America’s Lack of Solemn Holidays

Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year, where the “ten days of repentance” come to an intense conclusion after Rosh Hashanah, the start of the new year. The day is mostly spent in synagogue, with participants fasting from all food and water for 25 hours as Jews ask for forgiveness from God. In Hebrew, the name Yom Kippur means “Day of Atonement.”

Although it’s known as a holiday, instead of celebration, Yom Kippur is meant for somber repentance and prayer. In America, a holiday like this is a fairly uncommon practice. 

• 

Although some pockets of America celebrate together, nationally, America doesn’t really have a set solemn holiday.

Even for days of remembrance in America, like Memorial Day, isn’t held with regard for it’s original purpose. It was once a holiday to remember the deaths of those serving our armed forces, but is now celebrated with weekend trips, barbecues, and blowout sales. 

The closest America seems to get at a commemorative and somber day is on September 11. News stations replay footage and a moment of silence is sometimes held, but again, it’s not made mandatory, and before the end of the day, the country moves on again.

In terms of religiously founded solemn holidays, it’s certainly not just the Jews. For Christians, Lent is the forty days leading up to Easter Sunday, meant for fasting, abstinence, and prayer. Similarly, for Muslims, the month of Ramadan is meant for fasting, abstinence, and self-reflection. 

Easter Sunday, in the Christian faith, the day Jesus was said to resurrect, is a day celebrated by many. However, it’s lost some meaning, and it’s become a cultural staple in America. Much like Christmas, it has derived itself away from its Christian root. 

• 

Unlike Easter, Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified, is only legally recognized in twelve states in America. Easter, the festive counterpart to Good Friday, is celebrated nationally, and even recognized each year by the White House, with their annual Easter Egg hunt. 

The common trend, it seems, in America, is that we don’t want to have a solemn holiday. It makes some sense too. 

For one, we aren’t a nation exclusive to one way of life or one belief system. Our holidays are fun, and meant to be inclusive for all. Secularized holidays like Easter and Christmas can be celebrated by anyone without having to relate them back to their religious pasts. 

Somber holidays, at least religiously, require people to belong to one specific faith. Jews aren’t going to celebrate Lent, because they don’t believe that Jesus was their Messiah. Christians aren’t going to celebrate Ramadan, because they don’t commemorate the month that Muhammad received the Quran, it’s not their holy book.

So, because Americans don’t all believe the same thing, the important religious days of repenting, seeking penance, and fasting are spent according to one’s religious belief. In America, nobody can force another person to commemorate something if they don’t believe in it. 

But to make a case for holidays outside of religion, national holidays like Memorial Day were meant to be spent commemorating. However, to really understand the American perspective on the day, to paraphrase an ABC News report from 2005, it’s a day off in a country where people don’t get a lot of days off. 

If someone wants to spend their day off cooking, hanging out with family, and buying things, it doesn’t really matter. If someone wants to spend all day in remembrance, it’s what means the most to them on that day. It’s all up to personal choice. 

Because America is such a mixed bag of people, our national holidays are flexible for anyone to celebrate in any way. At the same time, holidays that aren’t nationally recognized are also easy to celebrate.

And the real reason America doesn’t deal so heavily with somber religious holidays is simple: it either forces people to be involved with something they don’t want, or it leaves them out.