why not celebrate our new year on Rosh Hashana?

London owned the NYE celebrations just look it up on Youtube.

Our Hebrew calendar is what, military? And anyway, my neighbourhood in working-class lower Haifa was quiet, and most people ordinary Israelis here just ate a light dinner, watched tv, and went to bed as usual. Call Sylvester Gregorian New Years, or Fiscal New Years, or Administrative or whatever. But not civilian! And no, it is not even a party night for several million Israelis at least.

I don't know why Israelis refer to New Year's Eve as Sylvester, which only makes it seem more alien for Jews. As far as I know this is a completely non-religious excuse for a party, unlike Rosh Hashana which is a religious festival and which we DO celebrate. Why not join in with ALL the rest of the world - we don't have to be different in everything, we just have to call it the civilian new year (shana hadasha ezrachit).

Marvella; I hate to break it to you, but 99.999% of the world calls this day New Years Day, not St. Sylvester's Day, and no one, but no one, except a few crazy fanatics, thinks of it as a religious holiday! Sylvester is a Loony Toons cartoon cat , and if you called the celebration St. Sylvester's Day here, people would laugh in your face. I suggest you enjoy a few Tweety Bird and Sylvester cartoons and lighten up.

Why not celebrate both, dont be a kill joy!!!.

Some say we are supposed to experience an "awakening" with the new age that is upon us. I sure hope so. Man has learned war and is proficient at it. May we learn peace and become proficient at that. I pray for peace for 2013 and may YOU be BLESSED with health and prosperity. Happy New Year Ynet-ers. !!!

One of the worst antisemitic characters in Christianity. Maybe in Israel they brought it up to mark distance, I don't know. But to say is an innocent celebration I am sorry, everything has a meaning. It doesn't require to be a fanatic to be aware of that. Then other will say that December 25th "is just a party" and not the commemoration of the birth of Jesus.

let's put this: on dec 25th, there might be born a Jew around 2000 years back in time and on Jan 1st was his bris...in addition, we, who were born abroad, have a little of goym, it is as simple as that. Our kids will not celebrate the gregorian new year but only jewish Holidays, so be it....YomTuv

You can either be a prisoner of your own 'culture' or you can join the world. I trust nos. 1 & 9 are consistent and only use the Hebrew calendar in their everyday lives and have totally abandoned the Gregorian calendar.

Since the Jewish calendar is lunar, it is wrong. It is ridiculous that Israel does not recognize 31 December as the real New Year's Eve, just as all the rest of the world does. It's time for Israel to enter the 21st Century and take the religion out of civil society.