Thread by @JewWhoHasItAll

#DearTeachers,

Some of your students may be requesting a day off to celebrate the Chag Milat Yeshu, also known as the Pope Gregory Rosh Hashanah, and is observed by Christian people as the #Christian #NewYear.

1/x

Although Rosh Chodesh has already passed, #Christians do not observe our secular Rosh Chodesh. Instead, Christian people follow a #religious #calendar established by Pope Gregory, and the Pope Gregory Rosh Hashanah does NOT coincide with a new moon.

2/x

(Christian #holidays are set according to the Pope Gregory Calendar, which is not a lunisolar calendar like the normal one, and is why most of their holidays move around the year.)

3/x

(A “Pope” is like the Christian chief rabbi who rules over #MedinatVatican and all Christians.)

4/x

Some Christian minhagim consider that Yom Christmas begins a 12-day period known as the Shneim-Asar Yemei Christmas, sometimes referred to as “Christmastide” by Christians. This 12-day period is the religious core of the #Christian #Holiday #Season.

5/x

Eight days (inclusive) after “Christmas” they celebrate as as their Rosh Hashanah ‘Chag Milat Yeshu,’ sometimes known as the “Feast of the Circumcision,” the day of the prophet Yeshu’s bris.

The event happened a bit over 2000 years ago.

6/x

The Christian calendar labels the years before the bris as “BC”, which stands for “Before the Circumcision.”

7/x

This year, Pope Gregory Rosh Hashanah falls on Tevet 8–9. You may assume that since their Rosh Hashanah has two days, that it must be a two-day yom tov, like the secular Rosh Hashanah.

Wrong!

8/x

The Christian day starts in the middle of the night, so the Pope Gregory New Year begins in the middle of the night, on the night of Tevet 8th, then continues until the middle of the night on the 9th.

9/x

On Erev Pope Gregory Rosh Hashanah, some Christians clean their homes to remove and discard dirt and stale energy. On the following day, they open windows to let bad old air out and fresh new air in.

10/x

Christians do not light candles, say a bracha, or make kiddush to welcome in the yom tov.

11/x

Frum Christians may mark the beginning of their chag with a special late-night maariv service at the Christian shul. This service is called “Watch Night.” They daven until the new year officially begins according to their calendar.

12/x

Other Christians daven all night long for Christian Selichot as they prepare for the “feast” of their prophet’s bris.

(Although it is called a “feast” there is no seudat mitzvah in honor of the bris and the festive meal may consist of a variety of appetizers.)

13/x

There are a variety of colorful customs and superstitions surrounding Pope Gregory Rosh Hashanah.

14/x

Some Christians observe normal Rosh Hashanah minhagim with which we are all familiar, such as eating symbolic foods as simanim for luck & prosperity in the new year. Some familiar symbolic foods include black-eyed peas, fish, and leafy greens.

15/x

Less familiar symbolic choices are to eat swine flesh and a special maize kugel referred to as “cornbread,” even though maize is a New World food not available to ancient Vaticanians.

16/x

Secular Christians celebrate the yom tov, and the adjacent preceding holiday, Yom Saint Sylvester Ha’Kadosh, with parties and drinking until they can no longer differentiate between the old year and the new year.

17/x

When the exact moment of the new year approaches, they loudly count down in unison from ten, watching a timer or clock, and then at the moment of the new year at “midnight,” they kiss the person nearest to them.

18/x

If they are strict about negiyah, they celebrate by making noise with a grogger or a Pope Gregory New Year’s shofar, which is usually constructed of plastic and paper.

19/x

Some Christian families will litter their floor with a shower of “confetti.” (Confetti is a Modern Latin word meaning “sweets” but now resembles large pieces of glitter.)

20/x

Secular Christians depict the moment of the New Year as “Father Time” (Kronos in the ancient polytheistic Greek tradition), hands off timekeeping duties to a new Baby New Year.

21/x

Baby New Year should not be confused with baby Yeshu, the Christian prophet whose brit milah anniversary is being celebrated.

22/x

The proximity of Pope Gregory’s Rosh Hashana to Chanukah is a coincidence, so none of us should be offended that a Greek deity personifies a year on their calendar.

23/x

Like Yom Christmas, there are typically no morning services for Pope Gregory’s Rosh Hashanah. The frum Christians have already davened all night and the secular Christians are hungover from their parties.

24/x

Check GregCal.com if you need to know the exact date of Pope Gregory’s Rosh Hashanah or any Christian holiday. It is a good resource for Christian holiday dates since they move around so much from year to year.

25/x

Like Yom Christmas, Pope Gregory’s Rosh Hashanah falls on First Day this year and each is a one-day yom tov, even outside of the Christian homeland of Vatican.

26/x

Since they fall on the weekend, and there is no work prohibition anyway, students should not need to miss any days of school.

27/x

It is appropriate to require a note from their Christian rabbi if they will be absent for these observances.

Kol tuv,
Principal Noga Jacobsen
Yochanan Cohen #PublicSchool
#MedinatAmerica

28/28