Happy Sylvester!
Every year around this time, my husband and I get into a debate.
He says: As Jews, we shouldn’t celebrate this New Year’s. We’re hooting and hollering over changing the calendar which recognizes time in terms of the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ?
I say: It’s totally secular. I even asked an Orthodox rabbi about this, and he said there is no reason a Jew couldn’t celebrate New Year’s Eve with the Champagne, noisemakers and a kiss at midnight.
He says: We have our own New Year (Rosh Hashanah). Why would we celebrate another one?
And so the circle goes round and round.
There are many New Years — the new school year; the new fiscal year, etc. all with varying levels of significance. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, occurs in the fall. It is our celebration of the birthday of the world, but it has deeper meaning than just popping corks and watching football. However, one similarity to the secular New Year is that Rosh Hashanah is a time for deep introspection. We ask that we may be granted a good year. We start with a clean slate, having repented (and starving ourselves) during Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) that is observed 10 days after Rosh Hashanah.
In my opinion the secular New Year’s Eve is merely an excuse to have some fun with good friends, as we have chosen to “observe” it for the fast few several years. And what’s so sacrireligious about watching a ball drop?
Several years ago I had the good fortune to visit Israel, landing there on January 1, and was introduced to Sylvester. That’s how Israelis refer to New Year’s Eve, a tradition that has its origins from Europe. December 31st is the Catholic Feast of Sylvester, which celebrates a fourth-century pope who incidentally prohibited Jews from living in Jerusalem. (Most Israelis don’t even know why they call it Sylvester. It’s not without controversy, but I digress).
By calling it Sylvester, Israeli Jews separate the secular holiday from the religiously and culturally significant Rosh Hashanah. A Sylvester party is just the same as a New Year’s one, just packaged under a new name. And it is another excuse to party, however, without the required day off of work after since January 1 is just another day in Israel.
So I’m still going to have pizza with our friends tonight, and I’ll probably still watch that ball drop. Ironically enough, I just had another rabbi friend wish me a Happy New Year on Facebook.
But instead, I’ll wish all of you a very Happy Sylvester indeed!
Laura Weisskopf Bleill, a co-founder of chambanamoms.com, will probably fall asleep before the clock strikes midnight tonight. She writes “Being a Jew in C-U,” a column about being a Jewish suburban girl in a cornfield, on Thursdays. You can reach her at laura@chambanamoms.com.
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Thanks for this enlightening article, Laura. I had never thought of it, nor knew about “Sylvester”. You have taught me so much this year. Since I missed your Rosh Hashanah greetings in the fall, I’ll greet you will a continued great year! Keep up the good work!
That’s really interesting and I had never thought of New Years as being at all offensive to a Jewish person.
Really, celebrating the New Year in the way you describe above (by having a party and staying up until midnight), is just like celebrating the secularized Christmas, isn’t it? If you celebrate with gifts and a party, what’s religious about it? This is the way most people seem to celebrate Christmas anyway, right?
So, I say, why not celebrate? Only YOU know what’s truly in your heart, and of course, God.
See the following for an interesting take on whether Jews can or cannot celebrate New Year’s Eve:
http://www.oztorah.com/2010/12/new-years-ev-ask-the-rabbi/
For what it’s worth, the beginning of the Catholic year – and I believe that of other Christian religions – is Advent not New Year’s.
Brandi,
That’s my point EXACTLY. Jews are inconsistent (some might say hypocritical) on this philosophy.
From emes’ post:
“The ruling of Rav Moshe Feinstein is, “If a holiday is based on religious belief, such celebrations are prohibited to Jewish people”. He adds, “The first day of the non-Jewish year, 1 January, and American Thanksgiving are not prohibited according to halachah because today they no longer have any religious significance, but those who are particular should be strict in respect of them” (Igrot Moshe, Even HaEzer 2:13).
Santa Claus has NO religious significance whatsoever. Nip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Yet my wife, like many other Jews, won’t hesitate to castigate any Jew who would dare have his/her child on Santa’s lap, or have Santa leave presents, etc.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating that Jews start leaving cookies for Santa. I’m saying they should be consistent. And Santa Claus has exactly the same religious significance as New Year’s Eve, if you’re buying my wife’s argument or the rabbi’s argument.
This “Sylvester” thing is absolutely outrageous because it shows how some people have to look for the most obscure Christian connection to denigrate a secular celebration as Christian. It is a good guess that around the world, practically NO ONE celebrates a “Sylvester” on New Year’s Eve, and if asked, most celebrants would have no idea what this is at all. Religious fanatics need to stop fearing every single celebration that doesn’t originate with Jewish tradition. New Year’s was first celebrated on January 1 in 153 BCE in Rome to celebrate the inauguration of consuls. Julius Ceasar kept the date when he created his calendar in 46 BCE. The Jewish year is a lunar year, and the secular year is a solar year. We are connected with both the Sun and the Moon, so it makes sense to celebrate both. Creating arbitrary prohibitions will only alienate more people.