Anyone who can read should know that Jesus was a Jew and that Jews circumcise their sons on their eighth day — assuming all is well with the boy.
Anyone who can count also knows that January 1 is eighth day after the alleged birth.
Count’em.
December 25 = 1
December 26 = 2
December 27 = 3
December 28 = 4
December 29 = 5
December 30 = 6
December 31 = 7
January 1 = EIGHTH DAY!
Beside welcoming the boy into the family, mitzvoth, and chupah, what do we do?
We party.
Usually our parties are more or less (in Israel less or more) controlled.
Lots of food.
Something to drink.
Maybe some dancing.
Lots of smoozing with out-of-town kin we won’t see again until the boy becomes a Bar Mitzvah.
Many of the nokreem — non-Jews — copy at least part of the Jewish life celebration. (A number of Jews also ape the nokreem with the idea of
and, like their non-Jewish mentors, carry the celebration to the extreme, turning it into a bacchanalia.
That’s not to claim that Dod Yosie (Uncle Joseph) didn’t drink a little to much and behave badly, but as a general rule Jewish parties — even henna and chupah — are more restrained than a nokeer’s New Year’s event.
It’s not enough that the non-Jews celebrate the circumcision of a Jew who many hate simply because he’s Jewish (or “Palestinian” if you believe revisionist history out or Ramallah), but they “stole” the party aspect, too.
I suspect that many (most?) of the celebrants are
(a) Not aware that Jan. 1 relates to a Jewish event
(b) That their god was born a Jew (hard to admit for some)
(c) That surgery was performed on him at the eighth day.
I don’t know of any non-Jews who celebrate a circumcision on the eighth day with a party. I understand the Muslims, some of whom circumcise their sons around the age of 13 (remembering Ismael who was 13 when Abraham circumcised everyone in his camp [Genesis 17: 24-27] ) make a celebration.
Some of Jesus’ orthodox followers may actually realize the meaning of Jan. 1, but for most, I suspect any religious aspect has been as far removed from the day as it has been removed from December 25 and similar holy days.
(This is not an uncommon practice. Look at Americans on Memorial Day — find a paper poppy; veterans largely are forgotten. Go to the beach in Tel Aviv in Yom Kippor, but be careful of flying matkot balls.)
And then there is “Sylvester”
In Israel, and now elsewhere as Israelis relocate around the globe, many Jews celebrate Dec. 31 (and well into Jan. 1) as “Sylvester.”
Sylvester was a bishop in Rome who later was named pope and even later was upgraded to saint.
There is a story (Wikipedia, http://tinyurl.com/ybtxch4e) that Sylvester cured Constantine of leprosy and converts him, not from paganism, but from Judaism!
The Jerusalem Post (http://tinyurl.com/yc7462q8) makes no bones about Sylvester as an anti-Semite. According to The Jerusalem Post, Israeli New Years, most commonly known as Sylvester, is named after an anti-Semitic pope. Not exactly what you’d expect in a Jewish state.
Sylvester convinced Constantine to prohibit Jews from living in Jerusalem, the year before the Council of Nicea convened, and during the council, the Pope arranged for the passing of various anti-Semitic legislation. Some say he is one of the most anti-Semitic Popes of all time.
As for this scrivener, I’ll try to remember to write “2019” instead of “2018” on correspondence; that’s my big celebration — and it lasts all year long.
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