New and returning Jewish students face an important decision as classes begin this week.
Rosh Hashana, the Jewish High Holiday which begins Wednesday at sundown and ends Friday evening, conflicts with the first meeting of classes this year.
Hillel President and College senior Naomi Kaplan explained that many Jewish students plan to miss class this week in observance, especially on Thursday and Friday. Hillel approximates that 25 percent of Penn undergraduates are Jewish.
“People are definitely frustrated,” Kaplan said. “It’s just unfortunate timing.”
However, leaders of the Jewish community expressed satisfaction with the way the administration handled their concerns.
The Council of Undergraduate Deans, which plans each academic calendar three years in advance, first came across the conflict in October 2007 and kept an open dialogue with the Jewish community on the issue.
“One of the first things I do is to compare the [academic year] calendar to a calendar of major holidays including the Jewish High Holidays,” Associate Director of the Office of the Provost Rob Nelson wrote in an e-mail.
Director of Hillel Rabbi Mike Uram first reviewed a draft of the calendar in Spring 2008, along with University Chaplain Chaz Howard.
“The late timing of Labor Day and the early dates for Rosh Hashanah were considerations as the calendar was reviewed by various offices at the University,” Nelson wrote of the decision. “The limited number of class days between early September and late December meant that this was the only viable week to begin classes.”
In Spring 2010, Nelson met with Kaplan and other Hillel student leaders to discuss how to best accommodate Jewish undergraduates, especially incoming freshmen. Kaplan said they felt that the conflict was “something we could all deal with” and that the administration was “more than willing to speak to students about how they could help us and what our concerns were.”
Nelson also consulted Uram over the past several months on how to best communicate with students and faculty regarding the issue. Uram said the administration has been “incredibly sensitive and responsive to the needs of the Jewish community.”
The administration reiterated Penn’s policy that allows students to miss class for religious purposes without penalty and aggressively encouraged professors to post syllabi online before classes start.
Kaplan and Uram sent an e-mail to the Hillel listserv in May that alerted students of the scheduling conflict and how the issue was being accommodated. The e-mail included tips on how to approach professors and offered support and advocacy should a professor present any difficulty.
Incoming freshmen received postcards in the mail over the summer reminding them of the policy that protects students missing class for religious reasons, Uram said.
Kaplan feels that the communication has been effective. She has not heard any “horror stories” from students who plan to observe the holiday.
Over 50 classes have been cancelled on Thursday. A list of cancelled classes can be found online at upenn.edu/registrar/RoshHashanah.htm.
Conservative Jewish Community Religious Life co-chairwoman and Nursing sophomore Hannah Simons said Hillel is working hard to be a “welcoming place” for incoming freshmen, whom she expects will be more anxious about the issue than returning students.
Rosh Hashana last conflicted with the first week of classes in 1994 when the holiday began on Tuesday, Sept. 6 and classes began on Thursday, Sept. 8. The scheduling issue will arise again in 2013.
