Celebrating the end of a year and welcoming the exciting opportunities the new year has to bring is a tradition that spans many countries, regions and cultures; however, New Year’s is celebrated quite differently and has different meanings according to different cultures.
Chinese New Year
This year, the Chinese New Year falls on Jan. 22 and celebrations will end on Feb. 5. Chinese New Year can fall on any date between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit, or more specifically, the Water Rabbit, and is predicted to be the year of hope.
The Chinese New Year, as with many other cultures, comes with various traditions to welcome in the new year. Putting up decorations, giving red envelopes and other gifts to friends and family, the use of firecrackers and fireworks and watching lion and dragon dances are among the many Chinese New Year’s traditions.
A big component of the Chinese New Year is to have a reunion feast with family on New Year’s Eve. Foods considered lucky are served throughout the festival season. Lucky foods include fish, dumplings, rice cakes, spring rolls and sweet rice balls.
Korean Lunar New Year
Korean New Year, also known as Seollal, falls on Jan. 22 and typically occurs in either January or February on the second new moon after the winter solstice. The new year commonly lasts three days: the day before the new year, the new year’s day itself and the day after the new year.
Some New Year’s traditions such as gift-giving, playing folk games and eating traditional Korean foods are customary throughout all of Korea. One such tradition celebrated during the new year is a ceremony called “Charye.” This ceremony pays tribute to ancestors who visit Seollal with specially prepared food to honor them.
Some traditional foods that are prepared during the Korean New Year are rice cake soup, fish jeon, galbi/kalbi jjim (braised beef short ribs), sesame tea cookies and sweet rice dessert.
In Korea, it is believed that if a person’s shoes go missing, it is because ghosts have taken them and bad luck will follow that person for the whole year, so it is customary to hide their shoes while celebrating the new year.
Jewish New Year
Jewish New Year, most widely known as Rosh Hashanah, starts this year on Friday, Sept. 15 and ends Sunday, Sept. 17. Unlike the tradition of many other cultures, the Jewish calendar counts the years since they believe Earth was created. Sept. 15 will mark the end of year 5783.
Rosh Hashanah is a day of reflection on the previous year and also a day to think of all the changes to make in the year ahead. No work is allowed on Rosh Hashanah. During this day, Jewish members attend a Rosh Hashanah service where a shofar is blown. A shofar is a ram’s horn that blows four different sounds: tekiah, shevarim, teruah and tekiah gedolah.
During the Jewish New Year, many traditional foods are eaten such as: apples and honey, round challah bread, brisket, chicken, lamb and many other delicacies. The apples and honey express the wish for a sweet new year and the challah symbolizes the circular nature of the year.
It is customary for women and girls of the household to light candles in the evening. These candles are called Shabbat candles and they are to be lit solely by the women. According to Chabad.org, “it is the woman who determines the spirituality in the home…the woman transforms her home into a place of holiness, peace and tranquility. It is thus fitting that she be the one to bring the extra measure of light and holiness with the Shabbat candles.”
Many cultures across the globe share certain similarities when it comes to the new year, the most prominent similarities being hope, love and unity.
