[etni] fw: Gregorian New Year
- From: "Ask Etni" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
- To: "Etni" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:09:38 +0200
From: Sharon Tzur <sharontzu5@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Gregorian New Year
What disturbs me most about celebrating Jan 1st in Israel is not the
Christian source of the holiday - (Let's face it - about 95% of the
people who celebrate the New Year are not thinking of either of Pope
Sylvester, or the circumcision of Jesus - it has become a secular
holiday) - What bothers me is the nature of the holiday itself.
First, let me say that what I'm about to write does NOT apply to those
people who DO see the New Year as a religious holiday. I respect the
Christian religion, and those who celebrate the holiday as Christians
and I certainly wish my Christian friends and colleagues a Happy New
Year - just as I wish them a Merry Christmas.
However, the SECULAR holiday that New Years is for most people is
generally celebrated with parties that generally include rowdiness and
getting drunk. Making a toast (i.e. - on an alcoholic beverage) at
midnight is part and parcel of the holiday, and that drink is usually
one of many. I still remember one New Year's party I attended where
everyone got so drunk that half the people had gotten sick. My feeling
is that that particular "tradition" is the main part of the celebration
here in Israel as well. The last thing that our students need is a
"celebration" at which alcohol is the main star, and in which getting
drunk is considered acceptable and normative behavior.
Once, toward Rosh HaShana - my mother told a gentile friend of hers that
she'd soon be celebrating the "New Year". Her friend "toasted" her with
an imaginary glass and yelled, "HAPPY NEW YEAR" - in the style of
January first. To that, my mother (who is not Orthodox) chuckled inside
and said to her friend, "With us, it's not exactly that kind of New
Year". In our tradition, the New Year is not marked by loud parties,
drunkenness, and kissing strangers. The secular celebration of the
Gregorian New Year is not one of the universals that I'm interested in
sharing.
The only part of New Year that I do think has some positive value is the
notion of New Year's resolutions - the universal need of people to turn
over a new leaf and improve themselves. This is the one aspect of New
Year's I'd relate to - but I'm afraid that the negative aspects of the
celebration outweigh the positive aspects.
Note - I have to admit that despite being Orthodox, I have a big problem
with the drinking on Purim too. My only "line of defense" is that the
drinking on Purim is clearly - considered to be an aberration - a once
in a year thing - whereas New Year's drinking is part of a culture in
which drinking is considered a key element in "having fun".
Sharon Tzur
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