Dear Educator:

As the new school year begins, we approach a fall season when many major Jewish holidays occur.    Jewish students, teachers and parents may be unable to attend classes, orientation or school events due to religious observance. As you may know, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are some of the holiest days on the Jewish calendar and observance require day-long attendance at synagogue and abstinence from all work.

For your reference, the High Holy Days will take place this year on the following dates:

Rosh Hashanah:    Begins on Friday, September 18th at sundown and ends at sundown on Sunday, September 20th.

Yom Kippur:      Begins on Sunday, September 27th at sundown and ends at sundown on Monday, September 28th.

We anticipate you will allow your students to be absent, without penalty, on those days when their religion prevents them from attending school.  Specifically, it is likely that a number of requests will be made for time off on Monday, September 28th by those wishing to observe Yom Kippur.   Additionally, we encourage you to make every reasonable effort to ensure that employees who wish to observe their religious practices will be also able to do so.  We believe that religious accommodation of students and employees by school administration contributes to an atmosphere of mutual respect.

Also, you may be aware that See You at the Pole prayer sessions will occur at many schools on Wednesday, September 23, 2009.  See You at the Pole is a national event that revolves around students at all grade levels praying together, usually before school and at the school’s flagpole.  Students may participate in events with religious content that take place before or after the school day so long as such events are managed on the same terms as other non-curriculum activities on school premises.  Students must initiate and lead these activities while school officials have a concomitant obligation to ensure that students who are not inclined to participate are not coerced in any way by fellow students who are participating.

School officials may neither discourage nor encourage participation in the event, nor should they be sending the message that the school endorses the event.  ADL strongly urges teachers and administrators to refrain from participating in these activities as doing so gives the impression of school support for this religious event.  Students are impressionable and easily susceptible to coercion, conformity, and peer pressure, especially when they see their teachers standing with other students and participating.

The Anti-Defamation League publishes useful guides on issues related to religion in public schools.  ABC’s of Religion in the Public Schools is available as a booklet and posterand we also have a Guide to Religious Clubs on Campus.  We make these materials publicly available, and we would be delighted to share one or more copies of these publications with you.  These and other resources can also be found on our website at http://www.adl.org/religious_freedom.

We have also enclosed information about the anti-bias and multicultural education programs offered through ADL’s A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute.  These programs are designed to help administrators, teachers and students address issues of bias and discrimination on campus.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for further guidance on these or other related issues or to learn more about our A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute programs.

Sincerely,

Anti-Defamation League