"So what are you guys doing on Sylvester?" An Israeli sometimes asks his average when he approaches December 31 every year. But when former USSRs are asked about this, they usually get upset and say, "What Sylvester in your head? We call it Novi Goode (New Year)." There is a question that further upsets them: "This is a Christian holiday, why do you even celebrate it?" As Novi Goode, much like Moroccan Jewry, took root in Israeli culture, it is time to explain to readers the nature of the holiday.

The holiday originated from 1699 when the First Czar Piotr decided to mark in the Russian Empire the new civilian year as is customary in Western Europe, from which he was deeply influenced by his travels - as part of his attempts to embrace the continent's customs and align with it. The Novi Goode origin is pagan and therefore the use of the fir tree as an ornament. The tree itself has no religious significance beyond the symbolic role of growth and regeneration, and it was probably chosen because it was widespread in Northern Europe. In the Soviet Union back then, as in Europe and North America today, people would buy real trees that were especially grown for this during the year.

After the Communist Revolution in 177, the Atheist government banned the marking of religious holidays throughout the Soviet Union. "Divinity" was expressed in communism and Vladimir Lenin was a prophet and a gospel commander in the world. The holidays that were set were absolutely civil: October Revolution Day on November 7, Workers Day on May 1, and beginning in 1945, Victory Day on Nazi Germany on May 9.

The Stalin regime realized in the late 1930s, which were extremely difficult years for the Soviet public, that it had to compromise and let the masses specify at least something of the Russian tradition of yesteryear, perhaps to prevent unrest, thus "letting the working class celebrate." Everyone celebrated without exception. For the Jews of the Commonwealth this was simply "another reason for the party" and a desire to be part of the community in which they live. When the Jews of the Soviet Union immigrated to Israel from the late 1980s, they brought the holiday with them. The Novi Goode is one of the links that link the immigrants to the historic homeland from which they did not completely disengage. Absorption difficulties and a completely different culture brought the "Russians" to the culture they left as much as possible.

The holiday became an official day off in the USSR from 1947 and the "Yolka" (fir tree) and the other brightly lit garlands decorated private homes, schools, squares and public institutions. It was the most colorful day of the year. The children waited impatiently for Dad Moroz's (grandfather's) visit. Frost) and Sangoruchka (Snow Girl, his granddaughter) who brought them presents, although there are some similarities to Santa Claus stories, though these two similes are from Slavic mythology and folk tales from one generation to the next. Them to each other.

Since my parents' childhood in the 1960s, and with the arrival of a certain economic well-being to the Soviet empire, it is customary to pick up champagne glasses at midnight on December 31, and of course to expect the head of the Kremlin state to speak and then 12 rings. In Israel the welcoming is the president, and sometimes also the prime minister, who even incorporates a few words into Russian. Throughout the night, special programs that were prepared months in advance were broadcast on TV, on all Russian channels. Mostly these are music shows, stand-ups, movie parodies, costume productions and live broadcasts from festivals and fireworks across the state. In between, eating the best meals, although sometimes the dishes were a hardened leg, which I try to avoid to this day. Anyone who has been able to buy a can of black caviar is considered a relatively affluent person. Russia also had a real winter outside and snow, which gave the holiday its enchanting look and encouraged the revelers to pick up a glass of vodka and greet each other "Good Nubes!"