New Years Eve in Israel has become bigger and bigger in recent years, and whilst not officially celebrated and there are now hundreds of New Years Eve parties across Israel, as well as many other special events, which cater to all musical cultural, and social tastes.

New Years in israel is known as Sylvester, and parties are known as Silvester parties. From the bustling Sylvester parties in Tel Aviv`s many nightclubs to cpecial concert and local events.

In recent years, New Years or Sylvester has become incredibly big in Tel Aviv, and is a big night for the city`s restaurants and nightclubs. Many restarurants will become booked up and special parties will take place to bring in the next year. As with anything, there is a huge range of parties catering for different groups and musical tastes.  

Christianity was cradled in Judaism, the religion of the Jewish people. Despite their differences, Judaism and Christianity have much in common. The celebration of the birth of Jesus, Christmas, is related to Hanukkah. Both feasts originated in Jerusalem. Both feasts occur in the month of December. On both holidays, it is customary exchange gifts. Both feasts commemorate actual events in history.

Many people think of Hanukkah as the “Jewish Christmas,” but any Jewish person ... will tell you that isn’t true. Hanukkah, of course, has nothing to do with Christmas, other than the 25th day of Kislev [the month on the Jewish calendar in which Hanukkah occurs] usually runs closer to Christmas than it does Thanksgiving.

Both religions celebrate the victory of light over darkness. At Hanukkah, there is a special nine-branch menorah. Eight of the candles on it represent the eight nights of Hanukkah. The ninth candle called, called the shamash, is used to light the other candles. Just as the shamash gives light to the other candles on it, Christians believe that Christmas marks the birth of Jesus, who gives spiritual light to those who believe in him.

Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.

In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return.

Christmas in Israel is unlike anywhere else in the world. Christmas in the Holy Land offers a unique opportunity to focus on the spiritual meaning of the holiday.

Perhaps because it comes three times a year here, this is a peak tourism time, when tens of thousands of pilgrims flock to the Holy Land. Many of them may be in for a surprise though, for despite the influx of pilgrims from abroad, the material and outwardly seasonal displays found in the rest of the world are conspicuously absent. People sometimes complain that they feel a lack of holiday spirit – no trees, no strings of lights, no carols on the radio. 

This is understandable, since it is probably the first time many of these visitors find themselves at Christmas in a country where Christians are a distinct minority. For much of the rest of Israel, this is a day like any other, unless it happens to coincide with the Jewish holiday of Chanukah or the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.