As the Boston Globe reports, "One of the first major religious decisions that young, Jewish professionals make is whether or not to go into the office on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. "
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Download NowThe newspaper notes that most Jewish holidays start at sundown--usually a safe time to leave the office. But this year, with both Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur falling on weekdays, taking both holidays may require taking off three or four days of work during the next two weeks.
Rosh Hashana began at sundown Monday; Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Wednesday, October 12.
There is no law granting the right to take off work for religious holidays, but according to Linda Saiger, executive director of Chicago's Council on Jewish Workplace Issues, most people are able to get the days off if they want them.
Whether they want them in the first place is another question, according to the Globe.
For one thing, there's the pressue to go to work. In some industries, like investment banking, people rarely take time off for anything, doing what it takes to get the job done and make a good impression. And for twentysomethings who've moved far away from their families to take jobs, the desire to take a day off runs into the realization that there's nowhere to go to spend the holiday.
Still, by some estimates, more than 95 percent of the families affiliated with a synagogue show up on Yom Kippur for a day of fasting and self-reflection. In fact, the Globe reports, such a large percentage of the Jewish population stays home that some schools close, some stores close, and towns with large Jewish populations--like the Boston suburb of Brookline--seem to completely shut down.
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