No Scouting on Yom Kippur?

[CNYScouter]

The Pack I help with hosts a Cub event the first weekend in Oct. that is falling on Yom Kipper this year.

 

We were told that after this year we could not hold any Scouting events on Yom Kipper.

 

This came through a DE and he said that our SE had a call from National telling him this

 

Has anyone else heard of this?

[Stosh]

If one has Jewish scouts or scouters, out of respect, I would move the event to another time. Yom Kippur is to the Jewish faith that Christmas/Easter is for the Christian.

 

If one has the public involved in the activity, then one might also consider not holding it at that time.

 

Surely most Christians would find it a bit disconcerting to have scout activities that ran from December 24th to December 26th.

 

Just because one can, doesn't mean one should.

 

Stosh

[CalicoPenn]

National has provided guidance to Councils to refrain from holding Council and/or District events on Christmas, Easter, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and provides Councils with a calendar of other religious holidays suggesting they take those into account as well. Many Councils have codified those into Council-wide planning policies applying to Council and District events.

 

They key words here are that they apply to Council and District events - they do NOT apply to unit outings and for good reason - since many of the units are sponsored by religious organizations, telling a unit sponsored by a Catholic Church that it cannot hold an event on Yom Kippur or telling a unit sponsored by a Jewish Synagogue that it cannot hold an event on Christmas could be seen as the Boy Scouts telling religious organizations that they have to celerate other religious organizations holidays as well - clearly interfering in the sponsoring organizations relationship with their units.

 

If the Cub event you are hosting is actually a District activity (and there are Districts where units might plan and host District activities) then you'll have to follow the guidance provided and make sure that when the planning calendar is set up, the event not fall on one of those dates.

 

If, however, the Cub event is something your unit does for itself and invites other units along, without receiving any support from District, then tell the DE it is not a District event, it is a Pack event and not subject to the guidance from Council - and you will continue to operate it on the first weekend of October, and will continue to invite other units to come if they wish unless s/he provides you with a signed letter from the SE stating that the BSA is dictating to your unit what religious events they must honor.

 

 

[JasonG172]

keep it up and there wont be any weekends left. J/S

[Stosh]

But councils and districts have no problem holding events on the Sabboth so that Sabboth Baptists, 7th Day Adventists and Jewish boys can't participate. Jazson G172 is correct, there are no weekends left.

 

Stosh

[qwazse]

 

Schedule Tuesday-Thursday overnights! I bet some kids would love the break from school. (And some principles might like the break from rowdy boys!)

 

[King Ding Dong]

Give them all iPads and they can Skype it in for a few hours, then go back to their field trip.

[CNYScouter]

Thanks for the answers

I sounds like someone in our council didn't read the memo fully before speaking

 

One of the people who helps at our event is the NE Area 3 Representative on the National Jewish Committee on Scouting.

I just saw them last Saturday and they haven't said a word about this.

I am going to their son's Eagle COH in a couple of weeks and will have to ask them about this

[mashmaster]

As someone that is Jewish. Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year and not a happy holiday. It would be respectful to not conflict with that date. We avoid a large number of Christian days during the year.

[King Ding Dong]

How about Mothers Day?

[st0ut717]

Honestly we held a courtb of honor on Mother's Day one time due to scheduling

[RememberSchiff]

Religious day exclusions seem comparatively few. The feedback from our parents/scouts is not to schedule weekend activities on the following:

- three day weekends (Columbus Day, Memorial Day)

- both weekends of a school vacation week, so lose two weekends each in Dec, Feb, and April, and now Nov as Thanksgiving seems to be expanding to a week off. (Don't ask me what I think of the teacher's union and School Board!)

- Mothers' Day weekend

- June graduation weekend

- even SAT test weekends and Super Bowl weekend

- OA and district are quick to grab what remains, though we tend to ignore both.

[Scouter99]

We avoid Christian holidays because you're not going to get anyone to show up with 73% of the population celebrating that holiday. If we're talking about a Jewish holiday, we do not have the same utilitarian issue with just 2% of the population, up to 20% of whom are actually atheists and a further 20% of whom adhere to a faith other than Judaism.

There's no reason to not hold a unit event on Yom Kippur unless the unit has Jewish members.

[clemlaw]

IMHO, it's more an issue of "a Scout is courteous" more than one of "a Scout is reverent." If a unit consisting of Jewish Scouts wants to have an activity on Christmas, I think that would be wonderful. On the other hand, if there were one or more Christian members, it would probably be best to avoid that date.

 

Similarly, in a unit made up mostly of Christians, it would be best to avoid scheduling events on Jewish holy days if there are any Jewish members (or potential members, if it's scheduled far in advance).

[Old_OX_Eagle83]

This actually falls under a scout is reverent, which includes respecting faiths other than your own.

 

We're not running out of weekends, lol. District, Council, and National events should not scheduled with respect to all belief systems. Keep in mind that some faith based holidays require specific activities and prohibitions, which makes events ether impossible, or disrespectful, others do not.

 

Unit events need not be as restrictive, as you need only be concerned with the belief systems of the scouts and leaders in your unit.

 

BTW, a few posters are confusing domestic holidays with days of religious observance. I've had hikes, camp outs, and fund raisers on Mothers Day, Fathers Day Valentines Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and the fourth of July; which are all fine.