Yale Jewish students stay put

Yale or fail:

When Rena Traube '09, an orthodox Jew, returned to Yale from celebrating Rosh Hashanah with her family in Brooklyn, N.Y., she was overwhelmed by the amount of schoolwork waiting for her.
Traube soon decided to abandon her plans to spend Yom Kippur at home because she was still backed up with work left after the Jewish New Year.
"Yom Kippur is one of the biggest days of the year, and I ended up staying here because I couldn't miss classes," she said...
Amy Aaland, executive director of the Slifka Center for Jewish Life, said although the high Jewish holidays vary according to the lunar calendar and have tended to fall on weekends in past years, this year they happened to coincide with the peak of midterms."It was particularly stressful for students this year," Aaland said...
Shara Yurkiewicz '09 said that, like Traube, she had difficulty celebrating Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur while keeping up with her schoolwork this month. She said her parents advised her to stay on campus and prioritize academics.Yurkiewicz said she thinks faculty are generally understanding about the holidays -- she said her English professor rescheduled class to help ease stress on students...