Celebrating Diversity
Flexibility for all faiths
For the AJC
Sunday, October 05, 2008
The holidays are upon us.
No, not the holidays you’re thinking about. Ramadan has just ended, Rosh Hashana was last week, and Yom Kippur is this week.
Leita Cowart / Special
Members of Al-Farooq Masjid mosque in Midtown just finished observing Ramadan, a period of prayer, worship and fasting.
So how do Muslims and Jews observe some of the most important holidays on the religious calendar? Especially in an atmosphere that is mostly Christian and about to explode with the annual commercial tsunami of Christmas?
For most, it means some accommodation from employers to attend religious observances or engage in personal prayer. But otherwise, the holiday season means working almost like normal — and answering questions from curious co-workers.
Ramadan, a monthlong period of prayer, worship and fasting, has just ended, said Dr. Khalid Saddiq, an endocrinologist and director of public relations for Al-Farooq Masjid, a Midtown mosque.
Aside from skipping lunch — Ramadan observances mean fasting from sunrise to sunset — “you keep on working like normal. … You continue what you’re doing,” Saddiq said.
Ahmed Ayad has had mixed experiences in the workplace.
When he worked for Coca-Cola Co., for example, he said the company was very accommodating, allowing him to pray in private at the times of the day when Muslims are called to prayer.
“There’s a cultural awareness there,” he said, because the company has operations around the world.
Now, Ayad works for the federal government, and he said he has to explain his observances to his manager. His co-workers are mostly curious, he added. But he still has the opportunity to worship daily and attend services at the mosque.
For Jews, this time of year is known as the High Holy Days. Rosh Hashana, or the Jewish New Year, was observed last week, and Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, begins at sundown on Wednesday.
Wendy Heller, a designer with office furniture maker Steelcase and wife of Rabbi Joshua Heller of B’nai Torah Synagogue in Sandy Springs, is able to adjust her schedule. With her boss’ blessing, for both the holidays and weekly, she can be home before the beginning of the Sabbath at sundown on Fridays. She takes work home and works on Sundays.
“Steelcase is incredibly accommodating and very respectful of all faiths,” she said.
During the holidays, Heller said, “If I have to take a day of vacation, I will. We’ll come up with a way” to have time off.
Her job makes it easy to work away from the office, she added. Because she works with clients across the South, she can communicate via laptop or BlackBerry. In fact, her boss works out of an office in Houston.
“The people in Texas don’t care if I’m in the office … as long as I get the work done,” she said.
Because she and her family are observant of the Sabbath on Saturdays, “I do my best to get done by my deadline on Friday. … On Sunday, I can carve out a block of time” for work.
Rabbi Heller said there are actually four holidays over the course of a month. In addition to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, Jews observe Sukkot, a harvest festival, and the combined observance of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, which wrap up Sukkot and begin a new annual cycle of Torah readings.
“They all fall within the same
3½–week stretch,” he said. “Some traditional observers take off as many as nine days of work. In a typical job, that can be two-thirds of their vacation.”
Many of his congregants have understanding employers, he added, saying people take work home, go to services early in the morning or work later at night.
After Ramadan and the High Holy Days looms a holiday that affects not only Jews and Muslims, but nearly everybody else as well — Christmas. While they don’t celebrate the holiday, both Muslims and Jews say they appreciate the Christian observance.
“I greet my Christian friends and acknowledge their holiday,” said Mohammed Zohbe, a public relations official at Al-Farooq and a former executive in banking, real estate and international trade. “I go to their homes and celebrate with them, just like they come to my home.”
If it’s necessary for someone to work on Christmas, Saddiq and Dr. Herb Alperin, a Jewish pediatrician in Johns Creek, said they often will trade holidays with Christian colleagues.
“That lets them enjoy their holidays, and the same for me on my holidays,” Saddiq said.
“There’s no problem taking time off,” Alperin said. “I get my holiday and cover at Christmas. It’s a symbiotic relationship.”
Ayad said he has never felt compelled to join in any Christmas celebrations, and “I look forward to the lights and decorations. It never really bothered me.”