George Allen's Day of Atonement

Even though he still eats ham sandwiches and prays to Jesus, it looks like Sen. George Allen will be reaching for a Hebrew National hot dog (after sundown, of course) this Monday, on Yom Kippur.

Allen has postponed a long scheduled hearing for Monday, all because he's "newly Jewish," as the spokeswoman for the group involved in the field hearing explained to me. The National Association of Women Business Owners politely suggested a date change after reading the shocking revelation that Allen's mother -- and, therefore, the Senator himself -- is Jewish.

"He's Jewish and Monday is Yom Kippur," explained Brynn Slate, spokeswoman for the National Association of Women Business Owners, completely matter-of-factly to HOH.

Allen spokesman David Snepp said the date of the hearing, which will explore women-owned businesses vying for federal contracts, was changed at the request of the association. And technically, that's true.

After reading about the blockbuster revelation that Allen is (technically) Jewish, the deputy executive director of the women's business association, Michele Jerome, contacted Allen's staff to see if the Senator would prefer delaying the hearing until after the holiest day of the year for Jews.

"The date was set and then Michele contacted one of his staff because she had read that he had sort of -- I don't know what you would call it -- he had just announced that he's newly Jewish," Slate told us. "So Michele contacted them to ask if they would want to change it because of the holiday."

Slate said the Allen staffer "got back to" the executive director of the association and "said yes, he'd like to move it to the 3rd."

We ran this explanation past Snepp, Allen's spokesman. He replied, "If the group wanted to change the date of this field hearing in honor of the Jewish holiday, that is certainly appropriate, and Sen. Allen is looking forward to the testimony the following day on how to get more women-owned businesses fairly represented in federal contracts."

Hey, now Allen even has a Jewish nickname. Overheard at a party the other night: "Sen. Macacawitz."

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