President Reuven Rivlin released a video on social media on Tuesday in which he wished a happy New Year to Russian speakers in Israel who celebrate Novy God [New Year's]. “With the end of Hanukkah, the festival of light,” he said, “we have a new holiday of lights.” Rivlin described the holiday as family and friends-oriented and that “missing what was is in no way a challenge to the new life here in your new home.” Israelis, Russian speakers and Hebrew speakers alike, began to enjoy Western-oriented holidays such as Halloween and New Year's Eve in recent years. if(window.location.pathname.indexOf("656089") != -1){console.log("hedva connatix");document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";}