The New Years Holiday is celebrated much differently between Judaism and the West’s celebratory day.  My memories of watching people celebrate New Year’s Eve when I grew up in the West were:

 
1) Partying
2) Drinking (getting drunk or tipsy)
3) Toasting at midnight
4) Making New Years Resolutions
January 1st  is not what G-d has proclaimed to be the start of the New year.  The New Year is ‘Rosh Hashana’ which usually falls in September on the Gregorian calendar,  and is filled with prayers, praises to G-d,  festive meals, and blessings for a better year for all of creation.  It is then culminated with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which brings us (during the ten days) to apologize for past sins, make amends where able, and otherwise do deep introspection with  resolutions to do better in the next year. 

Yet, acknowledging that many Gentiles observe January 1st as the new year, I wish to offer some words of advice to help make this celebration of yours more meaningful and constructive .

From the list I gave above, numbers 1 and 3 are nice. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating by going to a friend’s  home for a party, in what you consider the new year.
Making a toast is also a nice gesture, as long as the toast is a positive one.  It’s numbers 2 and 4 where problems arise.

My mother would not even let me out on Dec. 31 from the fear of drunk drivers. But we all know about the DUI problem around the world.  It’s the ‘New Year’s resolution’ attempts I’d like to address in this piece. 

I know how many times I myself have had said I was going to be a ‘better person’ this next year, and then, the year went by, and I didn’t improve much.  The problem I had, which many of us place amongst ourselves is that we make resolutions that are too general or too steep for us to climb.

Below is a list of ideas to help make changes in our lives, that much more successful:

1) Make a List.  What thing/s would you like to change about yourself.
2) Eliminate unrealistic goals.   For instance, “I want to be a millionaire by the end of the year", or  "I want to be a perfect parent, student, teacher, etc."   and instead concentrate on how you can become better at it. Work TOWARDS being a better person, parent, co-worker, sibling, servant of G-d, etc….
3) Break your goals down to manageable steps.  For instance, if it is to lose weight, commit to shedding those pounds by resolving to join a gym or a weight loss group before the month is over, or even just choose to eliminate one bad eating habit, etc.. (Please cheer me on in this as well, (grin))  If  your goal is to be more of a loving and patient parent or co-worker, then break that goal down into stating, “Whenever I get upset, I will silently repeat in my head, “Thank you G-d, for giving me this opportunity to work on my character defect of  impatience or… (fill in the blank)."
4) Have tools ready for yourself.  If you are impatient and want to work on that characteristic, have tools you can use ready for the moment.  Count to ten or clench your fists and then make a joke out of the issue, or remember a situation where you also failed and give the other person the benefit of the doubt, even though it is your nature not to do so.  There are many tools we should have at our disposal for emergency on the scene use. Tools are essential to succeed. Write these tools down and post them somewhere you will see them, as when you are angry or impatient, one can't remember or concentrate on what to do.  Tools need to be accessible!
5) Find alternatives.  Do you wish to quit a bad habit like smoking, but you smoke to relax yourself? Then find another form of relaxation that’s available to you, or find a less dangerous substitute.
6) Pray to G-d.  Pray that G-d helps you in your efforts to become a better person.  Speak to G-d and tell Him that you are trying to do this to better serve Him, to make this world a better place one person at a time, and that you need His help.

I have found that these tools have helped me achieve my goals more successfully.  Yes, it means sometimes taking smaller steps which may not make news headlines, but these baby steps move me forward to where I want to go in really succeeding in improving myself.  It’s a lot better than making big toasts and big, almost impossible goals to keep.

Perhaps some of our readers have their own personal stories, tools, or ideas that helped them improve their own character defects.  I think we would all benefit from hearing them.
L”chaim!  To Life!

Holidays are given to us to in order to remind us who we are. We remember the history and the importance of the day and use it to develop and mold us into better people so we can serve G-d better. 

Growing up in the West, where people are steeped in a xmas atmosphere with trees, lights, mistletoe, Santas and manger scene decorations, I decided to do some research to find out more about the symbols of xmas.  Don’t get me wrong, some of the holiday decorations are very beautiful, but I believe that one should know the truth behind these symbols in order for them to be true to themselves and serve G-d the best they can.  We should not be deceived by 'cosmetics' or decorations, if behind these symbols lies darkness and leads people away from truth.

And so, below are some questions posted on the internet asked by people wanting to know more about their own holiday, and some of the answers posted by their own fellow holiday celebrators.

Question:                                                                                       Why do we celebrate Christmas in December when Jesus was born in March (or even around the feast Of Tabernacles (sukkot) in the Fall)?  Why did the Catholic Church choose December 25 for the birth date of jesus?  

Answers:
"It was chosen in order to compete with the pagan winter solstice festivals. It was not chosen because it is the correct historical date…"
 
"The idea to celebrate Christmas on December 25 apparently originated in the 4th century. The Catholic Church wanted to eclipse the festivities of a rival pagan religion that threatened Christianity's existence. The Romans celebrated the birthday of their sun god, Mithras during this time of year. Although it was not popular, or even proper, to celebrate people's birthdays in those times, church leaders decided that in order to compete with the pagan celebration they would themselves order a festival in celebration of the birth of (their god)….
Xmas was slow to catch on in America. The early colonists considered it a pagan ritual. The celebration of xmas was even banned by law in Massachusetts in colonial days."              

Question: Why do "Christians" use a Pagan symbol, like the Christmas tree, in their celebration of the birth of Jesus?
Answer:  "Because way back in the day, the Catholic church started to absorb Pagan symbols in order to make conversion less of a drastic step for Pagans."

"Pagan and Christian families would bring a live tree into the home so the wood spirits would have a place to keep warm during the cold winter months. Bells were hung in the limbs so you could tell when a spirit was present. Food and treats were hung on the branches for the spirits to eat and a five-pointed star, the pentagram, symbol of the five elements, was placed atop the tree. The colors of the season, red and green, also are of Pagan origin, as is the custom of exchanging gifts." 

       Is this in your house?

Christians, you believe in the Tanach, the Bible. G-d specifically commands: 

Jeremiah 10:2
Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the people [are] vain: for [one] cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.   

            Cutting down a tree to place in the house.       

This is what the Pagans did, and you are carrying this on.

Question: Why do they allow a plethora of other Pagan symbols?

Answer:
"Mistletoe and Holly: Two hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the Druids used mistletoe to celebrate the coming of winter. They believed the plant had special healing powers.  Scandinavians also thought of mistletoe as a plant of peace and harmony. They associated mistletoe with their goddess of love, Frigga. The custom of kissing under the mistletoe probably derived from this belief. The early church banned the use of mistletoe in Christmas celebrations because of its pagan origins."

Elves are a pagan idea from Scandinavian countries.
Santa never existed.  He is based on the original St. Nicklaus who lived in what is now modern-day Turkey back in the 3rd or 4th century.

Answer from another Christian site:                                    "Christmas is a Pagan holiday - "Christmas" is not in the Bible, and we are not commanded to celebrate the Messiah's birth in all of Scripture. The Messiah was not born on or near December 25. He was born sometime in late September (most likely Sept. 29) or early October during the Feast of Tabernacles, but no one can be sure of the exact day. If the Almighty Sovereign Creator wanted us to celebrate the day He would have told us in Lev. 23.

"December 25th was celebrated by the Pagan sun-worshippers of Mithraism as the "birthday of the invincible sun," because on that day the sun began its return to the northern skies "the winter solstice." And so, the sun and the Son, have become a deliberate Pagan mix. Tammuz, the Babylonian Pagan sun deity, was also the first counterfeit savior…   December 25th was also the date of the Pagan Brumalia (winter) festival in Rome. It was preceded by the Saturnalia festival Dec. 17-24 - in honor of the Roman god Saturn, as a period of unrestrained merriment in celebration of the winter solstice.  The Saturnalia and Brumalia festivals were so popular among the heathen and so deeply entrenched in their customs, that rather than attempt to reform the Pagan populous the Roman Church, the Emperor Constantine, chose instead to absorb their festivities into the Constantine Roman Catholic Church."   

Friends, is this what you wish to perpetuate? Do you wish to continue pagan ways in today's world?  

Paganism: It's the fastest-growing religion in Australia, according to the 2001 census.  Sydney pagan worshippers  learns about spells, covens and the importance of being "skyclad"( being clad/covered only by the sky, Ritual nakedness performing their rituals naked).

                Moonstruck: high priest David Garland celebrates the summer solstice with other pagans on Rotaract Hill. Photo: Tamara Dean

So, to my brothers and sisters on this planet who celebrate xmas, this is not an attack, but an honest query to you: What’s the deal here?  What are you bringing into your homes? What rituals are you really observing?  Will you embrace a holiday that brings paganism into your homes? Should you not go back to the word of G-d as given to Moses on Mt. Sinai?  Should you not embrace instead the 7 laws of Noah as commanded by G-d to all Gentiles, whom He created and loves and wants to be closer to Him?  To read about what your obligations are as a Non-Jew, you must RETURN to the source.

Wishing you truth, light and merriment!  May you remove darkness from the world and bring in the light.           Click HERE to listen to Yishai Fleisher's show on the origins of Christmas.

We are still under siege.  Don’t let us fool ourselves.  The Holiday of the Tenth of Tevet is still relevant to us today as it was thousands of years ago.  The siege on  Jerusalem and the Jewish People is not just some story that happened long ago, and we only refrain from food and drink and fast out of  a feeling of religious ‘obligation’.  It is happening before our very eyes today.  We are in a very similar place to where we were, when we were surrounded, besieged, starved, and killed, by Nebuchadnezer’s army.  And we are in just as much danger. 

Our fasting on this day lets us have a chance to do some introspection on where we are today and where we are as a people today.  We must recognize that the Arabs are not our peace partners, but our vicious enemies.  We must recognize that those nations around the world that hinder Israel from making any meaningful response against terror, and yet props up our enemies, funds them, trains them, and prevents us from ending this war, by WINNING it, is also not our friend or ally.  Nebchadnezer, as well as all our enemies in history are still alive and well today, they just have different names.

Please, I ask that you watch these video clips and read the accompanying text IN ORDER on this blog.
Arab enemies in Gaza are besieging us with a storm of rockets on our people in the south: Watch this 52 second clip of a Kassam rocket that crashes into Sderot.
Today is a fast day, but do we really understand WHY we are fasting?

Palestinan rockets hits Sderot-City

Watch this next short 59 second clip of the Jewish People under siege in the south of the country:

Qassam The Movie (Teaser)

Sbarro pizzeria bombing by Hamas
15 Jews were murdered, including 7 of our beautiful children.  Approximately 135 other innocent people were injured in this terrorist attack at the Sbarro pizzeria right smack in downtown Jerusalem. The Terrorist apparently posed as a tourist, hiding the explosives in a guitar case. At around 2:30 he detonated his device, packed with razor sharp metal objects such as nails and screws, as well as bolts to ensure that as MANY Jews as possible would be murdered.  This terrorist which was killed was on Israel's most wanted list, and Israel gave his name to the Palestinian authority several times, but no avail, nothing was ever done. 

I am warning you that this last video clip I am posting is EXTREMELY GRAPHIC.  It is not for the faint-hearted.  I am posting it, because I believe (that for those who chose to view it) we need to understand what our enemies are doing to us.  Our news and media don’t want to show us these images, because they want to keep us drugged and quiet.  However, I believe that if the public knew what a terror scene REALLY looked like, we would become so justifiably outraged, that we would be at the gates of the Knesset in a siege on our ‘leaders’ DEMANDING that the government respond and destroy the den of terrorists that perpetrate these attacks on our people, no matter what Washington says.  If you are able to stomach it, watch this video till the end.  Understand that Nebchadnezer’s siege on us, is still alive and well today.

Graphic footage of a bomb on a bus in Jerusalem

Have a meaningful fast.

Have a meaningful fast.

Have a meaningful fast.

Today, 70 nations of the world came together in a brutal conspiracy to destroy Israel and attack G-d.  Why conspiracy?  Because they did it under the guise of  ‘peace’.  Imagine that.  The world today pledged over 2 BILLION dollars to make sure that an Arab Terror State would be set up right in the heartland of Israel.  No matter that the Palestinian Authority is corrupt and cannot support itself as a state. The World is coming in to make sure this state will be viable, and the taxes of citizens all over the globe is going to fund the setting up of this new Terror State.

Karin A Ship smuggling in tons of weapons to be used against Jews in Israel.

The Arab terrorists have shown in the past that they have squandered the monetary donations they received from the world, in the pursuit of weaponry to perpetrate more terror on the Jews. Let's not forget the Karin A ship that was caught by the IDF loaded with 50 tons worth of Katyusha rockets, mortars, sniper rifles, bullets, anti-tank mines, anti-tank missiles, and over two and a half tons of pure explosives. All to be used to murder Jews - who they were supposed to be making 'peace' with.   

Perhaps that is the exact reason why the world is so eager to send even more funds to the terrorists, so that THEY can do the dirty work this time. 

Perhaps this is the last ditch attempt of Esau with the help of Ishamel to finally be rid of the ‘Jewish problem’ who are a guiding light in this world.  Criminals and people engaging in immoral acts prefer to do their deeds in the dark, and don't want 'light' shining on them. 

Perhaps this is why even before the conference, the United States pledged $555 million to setup this terror state, with the European Union pledging  $650 million, and 'repentant' Germany and Great Britain together  pledged  $780 million.  Japan entered the ring and pledged $150 million. Delegates from 70 countries and 20 global organizations participated in this conference in Paris.

Thousands of years ago, our prophets wrote what G-d revealed to them regarding what would happen in the time of Moshiach (the Messianic Era).   Zec 14:2 “For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle..."  

Who ARE 'all the nations' ?

In the Torah, it tells of when G-d scattered Mankind at the Tower of Babel, mixing up their speech into 70 different languages.  The 70 languages were scattered around the globe, giving rise to 70 diverse cultures/nations. 

It is also fascinating to note, that 70 nations met today to plan the demise of Israel, in the name of 'peace'.  It is even MORE fascinating, that the Gematria (numerical value of  the Hebrew letters) of Gog and Magog is 70.

Is Gog & Magog on our doorstep?

This year Islam and Judaism's holiest holidays overlapped for 10 days. Muslims racked up 397 dead bodies in 94 terror attacks across 10 countries during this time... while Jews worked on their 159th Nobel Prize.   This, according to The Religion Of  Peace.com website.

     Islam: People of the Sword      vs.      Jews: People of the Book

Now, what you will hear below in this 5 minute video is quite amusing.  Just remember, that we Jews didn't say it, the Muslims did!

And now, a view of what Israel and the Jews have done for the planet.

Hey, I'm not saying all these good things about Israel...  THEY ARE.