A father in Connecticut is lamenting the fact that his son decided to not be the second coming of Sandy Koufax and will participate in his college football game. On Yom Kippur.

The father, in a Tablet Magazine article, laments how connected to Judaism his son was and how despondent this decision makes him (the father, not the son), but then he comes to terms with it and even sees a good side in it - the integration of the Jews into American society.

As sad as it might be that this young man has decided to play ball on Yom Kippur instead of respect and commemorate the solemnity of the day (whether in a shul or at home or even in a beer garden), the father need not be blamed for this decision (as is invariably happening online).

It might not be great that the father "is fine with it", but parents really cannot be blamed for the life-decisions made by older children. The most religious and connected people have children that have left the path pf religion, and practically every parent has a child or children that have chosen a different path or set of values than what the parents tried to imbue in them.

Our kids are people with their own minds and experiences, and no matter what a parent wants or does not want a kid to do, the kids will end up making their own decisions and going their own way. The parents are rarely to blame for the kids decisions.