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 having fun on that day, and is there any need to avoid it at all?
Answer
Avoid going out and having fun on that day? Participating in that day’s celebrations, maybe—but just going out for fun? What’s the problem with that?
I don’t know of any special problem with this. There is a slight element of following gentile customs here, but it seems to me completely within the reasonable range, and it is certainly no longer connected to any idolatry.