A letter, addressed to George J. Ryan, president of the Board of Education, requesting him to postpone the opening of the fall school term from September 10 to the twelfth because of the Jewish holidays, was sent yesterday by Dr. Bernard Drachman, president of the Jewish Sabbath Alliance of America.
The letter follows:
It has been called to our attention that the opening of the Public Schools for the coming year will take place on Monday, September 10.
We feel sure that this date was set without the knowledge of the fact that the Jewish New Year, one of the most holy days of the Jewish Faith, is celebrated on September 10th and 11th. Should the Jewish children be required to attend school on September 10th and 11th it would be in violation of the precepts of their religion.
We feel sure that your honorable Board has no intention of bringing about any such result and that the decision to fix the opening date on September 10th was done inadvertently. Your devotions to traditional American sentiments are such that you certainly would not desire to violate the conscientious convictions of any part of the school population.
We therefore respectfully call your attention to these facts and would urgently request that you postpone the opening of the Public Schools until September 12th or some other day which would not involve a violation of the Jewish holy day observance.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
