In the Jewish religion, which encompasses 15 million people worldwide, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year. During Yom Kippur, which started last night at sundown and ends today at sundown, practicing Jews will be praying for forgiveness for the sins that they have committed against G-d over the previous year.

Those observing Yom Kippur fast for the 24 hours, and are not permitted to work, wash, wear leather shoes or engage in sexual activities.

In Israel — the only Jewish State, where 77 percent of the country is Jewish — during Yom Kippur public transportation doesn't run, the airport is closed, television broadcasts are cancelled, and in the Jewish areas, driving and eating in public are considered taboo.

At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where there are an estimated 5,000 Jewish students, many will be repenting instead of attending class. For some, like freshman football player Gabe Carimi, who told me that he won't be in class today, Yom Kippur is a day of reflecting on the past year, looking for fault in our own lives and asking G-d for forgiveness. For some students, they will be in class but won't be writing anything down, and for others, they will be in class because they either feel like they can't afford to miss class or that their religious duties will not be affected by attending class.

Hundreds of students attend evening and morning services organized by Hillel, a national organization represented at more than 500 college campuses, which provides opportunities for Jewish students to stay connected to their faith. For Yom Kippur, which traditionally brings in at least three times more students than any other holiday, the Red Gym has to be used to meet the demands of all the students looking to attend services.

Many other students will have traveled throughout the country to be with family, as difficult as that is with class and homework looming overhead.

Regardless of one's religious beliefs, the UW policy addressing religious observances is that "mandatory academic requirements should not be scheduled on days when a religious observance may cause substantial numbers of students to be absent from university functions." The policy statement goes on to use the Jewish holidays of Yom Kippur and Passover, as well as the Muslim holiday of Eid ul-Fitr, as examples of days when mandatory academic requirements should not be scheduled.

The policy statement goes on to say that "A student's claim of religious conflict should be accepted at face value" and, that, "State law mandates that any student with a conflict between an academic requirement and any religious observance must be given an alternative means of meeting the academic requirement." Under the law, according to the statement, students must be given a way to confidentially notify an instructor of a religious conflict.

The policy is called, "When Classwork and Religious Observances Conflict," and recommends that a professor or instructor (1) announce early in the semester that students must notify the instructor within two weeks of class of the specific day or dates on which he or she requests relief; (2) schedule make-ups before or after the regularly scheduled requirements; and (3) instructors may set reasonable limits on the total number of days claimed by any one student but should be as flexible and sensitive as possible.

I've been at the UW now for more than two years, and only one professor has ever mentioned anything about missing class for religious reasons. She just said that if anyone was going to miss class, she would have the lecture tape recorded. Unfortunately, that's not my professor for the class I have this morning. I imagine that she would have tape recorded the class had I asked, or even if I had told her that I wasn't going to be in class, but I didn't do either. The truth is I'm just not comfortable bringing it up, and explaining why Yom Kippur is so important.

I imagine most students, of whatever non-mainstream religion, aren't comfortable having to explain their religion, and these students shouldn't be put in the uncomfortable position of having to explain their beliefs either. For many, religion is one of the most personal decisions we make in our lives. It's time the university figures out how to implement — not just make — policy.

Jason S. Ebin ([email protected]) is a third-year law student.