A funny thing about Israel is that the western New Year’s Eve is otherwise known as Sylvester.  Why? Well there are many stories and I don’t know which one is true, but here is the one that sounds most believable.  In Israel, restaurants will lose their Kashrut license if they advertise that they are putting on New Year’s parties so they celebrate Sylvester instead. “Sylvester” is the name many Europeans call New Year’s”, because that happens to be the name of the Catholic saint attached to the day. Being my first New Year’s Eve in Jerusalem, I have heard that celebrating Sylvester in Jerusalem is not a big deal – though it is marked and celebrated – usually  by a nice meal at a restaurant. In fact, most people don’t have school or work off the next day.  Apparently, if you really want to party, then catch a sherut to Tel Aviv for the night. But I did some of my own investigation and there are a couple of good Sylvester parties happening right here as advertised on http://www.jerusalem.com

Hataklit and Cassetta Joint Sylvester Party

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