Ho Ho Ho! Christmas in Nazareth

December 24, 2008 - 12:15 PM by · 4 Comments
Filed under: coexistence, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Religion, Travel 

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.
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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.

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Hannuka and the taco-flavored donuts

December 21, 2008 - 3:19 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Blogging, Food, Holidays, Life, Pop Culture, Religion 

It’s Hannuka in Israel, and comedian Benji Lovitt and videographer Molly Livingstone went out onto the streets of Jerusalem to see how people celebrate.
As Benji admits in his blog, What War Zone, “we laughed….we cried…..we made people uncomfortable (hellooooo, cutting room floor!) But we definitely had fun and we think you will too.”

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Shana tova u’metuka

September 28, 2008 - 9:00 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Religion 

There’s no question that Rosh Hashana cheer is in the air, whether it’s signing off of every conversation with a Shana Tova salutation, wishing a Shana Tova to each clerk, salesperson or person that one meets, and the number of Shana Tova emails — not to mention the round challahs and apples and honey gifts on Facebook — that are arriving in the email inbox.

The streets are crowded with people, shopping all the time, for food, gifts, last-minute outfits, and the planners who are already picking up decorations for their sukkah.

What I always like about Rosh Hashana in Israel, as well as Yom Kippur and Sukkot (and all the rest of the calendar year, for that matter), is that they are holidays for everyone, secular or religious. Sure, some of us spend a lot of time in synagogues during this month-long holiday period, thinking about personal repentance and ancient piyutim, and that’s our choice. Many don’t. But nearly everyone in Israel is celebrating in some way, sharing special meals with family and friends, buying “shay l’chag“, holiday gifts for one’s hairdresser, accountant, travel agent or clients, cleaning up the house and yard before the onslaught of guests, and thinking of creative ways to use honey or new fruits.

I suppose that for me, it comes down to the fact that no matter how many years I’ve been living here, I still derive a little thrill at how different it feels to celebrate one’s new year in September rather than January. It feels different to say Shana Tova U’Metuka, rather than Happy New Year. It feels different to toss around pomegranate seeds, rather than glitter at midnight.

So here’s to a happy new year for all Israelity readers and bloggers, and finding your kind of celebration. Sweetness and happiness in 5768.

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