Isn't It Strange for Jews to Celebrate New Year's Eve? Understanding Its Christian Roots

Who was Sylvester?

"Sylvester" was the first Christian pope, who lived around 1700 years ago. The date of December 31st was designated by the Catholic Church as a "holy" memorial day in his honor.

Sylvester gained fame as the first Christian leader to be given Roman authority to enforce Christianity by the Roman Emperor Constantine. This marked the beginning of a dark period for the Jewish people in exile, peaking in cruel persecutions and blood libels for over a thousand years. All this began after Sylvester was given control over human lives and the Christian role of eliminating "infidels against Christianity".

The English Wikipedia describes "Persecution of pagans" including Jews, from the time of Constantine – who appointed Sylvester as the first pope of the Christian church (mentioned under the entry "Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire"), stating:

"the Roman Empire was "completely tolerant... with the notable exceptions of the Jews" –

In quick translation: "The Roman Empire was completely tolerant... except for the notable exception of the Jews".

That is, there was persecution of Jews under the guise of "persecution of pagans" under Constantine's law, given to Sylvester.

In other sites, a debate is mentioned about whether Jews were also banned from entering the holy city of Jerusalem:

Historians have recorded that in 324 C.E., just one year prior to the convening of the Council of Nicaea, Sylvester convinced Constantine to forbid Jews from living in Jerusalem.

In a hotly debated point of historical order, many have contended that during the Council of Nicaea, Sylvester used his influence to push through a range of terrible anti-Semitic laws. Others have stated that anti-semitism was not so prevalent or deeply entrenched during Pope Sylvester’s reign. We are talking about Jerusalem affairs here. So of course, despite the whole story having happened some 1,700 years ago, academics have yet to resolve the matter

Sylvester I received authorization from Roman Emperor Constantine, and since then, subsequent Sylvesters and popes have used the monopoly given to Sylvester by the emperor in very evil ways. Even Hebrew Wikipedia indirectly admits this (entry "Sylvester" in Hebrew): "[Sylvester] indeed dealt with suppressing heretics of the unity of the Holy Trinity...".

The Israeli Wikipedians do not want to draw the obvious conclusion that Sylvester also harmed Jews who were "infidels against Christianity". Nevertheless, they cannot hide the fact that Sylvester I was the first to receive the law into his hands, leading to generations of Christian abuse of Jews, even according to those who do not want to attribute him direct harm to Jews.

Supporters of Sylvester will try to argue in response that the tyranny of the Sylvesters persecuted all opponents of Christianity, not just Jews... as if to suggest that the Holocaust was less terrible because the Nazis also slaughtered Gypsies and Russians. As stated in Hebrew Wikipedia: "Sylvester, who acted in the fourth century, did indeed suppress infidels of the unity of the Holy Trinity, but there is no evidence that he acted especially against Jews..." – Sylvester certainly "loved" Jews very much, and all the murdered in his days and thanks to his rule? Let's not let the facts bother us...

Although there is not enough historical information about "Sylvester I" to know if he started the Crusades in his days, he was undoubtedly the one who took control to do so – causing a lineage of Sylvesters and popes who oppressed Jews throughout Europe. Therefore, when people mention the name "Sylvester", they are essentially describing the beginning of Christian tyranny, from which 1,500 years of Jewish persecution by Christians began.

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What do Jews have to do with the Christian Sylvester?

Additionally, it's puzzling that the name "Sylvester" has somehow been established as the name of a national holiday in Israel.

The national holiday is named after the distinctly Christian name "Sylvester" not only in Israel, but also in Germany and Poland:

"The name Sylvester and its derivatives are used in many countries: Austria, Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Poland, the Czech Republic, France, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Serbia, Switzerland, as well as in Israel where it was celebrated under this name during the British Mandate" (Hebrew Wikipedia, Sylvester). The English Wikipedia under "Saint Sylvester's Day" states:

"Among the Western Christian Churches, the feast day is held on the anniversary of Saint Sylvester's death, 31 December, a date that, since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, has coincided with New Year's Eve."

The name "Sylvester" originates from the name of the "Christian saint", but what is this name doing in Israel? It seems the nickname arrived in Israel with new immigrants who were not very close to their Judaism.

Did you know that in 1934, even secular people from Tel Aviv were shocked by the very idea of celebrating Sylvester?

Notice in the 'Doar Hayom', December 19, 1934, about the prohibition on Sylvester parties

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Decline of Generations

What is the problem with celebrating the "civil year"?

This question is similar to what Jews living abroad, in Europe and the US, ask about celebrating "Christmas", where people sing in the streets and delight children with a decorated tree and gifts.

This is an innocent question that often comes from Jews who have lived all their lives among Christians and have become accustomed to their customs without examining their essence.

The decorated fir tree, gifts, and Santa Claus are festive additions invented by Christians to endear Jesus' birthday to their children. "Christmas" is named after the birth of Jesus, whom Christians view as the Messiah and a god who descended to be crucified for their sins (in English, the holiday is called "Christmas", short for Christ's mass). - On December 25, Christmas is celebrated for Jesus' birth.

For this reason, many Christians place a star atop the fir tree intended to symbolize the star seen by Jesus' three apostles on his birthday, and some add a figure of a baby representing Jesus in his cradle.

Although "Santa Claus" is not distinctly a Christian figure, he is nevertheless a character meant to serve the Christian holiday and endear it to children, similarly to, by analogy, an apple in honey on the Jewish New Year or dreidels during *Chanukah*.

Though Jews in Israel have not become accustomed to celebrating Christmas, *Baruch Hashem*, they have somehow gotten used to celebrating Sylvester. This celebration, according to many, is merely a "civil holiday". Really?

Everyone talks about the problematic name "Sylvester", but forget the main point: the "civil year" is meant to mark the Christian year counting from the coming of Jesus!

Despite historical evidence showing Jesus was born many years before the destruction of the Second Temple, Christians wanted to associate the destruction with his crucifixion – hence they decided to base the year count on his coming.

In most European languages, the year is marked with the letters AD, the Latin initials for the phrase Anno Domini, meaning "in the year of our Lord" (– Jesus Christ). Therefore, we Jews write Gregorian dates with the addition "according to their count", "to the Christian count", "before the count", etc., to indicate that this is not our count.

Wikipedia (entry "Christian dating") says:

"The counting system used today, "Year of Our Lord" (Anno Domini), was invented in Rome in 525 by a monk named Dionysius Exiguus, who worked on calculating the date of Easter. He dated Jesus' birth to the year 1 BCE. However, today everyone agrees this date is wrong... The first year after Jesus' birth is the year 1 in Christian count".

On this day, the Christian church chose to celebrate the passing of 2018 years since the coming of Jesus Christ, whom they see as the Messiah... Is there a more Christian idea than this?

We have learned that not only was the celebration date set by the Catholic Church in memory of the Christian Sylvester, but also the counting of the celebrated years is in memory of Jesus Christ. This is a "civil" holiday just as Christmas (intended to celebrate Jesus' birthday) is considered a "civil" holiday. The idea was and remains fundamentally Christian. This is a date and holiday the Christian church invented in memory of Jesus Christ and the "Christian saint" named Sylvester.

When a Jew celebrates the counting of 2018 years, he unknowingly celebrates 2018 years since Jesus Christ's coming, for this is the count set by the Christian church in his honor. Is it wise for Jews to celebrate the Christian count in memory of a false Messiah?

We have learned that the "civil year" is steeped in Christian elements: a day of the year appointed by the Christian church in memory of "Christian saint" Sylvester I, whose rule allowed Christians to embitter the lives of Jews for centuries, and 2018 years since Jesus Christ's birth. Therefore, we urge Jews to refrain from this.

We Jews should not celebrate Christian holidays or the Christian count. The Torah states: "Behold, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and not be reckoned among the nations" (Numbers 23:9).

After all, we have our own Hebrew year, passed down through our people for 3,300 years (more than 1,300 years before the first Christian was born). Our tradition is authentic, the Hebrew year is celebrated only by Jews of our nation, and not by any other nation in the world. All Jews celebrate Rosh Hashanah. This is the Jewish, Hebrew holiday, marking the counting of years since the world's creation.

Those who celebrate the civil year contradict the Hebrew year, which Jews should remember, our Hebrew holiday, which is Rosh Hashanah. We are the only people who celebrate the Hebrew year, and if we disdain our holiday in favor of the Christian year count, we will lose the Hebrew tradition that has accompanied our people for more than 3,300 years.