Published: 27 December 2019
Last updated: 5 March 2024
FIR TREES, WHITE FLAKES that recall the pure snow of the Russian winter and colourful decorations are on full display at the Kinga Sefer bookstore in the town of Kfar Saba. Figurines of Ded Moroz (Father Frost) dressed in his red coat and his lovely granddaughter Sanguruzka (the Snow Maiden) are at the center, to the wide-eyed delight of the kids.
For the last 15 years, the store has held a Novy God fair, where customers could buy fir trees, decorations, calendars and gifts. In Russian, Novy God means New Year, and it seems that at the start of the second decade of the 21st century, the phrase is no longer foreign to any Israeli.
“I hadn’t known this holiday until the last few years. It’s not a holiday I grew up with or was celebrated in my family. I was exposed to Novy God through my daughters, who got to know it through their friends.
They liked the holiday and told me they wanted to celebrate Novy God, to take part in this culture and tradition,” Yuval Zipper, a native Israeli who lives in Tel Aviv, told Al-Monitor. He added that he has been celebrating Novy God for a few years now.
The holiday, which observe the end of one year and the start of the next, came to Israel along with a million immigrants who came from the Soviet Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Many brought their favourite fir tree decorations with them and were surprised to learn that the holiday was unknown and not celebrated there.
FULL STORY Novy God holiday enchants Israelis with Soviet new year festivities (Al-Monitor)
Photo: Russian immigrants in Ashdod celebrate Novy God with actors dressed as Grandfather Frost in 2015 (Drori Garti/Flash 90)
