Shawn Green and Yom Kippur

Jack McDowell is upset that Shawn Green won't play on Yom Kippur, saying he would play on Christmas despite being a Christian. This comparison breaks down on several levels. First, most denominations consider Easter holier than Christmas. That aside, Christmas is a day of celebration with few if any practices set by doctrine. Yom Kippur is a Day of Atonement which according to the wikipedia entry involves this:

"On the Day of Atonement the pious Jew becomes forgetful of the flesh and its wants and, banishing hatred, ill-feeling, and all ignoble thoughts, seeks to be occupied exclusively with things spiritual. Jewish prayerbooks note that while public acts of contrition are mandated, the most effective corrective is that stated by the Biblical propehts, who teach that the true fast-day in which God delights is a spirit of devotion, kindliness, and penitence.

"The serious character impressed upon the day from the time of its institution has been preserved to the present day. No matter how much else has fallen into desuetude, so strong is its hold upon the Jewish conscience that few Jews, unless they have cut themselves entirely off from the synagogue, will fail to observe the Day of Atonement by resting from their daily pursuits and attending service in the synagogue. With a few exceptions, the service even of the Reform Jewish synagogues is continuous through the day."

In other words, Green's decision is closer to a Catholic fasting on Good Friday than deciding Christmas ham is more important than work.