For Jewish Phillies fans, a painful overlap

So, Friday night at sundown, Yom Kippur begins. One of the holiest Jewish holidays.

And wouldn't you know, at the very hour when the observant among us are supposed to be in shul, praying, fasting, gazing inward, asking for forgiveness and drawing closer to God, the Phillies will be in Citizens Bank Park, playing a crucial game in the playoffs.

Oy.

For religious Jews who are also Phillies fans, no words can describe this unfortunate misalignment of the universe. Throughout the Delaware Valley, they are having to make some difficult choices.

"There are so many levels of observance, it's hard to speak for all Jews," says Rabbi Adam Zeff, of the conservative Germantown Jewish Center. "But speaking from a general perspective, basically Yom Kippur is a super Shabbat."

Shabbat, which begins at sundown every Friday and ends sundown on Saturday, is a day of rest. Those who observe it do not work or use machinery or drive or cook.

On Yom Kippur, the rules are even more stringent. "So there's not really a way to be informed about what's happening in the game because it would involve electronic means," says Zeff.

There are ways around the rules, like turning on the TV while the sun is still up and leaving it on.

"You could do that," says Zeff. "But it's about what's technically permissible compared to what is the intent of the holiday ... this is supposed to be a day when you're reviewing yourself as a person, making an accounting of the soul and focusing on the things that are really important."

He laughs, perhaps a little wistfully. He is, he admits, a loyal fan.

One of the few decorations in his office is a Roy Oswald bobblehead. He also treasures a baseball autographed by Jesse Biddle, the local kid who was signed to the Phillies in 2010.

And he will not be surprised, he says, if some in his congregation are secretly checking their iPhones for the scores during Kol Nidre, tonight's Yom Kippur services.

Personally, Zeff says, he plans to read tomorrow's paper eagerly as soon as it arrives on his doorstep.

"It's an interesting conflict," he said, "because at least in Philadelphia, Jews are really into baseball."

During trying times like these, it helps to remember the example set by the great Sandy Koufax, who declined to pitch Game One of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur.