Q&A: Celebrating the Civil New Year
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Celebrating the Civil New Year
Question
Hello Rabbi, is there any problem with celebrating the civil new year? To what extent is it appropriate to avoid going out and celebrating on this day, and is there any need to avoid it at all?
Answer
I don’t think there is any halakhic problem with it. In today’s world, this is a holiday that is not connected to religion. There may perhaps be some reason to avoid it in order to sharpen one’s distancing from Christianity.
Discussion on Answer
I already answered that. Following gentile customs, simply put, means idolatrous practices. Today that is no longer the framework of these celebrations. Is wearing blue jeans also following gentile customs?
Doesn’t this fall under following gentile customs?