Christmas Not Main Winter Holiday in Russia and Not Just Because of Soviet Past, Expert Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, January 4 – In many countries, Christmas is a far more important holiday than New Year’s; but in Russia and not just because of Soviet past as many imagine, there are three reasons why that is not the case, according to Yury Tabak, a specialist on Jewish-Christian relations (ura.news/news/1052413681).

            First of all, there is a major difference between how Christians in the West and in the East and especially in Russia view Christmas, he says. “In the West, it is viewed as being about joy for the birth of the savior. In Russia in contrast, the holiday was always more tragic. Orthodoxy treats it as the idea of death for the salvation of humanity.”

            Second, before the 1917 revolution, Christmas was nonetheless more important than New Year’s. But after the Bolsheviks took power, “everything  was done” so that Christmas would be forgotten. “In fact, New Year’s was sacralized by the Soviet authorities. This tradition continues up to now with all the accompanying attributes” familiar from Soviet times.

            And third, the Russian Orthodox Church’s continuing use of the Julian calendar means that for most Christmas comes after New Year’s when marked by the Gregorian calendar – and that gets in the way of fasting and celebration. Some in the Orthodox Church would like to see the patriarchate shift calendars, “but that position is unpopular,” Tabak says.