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When is the upcoming Yom Kippur?

Should I take Yom Kippur as a floating holiday at work when I'm an atheist?

  • I have the option of taking Yom Kippur off as a floating holiday. (The other option at my company for a floating holiday is Good Friday.) I'm an atheist. Is it disrespectful to take this day off when I'm not Jewish? So my company has the run-of-the-mill US holidays off yearly, but we also have the option to take either Good Friday or Yom Kippur off as a floating holiday. I started at this job in the early summer, so I missed the option to take Good Friday this year. If I want to get a bonus day off, it would have to be tomorrow, Yom Kippur. It seems like most of the employees at my (small) company took Good Friday as their holiday earlier this year, and only the few observant Jewish employees are taking tomorrow off. I'm a non-Jewish atheist (and my coworkers know this), but my husband IS a (non-observant) Jew. Last week, I left work a little early one day to make it to Rosh Hashanah dinner with family. However, I feel a little jerky being the only non-Jew taking tomorrow off, and am worried that it might come off as offensive. On the other hand, I could really use that floating holiday just to have a few weekday hours to get a few long-overdue errands done. Am I overthinking this, and should I just take the day off?

  • Answer:

    It's a floating holiday and you're offered only two places to take it, both explicitly religious times with no secular holiday tradition? Yeah, take that without guilt. For one thing, your husband is a fine excuse. For another, it's deeply absurd and unfair to give employees who follow specific religious traditions more holiday time. Speaking as a not-very-observant Jew, I encourage you to take it off cheerfully.

emily37 at Ask.Metafilter.Com Visit the source

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Do it. You're overthinking it. I'm Jewish and I wouldn't be offended. Yes, I'm speaking on everyone's behalf right now.

lhude sing cuccu

I (non-religious Jew) don't see how it could be offensive. I doubt anyone would think that. I think maybe this is more about that American working thing where if you take any days off that you don't NEED, some people will look down on you? On preview 6 Jews, 1 opinion - whoa! ;-)

DestinationUnknown

For the future, suggest that to HR that they offer a third option: taking one's birthday as the floating holiday. If you are observant and need one of the other days off, people can take it and the rest of the company has the option of a personally meaningful, nonreligious holiday.

metahawk

One of the things about Judaism is that, unlike many other religions, non-Jews don't have to follow Jewish law. If there's a practicing Jew up high in the ranks of your company who is responsible for whether or not the business is open, it is their responsibility to close the business. It's on their head. You (technically) have a choice between two days off, the reasons for both are wholly inapplicable to you. You can't take one, so take the other. Also, as a secular Jew who will be spending tomorrow at the movies with his lapsed Catholic significant other, I can feel guilty for you, if you'd like.

griphus

Take the day off. If anyone gets small-minded at you, tell them your husband is Jewish and you celebrate as a family, and watch them die of embarrassment.

jacalata

I think you're overthinking it. If I was your co-worker, I'd be offended that you'd think I'd be offended that you weren't taking an earned day off because you thought i was too sensitive to deal with you being off.

inturnaround

This non-Jew is going to channel a Jewish friend of hers; whenever I've been confronted with a gift or money or some other boon that someone is offering me that I'm not sure whether I deserve it, for one reason or another, he always tells me, "go ahead and take the http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gelt I believe his advice would be the same when it comes to time off.

EmpressCallipygos

Thank you everyone! I will take tomorrow off guilt-free :)

emily37

A Jew will not begrudge a non-Jew a day of rest, regardless of when that day might be. (And I'm glad someone already made the "I'll feel guilty in your stead!" joke.)

Mizu

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