Kempner: Major League Baseball should fix the Yom Kippur dilemma
From SABR member Aviva Kempner at The Wrap on October 8, 2019:
In Washington, D.C., we are blissfully recovering from Monday night’s game when the Nationals beat the Dodgers to tie up the playoff series 2-2. We are hoarse from yelling and need serious manicures from all the nail biting innings.
East Coast Jewish fans are religiously thrilled our match-up will begin on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. ET because the start time comes after sundown of our holiest Day of Atonement. We are supposed to observe the holiday by praying in synagogue, not eating or drinking, and not watching baseball.
It’s not fair to those Jewish fans living on the West Coast as the game starts there at 5:30 p.m., which is before sundown. Although I want my home team Nats to win, I do feel empathy for those Jewish Dodgers fans who are confronting religious dilemmas about watching the game during Yom Kippur.
It’s even worse for Jewish Cardinals and Braves fans, as the game is scheduled at 5:02 p.m. in Atlanta on Yom Kippur afternoon. I know of one Cards fan who has the difficult choice of saying a memorial prayer for her sister in synagogue or watching the start of the game she adores.
Read the full article here: https://www.thewrap.com/major-league-baseball-should-fix-the-yom-kippur-dilemma-guest-blog/
Originally published: October 14, 2019. Last Updated: October 14, 2019.