Texas A&M Rabbi Plans to End Yom Kippur Services in Time for Alabama Game

Mike Zarrilli/Stringer Yom Kippur is the holiest Jewish holiday of the year, and, unfortunately for observers who are also devout fans of Texas A&M and

Mike Zarrilli/Stringer

Yom Kippur is the holiest Jewish holiday of the year, and, unfortunately for observers who are also devout fans of Texas A&M and Alabama, the most important game of the season falls on the same day. Fortunately for some Aggies fans, a College Station rabbi empathizes with their plight (or was simply aware that service attendance might otherwise suffer) and has scheduled his worships accordingly:

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Texas A&M rabbi Matt Rosenberg plans to end his Yom Kippur morning service around 1 p.m., just in time for the 2:30 p.m. local time game, which will be shown on a big-screen television in the campus Hillel building’s theater. There are about 1,000 Jewish students at the Texas agricultural university, or about 2% of its undergraduates, according to the national Hillel organization.

Later in the story, Texas A&M junior Joshua Beitchman announced his intentions to fast today instead of tomorrow so he does not risk dehydration in College Station's sweltering heat. Would the Lord be down with this convenient decision? “I sure hope so,” Beitchman said. “We’ll find out if we beat Alabama.”

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Wall Street Journal