Jews who celebrate are Jews who are non-observant and do not celebrate Jewish holidays as they should be observed.

All I know it's the western, non Jewish/Christian New Year, which it will make it so-- a Christian new year. All the others, Buddhists, Muslims, Shintoists, Hindus they all have their own new year, and as far as I know about Judaism we have our Rosh ha Shana as our new year.

It's called a New Year's Eve (Dec. 31). Very simple. Rosh HaShana is a Rosh HaShana (1 Tishrei), New Year's Eve is a New Year's Eve. Never heard of "Civil New Year". Please fire your translator.

If Israelis (Jews) are just taking a long weekend off - fine. But why celebrate the Christian holiday? Does anyone else find it offensive that in the Jewish state, after 1,900 years of exile Jews celebrate "Sylvester"? It's called that after the Christian Saint Sylveter and by the way it's what Dec 31 is called in Austria & Germany of all places. Must Israelis, so eager to be "western" adopt this holiday and must YNet also use the Chriisian name? If you must, just refer to it as secular new year's.

Why shouldnt we celbrate, we are part of the real world to. As a secular jew i do not celbrate jewish holidays as i no longer want me and my family to associate with a religion of hatred and intollerence, just look what these ultra orhthadox have done to our heritage. Forcing religioon non belivers and as a gay man we are not welcome anyway and are subjected to hate campaigns. So we stopped practicing jewdism and to be honest feel tottaly liberated from that nonsense. BTW I thought Sylvester was the cat in in the warner brothers cartoon !

Please explain to me what is Sylvester (apart from a cartoon cat!). I lived in UK for the first 28 years of my life and never heard of it. My synagogue always had a New years eve party and invited Xtians and Muslems as it was a Non- religious festival. Seems to me that Sylvester was invented by the Haridim Rabbis so they could control a non religious festival over which they have not juristiction. To claim that New Year is a commemeration of an antisemetic saints is ridiculous for 2 reasons. 1.There is a saints day for every day of the year. 2. Almost all saints are antisemetic.

Even in Israel i still use the "Christian" calender, this is ridiculous the rest of the world says it is 2010, its the norm of society and nothing to do with the religious aspect, everybody just needs to have a beer and hope for another happy and healthy new year, plus should we not all look at this situation as having 2 new years?

birth of Christ. realy heart warming after all he was jewish monarch. as for sylvester, you r still stuck in the 80's, (shaking my head) snap out of it there r much better cartoons than the looney tunes from the 80's.

mmm I also adopted Hindu holidays, they sure know how to party, I am collecting holidays the only problem is that jews and chritians got the same holidays and it narrow my options but still very recomended.

out of Galut, but you can't take the Galut out of Jews. And seculars accuse the religious of having a "galut" mentality...

As I remember Sylvester is named after Pope Sylvester who set the date for the NEW year to flip. As for Jews here who "reject" this celebration out of fear for Christian society..time to leave your mental ghetto. The whole world uses this date as a world wide norm in addition to religious groups using other dates relevant to their cultures. This fear of the greater world I remember started with Begin's paranoia of the "goyim" and has only spread deeper into israeli society and politics.... what happened to the verse in HaTikvah.."l'hiot am chofshee b'artzeynu...." [ "...to be a free people in our land"].. Free people stand up proud and join the "party" w/o fear and loathing of the world...Rabin got it.. Happy New Year 2010 !