I almost quit my job over getting time off for Yom Kippur. It's like, I know not all time offs are guarrenteed, but I wrote my name down for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana over a month in advance. Plus, my managers know that I'm Jewish, they know that I'm stretching it by working Saturday afternoons at all, and they knew what day it was (it's written in large letters on the calender), so they really had no excuse. Usually I wouldn't have really gotten angry, just straightened it out. They have a track record, though. One of my buddies is a really religious Christian, and they promoted her, but didn't want to give her a raise because she didn't work Sundays. For obvious reasons. She was pissed. Who wouldn't be? It's wrong. It's illegal, too. In New York state, it's against the law to penalize workers because they can't work on holidays or Sundays. (I don't think they say anything about Friday nights, unfortionatly. However, it's a growing trend around where I live that companies wont make you work Friday nights if you can't for religious reasons, because there is a very large Jewish population around where I live. Too bad Old Navy didn't catch on) Luckily, all got straightened out. I talked to my managers and things where cool. I probably would've quit if they tried to make me, though. But they didn't.
It's sad when you hear stories like that. I've never had that problem before, but have had some near misses (especially around the high holy days). I'm in Israel at the moment and it will be Kol Nidre (Erev Yom Kippur) tonight. Its so weird here. Rosh Hashana is like the New Years eve back home (New Zealand). All the teenagers take to the street, and there are huge HUGE parties everywhere you go. I had a ball, but it was weird when I went to Shul on Erev Rosh Hashana and found that they sang different tunes and used different Machzorim to home. But now it is Yom Kippur and the fast is going from 5:30pm till 6:30 (at home it is normally from 7/8 - 8/9). Wish you all well over the fast.
