Long Islanders with Soviet roots hold fast to tradition of 'New Year's tree'
Dmitriy Gluzman, his wife, Joy Gluzman, and their daughter, Elianna Gluzman, put up a "yolka" in their Rockville Centre home. Credit: Howard Simmons
After Dec. 25, Dmitriy Gluzman and his family put up their tree.
Taken from storage, the plastic tree is placed in the living room of their Rockville Centre home, assembled branch-by-branch in front of their menorah.
From a box of ornaments, Gluzman and his wife, Joy, and their daughter, Elianna, hang ornaments that represent their lives, like candy canes in the colors of the New York Yankees, and memorabilia bought on family trips to Texas, New Orleans and Disneyland.
The Gluzmans practice the tradition rooted in the former Soviet Union of putting up a "yolka," an evergreen tree, for the celebration of New Year's and gathering with family and friends.
"It’s my heritage," said Gluzman, who is a native of Ukraine.
When the Russian Revolution began in 1917, Bolshevik communist governments were anti-religion and denounced any affiliation with religious ideologies, said Anna Geisherik, a professor and coordinator of Russian Studies at Stony Brook University.
"There were no religious holidays for the people, and the only holidays that actually existed were very politicized," Geisherik said.
Judaism particularly was frowned upon more than Christianity, Geisherik said.
Before the Soviet Union, the government was affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church and abided by the Julian calendar, which celebrates Christmas on Jan. 7 and New Year's on Jan. 14. The Soviet Union changed calendars and operated under the Gregorian calendar like the Western world.
"There was a lot of ... systemic antisemitism in the Soviet Union," said Geisherik, who is Ashkenazi Jewish and grew up in Soviet Ukraine. "And so, the Jews couldn't celebrate Jewish holidays openly, either, even more so than Christians."
With multiple faiths affected by the new regime, people undertook New Year's as a unified holiday.
"New Year's became the only holiday, really, that was not ideological and was not religious and could be openly celebrated," Geisherik said. "It just became the only holiday that everybody loved and everybody celebrated, other than your own birthday."
By the time the Soviet Union fell in 1991, the tradition of yolka was interwoven with at least three generations.
"After a generation, nobody even remembered that this was a Christmas tree. This was a New Year's tree," Geisherik said.
Veronica Mischel of Melville, who also grew up in Ukraine under Soviet rule as Russian Orthodox, said she has fond memories of being in New Year's pageants and attending children’s parties where she would receive gifts.
"It was so much fun, it was the best time," Mischel said.
Manashe Khaimov, professor of Bukharian Jewish studies at Queens College, said while living in Soviet Uzbekistan, he had no idea that the evergreen tree symbolized any holidays other than New Year's.
"Once we moved here to America, New Year's took on a completely new meaning, where we start realizing that the tree actually has a religious connotation," he said.
Khaimov, who now lives in Queens, said he and his family grew more connected to their Jewish faith, as it was more acceptable to practice in public, and therefore ceased practicing yolka.
But for others like Gluzman and Mischel, the tree is a symbol of their culture, not their religion.
Mischel said she will put up her tree for New Year's and keep it up for Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7.
At her church, St. Seraphim Russian Orthodox Church in Sea Cliff, Mischel helps organize a yolka celebration to educate children about the tradition.
Joy Gluzman, 43, who is the executive director at a synagogue and was born in the United States, said she never heard of yolka until she met her husband.
While the family attends Friday night services and celebrates Jewish holidays, they have celebrated with a yolka for 16 years.
"It's a way of honoring my husband's journey," said Joy Gluzman.
The family will visit Gluzman’s sister and open presents on New Year’s Day.
Since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine, Joy said she knows of other Ukrainian immigrants who have ceased the tradition of yolka, breaking off any kind of Soviet roots.
But for the Gluzmans, celebrating with a yolka is their way of standing in solidarity with Ukraine.
"For us, it's really the opposite of that," Joy said. "For my husband, it was the one time of year where it was a time of freedom and joy."
After Dec. 25, Dmitriy Gluzman and his family put up their tree.
Taken from storage, the plastic tree is placed in the living room of their Rockville Centre home, assembled branch-by-branch in front of their menorah.
From a box of ornaments, Gluzman and his wife, Joy, and their daughter, Elianna, hang ornaments that represent their lives, like candy canes in the colors of the New York Yankees, and memorabilia bought on family trips to Texas, New Orleans and Disneyland.
The Gluzmans practice the tradition rooted in the former Soviet Union of putting up a "yolka," an evergreen tree, for the celebration of New Year's and gathering with family and friends.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- The tradition of putting up an evergreen tree to celebrate New Year's with family and friends dates to the beginning of the former Soviet Union.
- By the time the Soviet Union fell in 1991, the practice of yolka was interwoven with at least three generations.
- New Year's essentially became the only nonreligious holiday in the former Soviet Union.
"It’s my heritage," said Gluzman, who is a native of Ukraine.
The roots of a cultural tradition
When the Russian Revolution began in 1917, Bolshevik communist governments were anti-religion and denounced any affiliation with religious ideologies, said Anna Geisherik, a professor and coordinator of Russian Studies at Stony Brook University.
"There were no religious holidays for the people, and the only holidays that actually existed were very politicized," Geisherik said.
Judaism particularly was frowned upon more than Christianity, Geisherik said.
Before the Soviet Union, the government was affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church and abided by the Julian calendar, which celebrates Christmas on Jan. 7 and New Year's on Jan. 14. The Soviet Union changed calendars and operated under the Gregorian calendar like the Western world.
"There was a lot of ... systemic antisemitism in the Soviet Union," said Geisherik, who is Ashkenazi Jewish and grew up in Soviet Ukraine. "And so, the Jews couldn't celebrate Jewish holidays openly, either, even more so than Christians."
With multiple faiths affected by the new regime, people undertook New Year's as a unified holiday.
"New Year's became the only holiday, really, that was not ideological and was not religious and could be openly celebrated," Geisherik said. "It just became the only holiday that everybody loved and everybody celebrated, other than your own birthday."
By the time the Soviet Union fell in 1991, the tradition of yolka was interwoven with at least three generations.
"After a generation, nobody even remembered that this was a Christmas tree. This was a New Year's tree," Geisherik said.
Veronica Mischel of Melville, who also grew up in Ukraine under Soviet rule as Russian Orthodox, said she has fond memories of being in New Year's pageants and attending children’s parties where she would receive gifts.
"It was so much fun, it was the best time," Mischel said.
New meaning discovered
Manashe Khaimov, professor of Bukharian Jewish studies at Queens College, said while living in Soviet Uzbekistan, he had no idea that the evergreen tree symbolized any holidays other than New Year's.
"Once we moved here to America, New Year's took on a completely new meaning, where we start realizing that the tree actually has a religious connotation," he said.
Khaimov, who now lives in Queens, said he and his family grew more connected to their Jewish faith, as it was more acceptable to practice in public, and therefore ceased practicing yolka.
But for others like Gluzman and Mischel, the tree is a symbol of their culture, not their religion.
Mischel said she will put up her tree for New Year's and keep it up for Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7.
At her church, St. Seraphim Russian Orthodox Church in Sea Cliff, Mischel helps organize a yolka celebration to educate children about the tradition.
Joy Gluzman, 43, who is the executive director at a synagogue and was born in the United States, said she never heard of yolka until she met her husband.
While the family attends Friday night services and celebrates Jewish holidays, they have celebrated with a yolka for 16 years.
"It's a way of honoring my husband's journey," said Joy Gluzman.
The family will visit Gluzman’s sister and open presents on New Year’s Day.
Since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine, Joy said she knows of other Ukrainian immigrants who have ceased the tradition of yolka, breaking off any kind of Soviet roots.
But for the Gluzmans, celebrating with a yolka is their way of standing in solidarity with Ukraine.
"For us, it's really the opposite of that," Joy said. "For my husband, it was the one time of year where it was a time of freedom and joy."
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