Jewish Religious Holidays at Indiana University Bloomington

The Jewish Calendar

The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar, in which months are based on the phases of the moon and days run from sundown to sundown. The calendar most often used in America is a solar calendar, in which the lunar phases vary in relation to the days of the month, and days run from midnight to midnight. Therefore, the dates of the holy days, which are always the same each year on the Jewish calendar, vary on the solar calendar (although they always fall at about the same time of year). Also, all Jewish holy days begin at sundown on the evening preceding the first day and conclude at sundown on the last day of the holiday. (See the table below for the dates of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in the next several years.)

Jewish holy days are major religious observances. They involve attendance and participation in services at a synagogue and at home with one's family. On major holidays, including Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, work of any kind, including writing, driving, and handling money, is traditionally prohibited.

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year. It is also referred to as "the birthday of the world." It occurs on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishri, which usually falls during September. Rosh Hashanah is about reverence and gratitude for life. It begins a ten-day period of reflection and repentance (the Days of Awe). It is a time of introspection and thinking about past wrongs that the individual has committed and about how to improve oneself during the coming year.

Yom Kippur

The ten-day period of reflection and repentance ends with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This is the single holiest day of the Jewish calendar. On this day, Jews are commanded to abstain from eating, drinking, washing or anointing oneself, and having sexual relations. Yom Kippur is a solemn day of penitence. Most people gather with family or friends after sundown at the end of Yom Kippur for a break-the-fast meal.

How does this affect students?

Traditionally these holy days are associated with introspection, asking for forgiveness of one's transgressions, resolving conflicts, and looking toward improving oneself. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are intense days of prayer and reflection.

Because of the prohibition against work, including writing and driving, on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, students observing these holidays are not able to attend classes, take examinations, or perform other class requirements. They will also be unable to attend classes or take examinations the evening following Yom Kippur, because they will have been fasting for 24 hours. In addition, the holiness of these holidays requires attendance at services in synagogue and in the family, and some students may travel to be with their families.

Students may ask to be excused from classes, examinations, or other academic occasions in order to observe these and other religious holidays. If a student asks to be absent from an examination that falls during a religious holiday, it is the responsibility of the instructor to provide the student with an opportunity to take the examination at another time.

Any student who is unable to attend classes or participate in any examination, study, or work requirement on some particular day or days because of his or her religious beliefs will be given the opportunity to make up the work that was missed, provided that the makeup does not create an unreasonable burden upon Indiana University. Upon request and timely notice, students shall be provided a reasonable accommodation.

The University will not levy fees or charges of any kind when allowing the student to make up missed work. In addition, no adverse or prejudicial effects should result to students because they have made use of these provisions.

For further information about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, please contact the IU Hillel Foundation at (812) 336-3824 or hillel@indiana.edu.

For further information about IU policy in regard to religious holidays, please contact the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Affairs, (812) 855-2809 or vpfaa@indiana.edu.