Posted on 11/14/2003 1:10:25 PM PST by Calpernia
Add Eid to the list of religious holidays that can get students a day off from school in some communities.
This Essex County district will become one of only a handful of districts in the nation to close schools on a major Islamic holiday, the Eid-al-Fitr on Nov. 26. Paterson and Trenton schools also close that day.
Public schools across the nation have traditionally closed for major Christian holidays including Christmas and several days before or after Easter, and many also close for Jewish holidays as well.
Now, with Islam emerging as one of the fastest-growing religions in the United States, some school districts with significant Muslim populations are recognizing the Eid holidays.
"Up to now, the major holidays have either been Christian or Jewish," said Frank Belluscio, a spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association. "But now we're diversifying, and I'm sure this is something we'll see other districts doing in the future."
Irvington, 2.9-square-mile community adjacent to Newark, is the latest to give students off for the Eid, which celebrates the end of Ramadan, the holiest month of the year for Muslims.
Superintendent of Schools Ernest Smith said community leaders convinced the school board that sufficient numbers of students and teachers observe the holiday and planned to be absent from school on the Eid holiday.
Paterson, with its large Arab-American population, started giving students off for Eid about three years ago.
"Members of the Muslim community came forward and requested we consider doing it," said Patricia Chalmers, a school district spokeswoman. "It really came from the community itself, and we were one of the first in the nation to do it."
Trenton has closed its schools for Eid for nearly a decade, a school official said.
In Michigan, Dearborn schools started closing for Eid in 2001, and the Crestwood school district agreed this year to close on Eid as well.
Other New Jersey municipalities with significant Muslim populations still do not close for Eid, including Newark, Jersey City and Camden.
The Eid holiday is slowly gaining in American public consciousness as well. The U.S. Postal Service recently introduced an Eid stamp.
Probably because we haven't thought of a good euphemism yet. Christmas and Easter fall near the Winter and Spring Solstices. In their honor, schools typically give not just a day off, but a week or two weeks-- hence there's a real "break."
Eid is just one day, so there's no "break" that can be structured around it-- similarly, Rosh H'Shana and Yom Kippur are just 3 days collectively. There's no p.c. way to hide the reason for taking off school-- unless you wanted to honor those days by giving students a full week off, and calling it "Fall Break" or something.
That's the precise reason. That's also why schools don't give off for major (but less observed) Jewish holidays like Sukkoth, Pesach, and Shavouth. It's not the religious significane of the day-- but the prevelance of it's observance. Those same teachers who would skip on Yom Kippur wouldn't skip class for Pesach.
Like I said earlier, there's no good euphemism for the Jewish holidays-- unless you want to give several days off and call it "Fall Break." Similarly, if not for the institutions of week-long breaks centered around Christmas and Easter, I'm sure that schools would be obliged to call a spade a spade-- they'd have to call Christmas, Christmas-- just like governments do. I work for the federal government, and get Christmas off. It's listed right there in the Federal calender as Christmas. Why? Because, sadly, I'm too old to get a real "winter/christmas break"
Gee, how swell................you idiot.
Don't take into consideration that we're an overwhelmingly Christian nation with incredibly strong Judeo-Christian roots and beliefs. Don't take into consideration that we're at war with radical Islam around the world..........that those lovely little darlings live in households that probably clapped their filthy hands in glee on 9/11 or whenever GI's are blown up by cowards in Iraq.
Don't let that bother you, you drooling excuse of an educrat.
Our government was mostly founded by religious Christians. However, our government was founded as a SECULAR (i.e. religiously neutral) state, not beholden to religious law. That's why we don't have a state church. Certainly our common law and legal instutions were influenced by Christianity and Christian civilization-- still, there's no question that the Founders envisioned the country as a religiously neutral government populated by a religious citizendry.
Fourth, as a mom with 3 children in school, I understand about the 1/3 absent policy. This also has to do with money trail I mentioned in three.
It has nothing to do with a "money trail." It has to do with the fact that religious minorities like to live near one another. Therefore, some school districts will naturally have large proportions of Jewish or Muslims students and teachers. Let me ask you this-- how could a school practically function if 1/3 of teachers don't show up? Schools don't have that many substitutes on retainer.
How about my honor's classes in high school, which thanks to my people's superior brain power (half-sarcasm), were about 60% Jewish. Would you acknowledge that at least those should be cancelled, or would you seriously hold class with fewer than half the students, just for the sake of only recognizing Christianity?
Oh, and by the way, what Calendar do you use?
Depends, if I need to schedule appointments with people (few of whom are Jews) I use the Christian calender that's universally known in this country. Conversely, I celebrate life-cycle events (birthdays, grandparents anniversay etc.) according to their placement on the Hebrew calender.
I don't deny that. I'd be happy for Rosh H'Shana and Yom Kippur and EID to be euphamised too if they offend you so much. Can YOU think of a euphamism? I sure can't. Similarly, I don't give a damn about what the breaks are called, and aren't particularly offended by the terms "Christmas" or "Easter" break. But at least they practically can be euphamised.
Does anyone have contact information?
According to the current year's calendar for the Newark Public Schools, they will be taking a Winter Recess beginning December 23rd's early dismissal.
http://www.nps.k12.nj.us/calendar2002.htm
Although, the employee calendar does call it Christmas break. Guess it's ok if it's behind the vision of the students.
Mostly? Mostly?
>>>Certainly our common law and legal instutions were influenced by Christianity and Christian civilization
Yet Christianity is P.I. in public schools? Hence winter/spring break? vs. Jewish and now Islamic Holidays?
>>>It has nothing to do with a "money trail."
You cannot say that. You have no idea what you are talking about here. This was not posted as a general issue debate. This is an issue that is ongoing here in NJ that I know about and pinged NJ on.
>>>It has to do with the fact that religious minorities like to live near one another. Therefore, some school districts will naturally have large proportions of Jewish or Muslims students and teachers. Let me ask you this-- how could a school practically function if 1/3 of teachers don't show up? Schools don't have that many substitutes on retainer.
And yet I told you I know about the 1/3 absent rule and this had to do with a money trail issue and you continue?
>>>>which thanks to my people's superior brain power (half-sarcasm), were about 60% Jewish.
Ok, I am done talking to you. You are just being a jerk.
OH, really? We MUST stand up and speak out! Our lives depend on it!
Please consider the following thought penned by a Nazi prisoner:
"First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out --
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists
and I did not speak out --
because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out --
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me --
and there was no one left to speak out for me."
~~Pastor Martin Niemoller
(victim of the Nazis)
Is there anything we can learn from this?
When they came for the Catholics?
When they came for the Baptists?
When they came for the fundamentalists?
When they came for the agnostics?
When they came for the physically disabled?
When they came for the mentally disabled?
Just something for all of us to think about -- is this picture larger than we currently see it?
You misunderstood me. Like I said before, I take no offense to the terms "Christmas" or "Easter" break-- and I don't believe they should be euphamized. I was simply postulating the reason leftists have CHOSEN to euphamize Christmas/Easter break, but not school days off for Rosh H'Shana/Yom Kippur/Eid.
Why is your candleholder more secularly "acceptable" than the Christian nativity scene?
Again, I am simply postulating a reason-- not actually advocating a position. The Nativity scene, unlike say, the Christmas Tree or the Creche, is the heart of the Christian faith-- the supposed virgin birth of Jesus.
In contrast, the Hanukiah (8 branched Menorah) is simply a symbol commerating what is, in Judaism, a rather unimportant quasi-secular/nationalist festival: Hanukah. A better comparison to the Nativity scene in Judaism would be the Tablets of the Decalouge (aka "Ten Commandments")-- which is indeed troublesome to display in public, as Judge Moore learned.
Old joke, but maybe not so funny:
One thousand years ago somewhere in Europe a rabbi has a vision in his sleep. An angel appears in his dream and says "There is a continent across the Atlantic Ocean, and one thousand years from now there will be Jews there and this is how they will celebrate Chanukah." And the angel shows him.
When the rabbi wakes up he says to himself, "If this is how they celebrate Chanukah, just imagine how they must celebrate Shavous!"
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