2026 seasonal calendar, not insensitivity, begat the Ag Day/Rosh Hashanah overlap

I’m writing in my capacity as a Acton resident to address some recent comments we have received about Ag Day being scheduled on Rosh Hashanah this year.

The Agricultural Committee was aware that Ag Day 2026 would fall on the holiday when we set the date in September of last year. Both I (current chair of the Ag Committee) and my business partner (then a member of the committee, now the volunteer coordinator of the Ag Day event), Liza Bemis, are Jewish. 

While we would have preferred not to have the event coincide with Rosh Hashanah, there really were no other options without dramatically diminishing Ag Day. Our considerations included the late occurrence of Labor Day this year, farm staffing issues that local farms experience most acutely after school begins, diminished produce availability due to the waning of the season, and availability of the volunteers who make this event possible. 

The choice became whether to hold Ag Day (as has become standard) on the Saturday following Labor Day, or to not hold Ag Day at all; we decided to move forward with it. I think we were mistaken in not highlighting the date conflict early on and explaining that our decision wasn’t made in ignorance or disrespect. 

We, like many in and out of the Jewish community, are concerned with the resurgence of antisemitism and have no intent to contribute to its troubling rise.

I just wanted the community to know this was a decision that was discussed at length and not made lightly, and while some may think we came to the wrong conclusion, we did what we thought was in the best interest of Acton farmers. 

Brian Cramer

Monument Street

The author is chair of the Acton Agricultural Committee writing on his own behalf.