Lauren Gordon, a jewish mother in North Texas, was asked by the local school for proof that her daughter was jewish before she would be given permission to be absent for Yom Kippur:
Proving they’re observing a religious holiday – it’s what some North Texas parents say they’re having to do in order for their children to be excused from school.
When Lauren Gordon sent a letter to her daughter’s school asking she be excused for Yom Kippur, what she got back shocked her.
“I received a response back that says ‘Please send documentation from the religious establishment you attended,’ ” Gordon said. “That response basically told me that they didn’t believe that we were Jewish. That they needed proof. Honestly, it upset me just as much as it made me angry.”
She shared her thoughts on Facebook and the comments started coming in.
“Things like this are outrageous, you need to take action,” Gordon said. “Once my friend started telling me that this is happening to them and that this is not uncommon, I realized it was a bigger issue than just our small school.”
“It is surprising because that has never been a request from schools until recently,” Andrew Paley, Senior Rabbi at Temple Shalom said. ”I’m not sure what to make of it yet. It’d be interesting to know its origins and how it came to be.”
“I looked also at the code of conduct for Garland ISD, which is GISD’s handbook, and it said that all religious holidays are excused,” Gordon said.
Gordon said she reached out to the principal of her daughter’s school with her concerns.
“She formally apologized, said she did not mean to offend us in any way and moving forward this will never be an issue at her school while she is there,” Gordon said.
Now, Gordon said she’s on a mission to make sure it won’t be an issue at other schools either.
“If I have to go to every school district in North Texas to get them to get this I will do that,” she said.
CBS 11 News reached out to Garland ISD. The district confirmed this instance was a mistake and a note from a parent is all students need for religious holiday to be counted as an excused absence.
What the school requested here was reasonable. If this student is going to take time off of school for a “religious” holiday, then they should have no problem providing the school proof that they actually are followers of that religion. What this school failed to realize is that Jews are different from everyone else and should not be required like everyone else to play by the rules. Jews are Jews whether or not they follow Judaism.
The reality is that over 90% of people who identify as Jews are not religious at all, but they still want to be able to take days off of school and work to enjoy a “religious” holiday even though they are atheists. Clearly, that is the case here with the Gordon family who are racial Jews but not religious Jews. They don’t want to have to prove they go to synagogue because they don’t go to synagogue. But just because they don’t go to synagogue, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get a free vacation day.
Only “Nazis” would make up these rules demanding that Jews prove they are Jews if they are going to claim to be practicing Jews.
Yes, You are correct, Chesterton. I did fail to recognize the irony intended in the article statement. My apologies to RTR TEAM, and to all the readers.
I have visited here several times before and have left links in comments elsewhere on some very good articles from this site, but this one struck me as being too much like so many other ones at controlled sites which I’ve seen elsewhere, and seemed too realistic. I normally would wait for more information before making that charge toward anyone I considered at all as being well-intended, but the intended irony was too convincing for me, and flew past me.
Thanks for the clarification, Flanders. There’s nothing wrong with being vigilant because, as you said, most sites are compromised in some way or another, and it’s hard not to be cynical at a certain point. Many of the articles here use irony–the world has become so twisted that a sense of humor is important to stay sane about it all.
I see nothing wrong with the school’s request. In this day and age, the school systems are bogged down by just as much bureaucracy as the govt. as it is their indoctrination center anyway…as designed by the jew. To be able to have their demands upheld in this manner that contradicts school policy should be extremely telling to those of us non-jewish parents who have children in the system who can’t get the schools to budge on any of their ridiculous and unnecessary policies that we don’t agree with!
RTR (((TEAM))),
Only a jew, or a TEAM of jews, would say this about that story that you run:
“Only Nazis would make up these rules demanding that Jews prove they are Jews if they are going to claim to be practicing Jews.”
You jews want to tell everyone else, including the White and Christian people who are the only real and true Americans, how they should run their schools, religions and lives, but you want no restrictions at all placed, whether reasonable or not, on your dingbat clan of global subversives. Reasonable social requirements work for normal people within society, too, and not merely for the National Socialists at whom you jews love to throw the term “Nazi’s”, as if it is a deadly curse in order to demonize someone. Our people are swiftly learning about your favorite jew tricks – including one of your jew’s favorites, the running of diversionary “controlled opposition” websites.
You’re obviously tone deaf and have trouble discerning irony. From a Jew’s perspective, these rules are Nazi. Every reference to Nazis you’ll find here is ironic, poking fun at the conventional narrative. Without a sense of humor you’ll miss a lot here. Relax.
It took me a bit to understand that you actually thought that the article’s comment was serious and that your reaction was directed at the website. I second Chesterton’s reply. You will find nothing but practicing Christian white men running this site. The last thing our efforts should be producing is animosity towards us by our own brethren in the form of false accusations of being a ‘jew’. You should refrain from such juvenile reactionary comments until you truly assess what you read. We are here to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood, not weaken them!