Contrary to popular belief, January 1, the non-Jewish New Year, is an important date for the Jewish people as well. It is when all those tefillos that might not have been prayed with the proper intent on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, and were not accepted in Heaven, get a second chance.

     Explains R’ Yaakov Friedman of Husiatyn zt"l (Oholei Yaakov, in the name of the Apter Rav), Dovid Hamelech tells us:  “(תהלים פז-ו) ה' יספור בכתוב העמים - "Hashem will inscribe in the register of peoples..." Clearly, Hashem ascribes some significance to the registers of the gentiles - and by extension to their calendar as well. However, unlike the Jewish new year, when we congregate in synagogues all over the world and pour out our hearts in serious contemplation, the gentiles of the world use their ‘New Year’ to conduct wild, often drunken, parties, to celebrate making it through another year. The contrast is glaringly clear and it often can eliminate any and all prosecution that withheld a good judgment on Rosh Hashana. We must daven extra hard on their ‘New Year’ that we merit a sweet ‘New Year’ even if it didn’t actually start on our ‘New Year!’”