Starting Over At New Year's

Turning Jan. 1 into a Jewish-themed celebration

By Rabbi Brad Hirschfield for MyJewishLearning
For some Jews, the idea of celebrating New Year's on December 31 makes them feel uncomfortable.

They see the holiday as part of secular tradition and therefore not "Jewish." Some choose not to participate because they see it as a betrayal of Jewish tradition.
Why is commemorating an American custom viewed so suspiciously? Are we afraid that it will somehow make Jewish traditions seem less compelling, or are we so obsessed with our own uniqueness that we fail to see our connection to the wider world?

If our purpose is just to be different, then it's not worth it.

How to Celebrate

The question is not whether we should or shouldn't celebrate. But how should we do it? Is there a way to mark the holiday Jewishly? There are Jewish insights that we can bring to the occasion that would make it more meaningful.

New Year's marks a time when people everywhere celebrate the possibility of building a better tomorrow. It symbolizes the human desire to demarcate the past from the future, the old from the new. But what if we really understood that our words-our resolutions and commitments-could create a new beginning? What if we really believed that our vows had the power to help us get past the past?

There is a deep human desire to be able to start again, not to be imprisoned by the past. We need to feel hope for new possibilities and see that our future is not governed entirely by our history. It's no surprise that the images of the Grim Reaper and Father Time look alike and that the symbol for the New Year is a baby. We cut down some of the old and make space for something new.

Jewish Ideals

These are very much "Jewish" ideas as well. Jewish tradition celebrates the ability to start over throughout the year. In Jewish life every day, every week, and at many other times, we are given the chance to begin again. To integrate another celebration is very much in keeping with our tradition.

In daily morning prayers, Jews thank God for renewing the world. Every Shabbat we recall the first moment of creation, and by doing so, give ourselves the chance to start over. At Rosh Hashanah, Jews everywhere celebrate the birthday of the world, and even in the Mishna, the code of law, we recognize multiple Rosh Hashanahs (New Year's), so to commemorate an additional one is not foreign to Jewish practice.

Tips

Here are some suggestions for making New Year's more Jewish:

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Santa Comes To Jaffa

Steve Lipman for The Jewish Week

Yes, those are children dressed as Santa Claus—Israeli Arab children.

In Jaffa, a mixed Jewish-Arab part of the Greater Tel Aviv municipality, which plays a prominent role in the New Testament and is home of the famed St. Peter’s Church and to some 6,500 Christian residents, Christmas becomes visible each year – unlike in most of Israel, where it is barely noticed.

This week a 45-foot-high Christmas tree went up in Jaffa’s Andromeda area. The kids were part of the holiday celebration, which annually joins Christmas festivities in Jerusalem’s Christian Quarter, Bethlehem’s Manger Square and Nazareth’s Christmas Market.

Jaffa’s Christian population includes Catholics, Protestants, Copts, Maronites and Greek Orthodox. For them, and for other Christians in the Holy Land, Christmas — in the land where Jesus walked — is usually less commercialized than in most Western countries. Christmas celebrations in Israel feature liturgical concerts and holiday parades and Midnight Mass; don’t bother looking for Christmas sales at department stores.

Every year the Jewish National Fund raises some Arizona cypress trees for use as Christmas trees, and some grocery stores have started to stock Christmas candy — marshmallows in the shape of snowmen and Christmas trees, and foil-wrapped Santa chocolates.

For Christian pilgrims, Israel’s Ministry of Tourism recently launched a “Gospel Trail,” a 39-mile track of New Testament sites in the Galilee.

Be Proud of Your Jewish Identity (Even in a Christmas Pageant)

We need to stay true to and proud of our Jewish identity, even while negotiating a multitude of roles.

by Judy Bolton-Fasman for 614HBIeZine
This is not a story about God’s fifth commandment to honor one’s parents, although there is a lesson to be learned from that here. This is a story about forging a 614th commandment – Be Proud of Your Jewish Identity – and it goes back to the time I graduated ninth grade at the Hebrew Academy of Greater Hartford. I was a three-times-a-day praying, kosher-eating, Shabbat-observant, modestly clothed young woman who aimed to fulfill all of God’s 613 commandments. I wanted nothing more than to go to Bais Yaakov High School in Borough Park. This time, my father put his foot down. Under no circumstances would his daughter be associated with Hasidim.

But I was desperate. I wanted to be the best Jew in the world. That meant I would not go to school with boys. This was 1975, and I wrote to the Lubavitcher Rebbe for advice. To my great surprise, he answered me through his emissary Rabbi X. The Rebbe told me that, above all else, I must honor my mother and my father. He also sent along a dollar bill, which I saved for years because it had touched the Rebbe’s hands.

Despite the Rebbe’s sage recommendation and his tacit blessing, my choices remained limited for single-sex education if I were to stay home with my parents. My father had pushed for Miss Porter’s School. He pointed out that Jackie Kennedy Onassis was a graduate. Miss Porter’s would turn me into a refined young woman – the kind of Episcopal-Jew that Dad dreamed I would become. But I could not imagine showing up at such a bastion of preppiness with sleeves below my elbow, skirts below my knee, and collars up to my neck. Miss Porter’s was about sleeveless Lily Pulitzer dresses and immodest field hockey skirts.

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The Jewish Mother’s Guide to Surviving Santa

By Alina Adams for Kveller

As someone who learned English from watching TV, wrote a Master’s Thesis about TV, then worked in TV, I feel I can say with certainty that Christmas specials, be they rip-offs (sorry, homages) of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “A Christmas Carol,” or “Miracle on 34th Street,” all share a common message: Nonbelievers Snooze, Nonbelievers Lose.

Now, would that be non-believers in Christ? Nah. What does he have to do with anything? TV is talking about non-believers in Santa (or his designated representative, The Christmas Spirit). TV kids (and adults) who believe in Santa get all their wishes answered. Like that episode of “Silver Spoons” where Ricky Shroder’s friend was homeless and living in a cave with his family and then woke up Christmas morning to find a bright, shining tree all decked out with presents. (Finding a place to plug a string of lights inside a cave seems like the true Christmas miracle to me, but what do I know?) Or, for the youngsters among you, remember that episode of “Glee” where Brittany believed in Santa Claus and wished for Artie to walk again and Christmas morning brought him robotic legs (which, fun fact, are made in Israel)?

And those who don’t believe, well, you deserve whatever you’ve got coming. (Or not coming, as the case may be.) It’s got to be true. I saw it on TV.

Do the nice people who make television, and its near-mandatory Christmas episodes, realize that’s the message they’re sending? Are they doing it deliberately?

I don’t think so, and no, they aren’t.

I sincerely think the show’s creators are under the impression that they’re presenting a universal message about the value of faith, hope, and believing in miracles (hey, that last one is almost Hanukkah-ish, isn’t it? If you squint a little?).

Some of the best stuff on TV might very well be an ecumenical Christmas show. But, as the saying goes: Would you want your kid to watch one?

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Hanukkah’s Over, Now What?

A message to carry you through the dark days of winter

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