| Message/Author |
|
|
|
|
Judith Rubin
1043 - 54th St.; Oakland, CA 94608
tel. 510/595-9664, fax 510/595-0770
email shmata@compuserve.com
April 19, 1999
An Open Letter to GSTA and Its Members
This year marks the third time in seven years that ISTC/GSTA has scheduled its annual meeting on dates that coincide with the Jewish High Holy Days. The last two times were the Barcelona meeting (1996) and the Charlotte meeting (1993).
In spite of having numerous Jewish members, and at least one Jewish past president, GSTA continues to overlook the dates of Jewish holidays and forms of observance when creating its calendar.
The High Holy Days, a.k.a. the Days of Awe, are the most important segment of the Jewish holiday cycle. They fill a period of eleven days, beginning on the eve of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and ending with Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). Jews observing the holiday generally attend synagogue on the eve of Rosh Hashanah and for the full first day. Many also attend the full second day. They also observe the eve of Yom Kippur and then spend another full day in the synagogue.
The week between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is an integral part of the holiday period. Travel during this time is discouraged. Why? Because the High Holy Days are a year’s end reckoning of the soul, to be experienced with family and community.
It is inappropriate to schedule an important business meeting at such times. The Days of Awe are a major religious community event that is incongruous with a week-long, out-of-town business gathering. The problem cannot be done away by providing a list of local synagogues for Jewish members to drop into (as I understand was done in Barcelona!).
For myself and many others whose careers are closely connected to the large format industry, the annual GSTA meeting is an essential business event. By repeatedly scheduling the annual meeting during major Jewish holidays - intentionally or not - GSTA is forcing Jewish industry members to choose between their religious and professional lives. This is no more suitable than it would be to hold the meetings during Easter or Christmas.
Whether every Jewish GSTA member or conference delegate is personally observant is irrelevant. Most nonobservers support the right of their fellows to practice.
For GSTA’s reference, and so that the organization can prevent repeating this mistake in the future, I include below the dates of the Days of Awe through 2010.
Sincerely,
Judith Rubin
1999 Sept. 10-20
2000 Sept. 29-Oct. 9
2001 Sept. 17-27
2002 Sept. 6-16
2003 Sept. 26-Oct. 6
2004 Sept. 15-25
2005 Oct. 3-13
2006 Sept. 22-Oct. 2
2007 Sept. 12-22
2008 Sept. 29-Oct. 9
2009 Sept. 18-28
2010 Sept. 8-18
cc:
James Marchbank, GSTA President
Freda Nicholson, GSTA Conference Committee
Jeffrey Kirsch, Reuben Fleet Science Center
Barry Rosen, GSTA Secretary
Debra Adams, The Big Frame
James Hyder, MaxImage!
Brian Demkowicz, 1570.com
Christopher Reyna, Large Format Cinema Association
Janet Wilson, Euromax
Ron Ascher, Ron Ascher Prodns. Inc.
Liz Bleiberg, The Science Place
Mitchell Cannold, Big Screen Pictures LLC
Rich Gelfond, Imax Ltd.
Paul Gerber, Gerber Film
Charles Goldwater, Iwerks Entertainment
Mark Katz, nWave Pictures Distribution
Martin & Barbara Mueller, MSM Design
Al Newman, Newman & Co.
Martin Shindler
Brad Wechsler, Imax Ltd. |
|
|
 Anonymous posted on Thursday, June 24, 1999 - 07:03 pm
|
|
|
Even worse, MacGillivray Freeman has scheduled the
preview of Dolphins to coincide, almost to the second, with the beginning of Rosh Hashana. |
|
|
|
|
| Oy! I suppose you mean during GSTA? In that case, perhaps they didn't have any choice, had to go with the time slot they were given. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
