I propose that there are four kinds of secular national holidays. The first are federal holidays with secular origins, and which are secularly celebrated, like Veterans Day. Marking those days are permitted and encouraged when proper values come from them. Thus, Jewish veterans should march is parades on Veterans Day, as a sign of patriotism.
The second are federal holidays of religious origins that are still celebrated religiously by many; Christmas is an example. Celebrations of Christmas need to avoided according to halacha. Next are holidays that, while secular in origin, are now celebrated religiously – there are none now in America, but the coronation of a new king or queen in England is an example of that, as are Shinto nationalistic holidays in Japan. Christian celebrations of secular holidays need to be avoided.
This article discusses the final category: federal holidays that are religious in origin but are now seemingly celebrated secularly, with New Year’s Day as an excellent example of that.
In order to permit celebrating a holiday with clearly pagan origins, one of four conditions must be met, as noted by Rema in Yoreh Deah 178:1 and the commentaries there:
- The holiday has an additional secular origin.
- The conduct of those who celebrate the holiday can be rationally explained independent of its pagan origins.
- The pagan origins of the holiday, or the Catholic response to it, are so deeply hidden that they have essentially been forgotten, and the celebrations can be attributed to some secular source or reason.
- The activities and events commemorated by the holiday are consistent with Jewish tradition.
While the complete origins of January 1st as New Year’s Day are cloaked in historical mystery, Wikipedia summarizes the history well:
In pre-Christian Rome, under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, for whom January is also named. … In Christendom, 1 January traditionally marks the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ … As a date in the Christian calendar, New Year’s Day liturgically marked the Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus, which is still observed as such in the Anglican Church, the Lutheran Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and in Traditional Catholicism by those who retain the usage of the General Roman Calendar of 1960. The mainstream Roman Catholic Church celebrates on this day the Solemnity of Mary….
What is absolutely clear is that our modern celebration of January 1 is driven by a Papal decree. As one source on the page notes (from www.ancient-origins.net):
A Pope Restored the January 1st Celebration: In 1582, after reform of the Gregorian calendar, Pope Gregory XIII re-established January 1st as New Year’s Day. Although most Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar almost immediately, it was only gradually adopted among Protestant countries. Countries belonging to the Eastern Orthodox Church did not readily adopt the Gregorian calendar either.
It is also quite clear, on a historical level, that Catholic Europe celebrated New Year’s Day religiously for centuries both before and after this papal decree. Indeed, consider the simple remarks of Rema, writing in his Darchei Moshe (YD 148) quoting the Terumat HaDeshen:
It is written in the Terumat HaDeshen, chapter 195, that even nowadays one who wants to send [gifts] on the eighth day after Christmas, which is called New Year’s, should do so on the day before [i.e. December 31st] and not on the day of the holiday itself. However, if the day before the holiday falls out on Shabbat, then one may send gifts on the day of the holiday itself. This is because it could lead to hatred [eiva] if one sends gifts any later or earlier than these days.
While Rema, in his commentary to the Shulchan Aruch, does not quote this formulation exactly as it is written here, one suspects that this is a result of censorship and not because the matter is in dispute. According to Rema, New Year’s Day is a Christian Holiday (indeed the formulation in the Terumat HaDeshen makes it clear that we are discussing the “eighth day of Christmas” as much as we are discussing New Year’s Day) whose celebration must be avoided and can only be marked when long-term life-threatening hatred to our community will result if gifts are not given.
On the other hand, nowadays this reality seems to have completely changed. New Year’s Day – in contrast to Christmas – seems to have completely lost its Christian overtone. Even in the deep Christian South, where I work, there are no indications that connect New Year’s Day to Christianity. Even the “first generation” Hindu and Muslim communities in Atlanta, who would never celebrate Christmas or any Christian holidays, have New Year’s Eve parties. It is obvious that the status of New Year’s Day has changed in the last three hundred years.
Indeed, in contemporary America, there is little religious content or expression to New Year’s Day. Few would classify it as a religious holiday, as there are clear secular practices and reasons for celebrating New Year’s Day. Therefore, as per reason number 3, it has lost its status as a current Christian holiday. Rabbi Feinstein in Igrot Moshe 2:13 notes this himself when discussing celebrating New Year’s:
The first day of their year [January 1] . . . are not prohibited according to the technical halacha to mark, but pious people [baalei nefesh] should be strict [not to do so].
This insight, written in 1953, in a more Christian and religious America, is even more true nowadays. The Christian origins of New Year’s Day are even more concealed nowadays than a half century ago. New Year’s Day is now secular and may be celebrated in some way.
Modes of Celebration
We must determine what we really mean by “celebrating” New Year’s Day. Once this question is resolved, we will have a good idea on how we should conduct ourselves from the perspective of halacha. Since New Year’s Day clearly has pagan origins, as noted above, in order to permit participating in something that might have Christian or other religious origins, one must be able to show that the practice one wants to do is devoid of Christian origins.
For example, countless synagogues schedule a later davening on New Year’s Day, as is done on Sundays, even if that “celebrates” the day in some way. The later davening time can be explained as simply reflecting the fact that most people do not work on January 1 or on any Sunday in America (even though Sunday was selected because it is the day of Christian rest). Waking up a little later than usual when not having to go to work is a rational activity when not working and is thus permitted. So too, the idea of making New Year’s resolutions to better oneself, and taking stock of one’s secular accomplishments and failures, does not seem foreign to Jewish tradition, and we can easily support such practices around a secular new year.
So too, an employer who owns a business is much better off halachically, by giving “New Year’s bonuses” to workers, rather than giving “Christmas bonuses” or “holiday bonuses.” So too, I think that one may go to a New Year’s office party when one feels that such conduct is appropriate and is an expected part of the office culture in which one works, and that nothing improper occurs. This is especially true if participating will better safeguard one’s economic security or a potential promotion. It goes without saying, however, that all other aspects of halacha must be maintained when participating in such events. Nevertheless, although it is ultimately permitted to participate in such events, I think that Rabbi Feinstein’s assertion, that avoiding such things is “the conduct of the pious,” should be preferred.
In sum, New Year’s Day is a secular holiday with Christian origins, whose celebration does not violate halacha anymore, so long as it is celebrated in a way that lacks Christian origins.
