Texas Longhorns fans who also are Jewish face a dilemma next year.
The 2011 Longhorns-Sooners matchup falls on the same date as Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, when the faithful fast, atone for past digressions such as losing to Oklahoma, and reflect on their behaviors.
The Student Government at the University of Texas, on behalf of the school’s Jewish student population, wants the game rescheduled. Nick Voinis, spokesman for UT athletics said, in essence, “Yeah, sorry, that ain’t happenin’,” according to an article in the Austin American-Statesman.
And oddly, there's been no word of a similar move by Jewish students at OU.
The article also points out that the game and holiday coincided five previous times, most recently in 1997, and the Jewish Longhorns fans might want to reconsider their stance because Texas won that game.
As you can image, the commenters on the American-Statesman website weighed in with their learned and wise opinions, my favorite of which reads: “An emergency meeting of the International Jewish Rabbinical Federation is being called to consider rescheduling Yom Kippur in 2011 and future years. In addition the Jewish Sabbath will be rescheduled since its Saturday occurrence also conflicts with UT football games.”
Now, there’s a good compromise.
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Bruce Felps owns and operates East Dallas Times, an online community news outlet serving the White Rock Lake area. He’s neither Jewish nor a college football fan, and pretty much napped through this one.
