Jewish Letter Carrier Gets Time Off for the Religious Holidays After All

Under pressure from a Jewish civil rights organization, the Postal Service on Friday reversed itself and will now allow a Jewish letter carrier to take time off today to celebrate Rosh Hashana, among the holiest days of the religion.

Postal officials said that Jeff Schreiber, a mail carrier in Costa Mesa for 19 years, will have to work only from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., instead of the whole day, allowing him to attend evening services celebrating the Jewish New Year.

Schreiber also will be allowed to take the entire day off Sept. 23 to celebrate Yom Kippur, the Jewish faith’s Day of Atonement.

Postal officials had said they couldn’t honor Schreiber’s requests for time off because of a shortage of letter carriers. But after talking with representatives from the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, officials changed their minds and said they will make arrangements so that Schreiber’s shifts are covered.

“I feel relieved,” Schreiber said after hearing the news. “I wish I didn’t have to go through all this to get my religious days off, but I’m relieved.”

Schreiber and the Anti-Defamation Leage raised the issue earlier this week after the postal worker was denied the time off despite having requested it 10 days in advance and offering to forgo his salary and pay for a substitute letter carrier himself.

“We try to accommodate our employees as much as we can” said Richard Maher, a spokesman for the Postal Service in Santa Ana. “but this was an unfortunate situation that came up. It had nothing to do with not honoring Mr. Schreiber’s religious beliefs; we let as many employees off for holidays as we can, but we also have to maintain the service that the customer expects.”

Joyce Greenspan, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League of Orange County and Long Beach, said that she was pleased with the outcome.