Selectmen Object to Town Meeting on Jewish Holiday
Nelson Almeida says as a Catholic he would not want a meeting scheduled on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday. State Rep. Steven Howitt, who is Jewish, says he does not have a problem with a meeting on Passover, although he will probably not attend.
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A special Seekonk Town Meeting will take place March 25, but not with the blessing of two selectmen because that date is the first night of the Jewish holiday Passover. Three selectmen signed off on the meeting date Friday, so it received enough support to be scheduled.
Among the items on the Town Meeting warrant are funding for security improvements at the school district and the Banna Fire Station project. The meeting was scheduled to take place this past Monday, but it was canceled due to a notification error .
Selectmen tentatively agreed Wednesday to Town Administrator Pam Nolan's recommendation to reschedule the meeting for March 25. Almeida mentioned the date was the first night of Passover, but neither he nor any other selectmen objected at the time to holding the meeting on that date.
Selectmen were asked to sign the warrant Friday. Almeida wrote in an email to the media that he would not do it.
"I will not sign the warrant for special Town Meeting for the reason it lands on the first night of Jewish Passover," Almeida wrote. "Being Catholic, I would be upset if it landed on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday."
Parker told Patch he did not sign the warrant for the same reason. Board of Selectmen Chair Francis Cavaco said late Friday that Town Meeting would take place on the scheduled date because three of the five selectmen approved it. When asked about Almeida's comment, he said he would email a response later in the day. Patch did not receive an email from him.
Seekonk State Rep. Steven Howitt, who is Jewish, told Patch he did not object to the meeting date, although he probably would not be in attendance.
"It's not a major Jewish holiday," Howitt said. "Life goes on. A lot of different things are open on different holidays."
He added he would object if Town Meeting were scheduled for Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur, the holiest days on the Hebrew Calendar. But he did not think that would ever happen.
"Many non-Jews are aware of those holidays and that they are so important," Howitt said.
Passover lasts seven to eight days, depending on the person's tradition. The first and second nights are the most important because they are when a religious dinner and ceremony called a Seder take place. The holiday celebrates the Biblical story of the Moses-led ancient Israelites who are freed from slavery in Egypt.
Patch was unable to find reliable information on the Jewish population of Seekonk, but it is not large. There are no synagogues or known Jewish organizations in the town.
deb of see-attleboro
6:25 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
IMO, the Jewish population of Seekonk is irrelevant to the story. We know there is at least one man. Rep Howitt.
His opinion seems to be that it is not disrespectful to have the meeting scheduled on the first night of Passover, although he admits he will not likely attend. There are also lesser Christian Holy Days that are not considered "major" and do not rise to the level of disrupting secular life.
Jonathan: Do you have any connections to a Jewish theologian or Rabbi who can educate us on the truth? Or maybe you know the answer.
Jonathan Friedman
6:53 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Deb, although I'm Jewish, I'm certainly not a scholar of the religion. I would rank Passover as an upper-second tier holiday. Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year. Rosh Hashana could be classified as holiday 1A. Passover is on the top of the list after those two. It is a celebration of probably the most important story in Judaism. It is also a big family night because you have the Seder dinner. I don't think any rabbi would say he/she thinks it is a good idea to schedule an important meeting on Passover, but they would probably vary on how objectionable they believe it is.
paul
6:39 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
I agree with Steve Howitt. There are too many religious holidays these days and we can't stop doing business just to please a few. I'm Catholic and I have to work on Ash Wednesday & Good Friday, always have. That being said, this meeting could and should have been pushed back till June. Why not wait till after the election, when school is finishing up? What's the rush? One issue is the Banna Station that has turned into a money pit and only has north end support, the other is the knee jerk reaction to the Newtown shooting. This special meeting has turned into a charade with no one talking and everyone guessing.
Emcee of Seekonk
6:54 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
I agree with deb and paul in that we shouldn't try to plan government business around religious holidays. I further agree with paul's idea to move the meeting until June. I'm not in a hurry to see more money spent. As it is, we have a couple of elections coming up in April. Enough.
deb of see-attleboro
7:50 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Emcee: I don't consider an open Town Meeting as simply government business. A voter cannot vote without being present. There is no absentee ballot provision. Could this be considered a form of voter suppression? Unintentional, of course. But still....
Mr Howitt seems conflicted. Jonathan makes it pretty clear that it is not a good idea to schedule an important meeting on Passover. I think Town Meetings are pretty darn important.
Emcee of Seekonk
8:30 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Quite frankly, I'm all for moving the Meeting to June thereby eliminating any question of voter suppression (I see your point on that issue) and foul weather.
There seems to be a nervous hastiness about this Meeting possibly coming from the idea of 'striking while the iron is hot' about the business at hand. Banna has become a 'money pit' (paul's words) which needs careful consideration. And the more we consider it, the less we like it. There is debt being retired which is supposed to be earmarked for the Senior/Community Center. I don't know of any available money for Banna other than what was appropriated.
deb of see-attleboro
9:57 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
I agree. The fewer town meetings the better, IMHO.
deb of see-attleboro
9:58 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Was this a petitioned town meeting? Or was it concocted by the BOS?
Carol Bragg
10:01 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
On Holy Thursday, Christians observe the Last Supper, Jesus' celebration of the first night of Passover with his disciples. His crucifixion took place on the first day of Passover, falling before sundown on what we now call Good Friday.
deb of see-attleboro
10:12 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Boy! This is getting fun!
According to Nelson, the first night of Passover is 3/25.
According to my calendar, the passover is on 3/26. (A freebie from a local business)
Carol offers another perspective.
What fun!!
thewizardofoz
11:30 am on Sunday, March 3, 2013
Nelson Almeida is full of it! He said he wouldn't go to a meeting on Ash Wednesday??? He was at the Selectmens meeting on Ash Wednesday February 13th! I saw him on local tv sitting in his usual chair. He's trying to make Sagar, McClintok, Cavacco, and Nolan look bad for Mike Brady. Remember, he voted for the new meeting date too. Is Almeida playing with a full deck?
Carol Bragg
1:55 pm on Sunday, March 3, 2013
deb of see-attleboro: Nelson is right and your calendar is right. In the Hebrew calendar, a "day" runs from sunset to sunset, therefore the evening precedes the morning and afternoon. The Sabbath service is Friday evening and the Sabbath ends at sunset on Saturday.
Jonathan Friedman
10:14 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Deb, Jewish holidays begin at night. The first night of Passover is March 25. The first day is March 26.
deb of see-attleboro
10:31 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Thank you. Sort of like Christmas, I guess.
Rabbi Elyse Wechterman
10:17 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Hello all:
I am writing as the rabbi of Congregation Agudas Achim in Attleboro, the nearest synagogue to Seekonk. We do have a few (very few) members who live in Seekonk, however none of them have spoken to me about this issue.
I do not feel comfortable offering an opinion about the scheduling of the meeting. That is for the voters and citizens of Seekonk to decide. However, I do want to offer some factual explanation and background of the holiday of Passover in order to enlighten the discussion.
Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) is one of the three pilgrimage festivals commanded upon Jews in the Torah (Hebrew Bible). It commemorates the freeing of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt under Pharaoah. It is also a spring festival and celebrates the agricultural abundance of the first harvests. Biblically speaking, Passover and the other pilgrimage holidays of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) are the most important holidays of the Jewish year. Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are mentioned in the bible but take on greater significance only later in history.
(cont'd)
Rabbi Elyse Wechterman
10:18 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
Although there are many Jews who do not attend synagogue services for most of the year; many, many people come to synagogue on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur as the two "High Holy Days" of the calendar. This is probably the reason they are better known among non-Jews and often are taken in to consideration when preparing schedules and calendars.
However, Passover continues to be experienced by many American Jews as a foundational and formative holiday. It's central ritual, the Seder, takes place in the home, not in the synagogue. In recent population studies, the Passover Seder remains the second most widely observed Jewish ritual of the year, next to lighting the Hanukkah candles.
As Jonathan mentioned, all Jewish holidays start the evening before the calendar date. This is because the Jewish day starts in the evening. According to the Torah, God create light, "and there was evening and morning, the first day." Therefore, we begin our day in the evening.
So for Jews who do observe the holidays, the first night of Passover is very, very important.
(cont'd)
Rabbi Elyse Wechterman
10:19 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
The degree to which these issues should play a role in scheduling public events is a complicated issue. On the one hand, no one wants to feel "left out" or disempowered because of the calendar. On the other hand, the growing diversity in our culture - a welcome trend in my opinion - makes it nearly impossible to avoid all religious and cultural conflicts. For example, my family observes Shabbat (the sabbath) every Saturday. Many school functions and exams take place on Saturdays. For my family, this is a conflict. I personally do not expect everyone to conform to or make allowances for my needs, however, I always appreciate it when alternatives are provided for those for whom a particular date is a conflict. The SATs and AP exams always have make-up opportunities for students who can not take Saturday exams. I am not sure if a similar solution is possible in this situation, but it might be worth exploring.
I am happy to answer additional questions should they arise.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Elyse Wechterman
Congregation Agudas Achim
Attleboro MA
Carol Bragg
12:35 pm on Sunday, March 3, 2013
Thank you, Rabbi Wechterman. As someone who was raised in the Second Congregational Church in Attleboro and then married into a Jewish family, I view Passover as shared history. Christians too easily forget that this was the heritage of Jesus of Nazareth and that although he chafed at some of the religious laws, he remained a Jew. As I have pointed out previously, the Last Supper was a Passover Seder. For Christians to respect Passover as a Jewish holiday is to respect our own history and honor an observance that binds us together as part of one human family. I know many Christians who have been invited into Jewish homes to celebrate the Passover Seder. Perhaps next year we can find a local church in Seekonk to host a community Passover Seder so we can learn the beauty and richness of this tradition.
deb of see-attleboro
1:33 pm on Sunday, March 3, 2013
wizard: After reading this morning's Sun, I can't help but see this as a north vs south issue. Shameful to use religion as cover.
Jack Smith
3:54 pm on Wednesday, March 27, 2013
I'm glad to see the meeting got postponed and did not start on the first day of the jewish passover. In respect to Almeida, I believe he did state that he had a job to do and would attend the meeting regardless on what day it was, wether it was 1st day of passover or Ash wednesday or good friday, he just wouldn't support the idea out of respect . I guess the wizard of oz missed that one. It's too bad there is more negative people here on patch then positive. As for sagar,cavaco,mcclintock, they agreed to the 3/27/13 meeting knowing it was published in the paper before they met was a perfect example of back room politics