A Boston television station is holding the initial Massachusetts gubernatorial debate on the first night of Rosh Hashanah.
WBZ-TV chose the Sept. 8 date of the debate, the Boston Herald reported. Starting at 7 p.m., the debate will be aired when many Jews are attending High Holidays services.
The debate will be rebroadcast at 10 p.m. Sept. 11 and will be available to watch on the Internet after the holiday, the station told the newspaper.
“We do not support a major public event being held on a major Jewish holiday,” Anti-Defamation League director Derrek Shulman told the Boston Herald. “There is a risk people would be disadvantaged because of their sincerely held belief in Judaism.”
Jill Stein, the candidate for the Green-Rainbow coalition, who is Jewish, agreed to participate in the debate, telling the newspaper that “it’s my policy never to avoid a debate.”
