The travelling Israeli
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Travel
I love travelling out of the country. I’ve been living in Israel for for almost 25 years now, so don’t get me wrong, this is my home.
But maybe because I don’t do it that often (compared to many Israelis who travel abroad for business or pleasure many times a year), I just love being on airplanes, going to the airport, browsing the duty free shops.
As soon as I get to Ben-Gurion Airport, and get through the labrynthe of security checks, interrogation, passport control and more security checks, I already feel like I’m abroad, with the lavish outbound terminal and its kitschy fountain spraying every few minutes, and outgoing travellers appearing happy instead of their normal tense demeanor.
I love to leave the country, but ironically, it’s hard not to think about it as soon as I’m gone. Whenever I hear Hebrew spoken abroad, my ears perk up in the same way as when I hear English on the streets here. Suddenly, it’s the Israelis I have the secret bond with, not the English speakers.
I’m spending Hannukah in the United States, where the only candles burning in the windows are artificial Christmas ones. So it will seem strange at first, and I’ll probably miss the Hannukah events and activities that are a normal part of daily life during the week back in Israel.
As we touch down back in Tel Aviv, it will be back to the loud voices, honking cars and rude behavior. And I’ll breathe a sigh of relief knowing that I’m home. And I’ll almost immediately start thinking about my next trip abroad.
Making a list and checking it twice
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, Food, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life
Just because we’re here in Israel doesn’t mean that there’s no shopping mania around this time of year.
Hannukah begins tonight, and like a multitudes of my countrymen, I rushed to the local mall this morning to finish up some last-minute shopping. I was in the US last year for Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when people line up all night to get into stores at the crack of dawn for special pre-Christmas sales. But they don’t have anything on the hustle bustle going on during any given Friday here, especially a Friday that Hannukah starts.
I was feeling a little overwhelmed, standing between the huge display of mutant sufganiyot from the Neeman Bakery in the middle of aisle and a packed display counter for Magnolia, which sells middle of the jewelry. Then I noticed a friend of mine from the neighborhood bearing the same glazed eyes that I probably owned.
“I hate this time of year,” he said. “I have no idea what to buy.”
I concurred, and confided to him that I had been mulling around for a half hour, waiting to gather the nerve to go up the escalator to the second floor where the women’s clothing stores were situated in order to buy a sweater for my wife.
We bitched and moaned a bit longer, and then concluded by simultaneously saying ‘at least there’s no Christmas music.’
Wishing all a Happy Hannukah, and leaving with you with the now-famous Nefesh B’Nefesh flash Hannukah event in Jerusalem, where my friend Benji outclasses them all.
Ho Ho Ho! Christmas in Nazareth
Filed under: History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Religion, Travel, coexistence
I think it was only appropriate that my first trip to Nazareth be during the holiday season. This year, ISRAEL21c decided to cover Christmas in the Holy Land. Nazareth is known as Jesus’ childhood home and today it has the largest community of Christians in the country. Visiting the city just days before Christmas was the perfect place to see how the holiday is celebrated among Christians in Israel.
Traveling through the main streets of the city (you have plenty of time to look around since there are endless traffic jams), you’ll find tons of Christmas decoration shops, with Christmas trees, lights, Santa Clauses and even a red cowboy Christmas hat. I was actually surprised at how much these shops looked identical to those in America.
That’s the modern side of things, over in the Old City there are the Christian historical sites and lots of Churches. It was amazing to walk through the churches and learn about Nazareth’s history. A Nazareth resident, who has belonged to his church for over 80 years, told me that he sees thousands of Christian pilgrimages come through Nazareth each year.
From the old city to the new city, we ventured over to a restaurant owned by a Nazareth Christian resident, Mary Abu Jaber, who told us that she never planned on owning a restaurant but wanted to show the Nazareth community the true potential of the city. Her restaurant, “Coincidence,” is featured in the video and was one of the most beautiful restaurants I have been to in Israel. She used an old structure of an abandoned building, to create the main dining area and also built an art gallery. In fact she told us that they’re currently building a book shop to add to the facility. If you are ever in Nazareth I highly recommend checking it out.
My first trip to Nazareth was an awesome experience and I got to capture that feeling in this video. Unfortunately being there before Christmas, I wasn’t able to see their huge parade which is held in the afternoon of Christmas Eve, but then again there is always next year.
Happy Hanukka, Merry Christmas
Christmas in Bethlehem - A little hot-buttered rum, perhaps?
Back when I lived in the US, I remember having a very low tolerance for the commercialized Christmas season – the radio and TV ads and circulars, the glitter and tinsel in store windows, the two months of Christmas songs on the radio (unless if was Bruce’s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”), and all the other encoutrements of the American culture which I didn’t belong to.
But on the couple of times I’ve been back there to visit during the holiday season, it wasn’t so bad. I actually appreciated the elaborate home decorations, the perceived feeling that people were in a better mood, and even the shmaltzy music.
Here in Israel, unless you’re in a Christian Arab community, you won’t find many outward signs of Christmas. And this year, we have Hannuka coinciding, so the lights and colorful candles are out in full force and dominating the landscape.
Still, despite the inclement weather, thousands of Christians in Israel will be freely celebrating Christmas tonight and tomorrow (is this the only Christian holiday that runs on Jewish time, beginning in the evening and continuing til sundown the next day?).
According to Bloomberg News, Bethlehem is experiencing a fourfold increase in visitors after seven bleak Christmas seasons, with 250,000 visitors here this week.
“All 3000 rooms in Bethlehem have been booked for Christmas,” said Samir Hazboun, chairman of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Unemployment in the city has fallen to 23 percent from 45 percent last year.”
Michael Kreitem’s Bethlehem Star Hotel, along the ancient footpaths where Mary and Joseph once strolled before they returned with a son, was bustling with hordes of Russian-speaking Christian pilgrims, arriving from a one-day tour of Nazareth.
And if you can’t get there in person, IPrayTV is streaming the scene from Nativity Square and from the Church of the Nativity on Christmas Eve through Christmas evening.
Me, I’ll be spending the fourth and fifth days of Hannukka eating another in a countless batch of sufganiyot and latkes, and grumbling about gaining weight. But I may find the time to put “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” on the CD player.
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