The Jewish High Holiday season begins with Rosh Hashanah followed by Sukkot and Simchat Torah. These teaching tips provide resources to help you support students during these times and other Jewish holidays. Additional resources for further reading are also provided.
Jewish Holidays Q & A. You may have questions about Jewish holidays and how they are celebrated. The list below, adapted from a LinkedIn article by Lindsey Fenton, has been reframed to help support your work with students.
- I see other Jewish holidays on my calendar, but my students only take Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur off. What is so special about those days? Rosh Hashanah celebrates the beginning of the Jewish New Year. Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the year on the Jewish calendar. For most American Jews they are considered the two main High Holidays and are when people would be most likely to take off of work or school, attend religious services, and have celebratory meals with family and friends.
- Why are students’ days off different than when my calendar lists the holiday? Depending on a student’s “denomination” they may take two days off for Rosh Hashanah and choose to fast or abstain from work for certain holidays. Jewish holidays begin and end at sundown, which means that a person might need to be off school or work the afternoon or evening before the holiday is listed on an American calendar (known as Erev Rosh Hashanah or Erev Yom Kippur).
- What should I say to my Jewish students around the High Holidays? If you are not Jewish, you can greet students by saying, “Happy Rosh Hashanah” or “Shana Tova” (sha-nah toe-vah), to wish them a good new year. As Yom Kippur is a solemn fast day so wishing your students “Happy Yom Kippur” would not be an appropriate greeting. Instead, you can say “have a meaningful Yom Kippur.”
Additional Resources. To learn more about accommodating students, review these resources:
- This Jewish Holiday Calendar provides the dates for the Jewish holidays for this academic year. Consider adding these dates, and other significant holidays, to your course calendar or syllabus.
- Anti-Defamation League: College and University Accommodations
- UTLC Teaching Tips Blog: Supporting Jewish Students During Their Holiday Season (includes links to posters about each holiday that can be shared with students and colleagues to create an awareness and appreciation of the holidays)
- UTLC Jewish High Holidays resource page
- The University Proctoring Lab can assist instructors in scheduling alternative testing times in accordance with UNCG’s Religious Observance policy
- For questions or more information on ways to support your Jewish students please contact Ginny Vellani, Director of NC Hillel Link, at gvellani@nchillel.org