Kippur," you probably won't have to explain what Yom Kippur is. Your future clients, students or co-workers will probably not be as well informed. So do what you want on Monday, it really doesn't matter to me. Just don't complain that you had to make a choice.