Happy Hanukka, Merry Christmas

December 24, 2008 - 11:59 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: coexistence, Holidays, Religion 

A little hot-buttered rum, perhaps? (Photo: AP/Kevin Frayer)

Christmas in Bethlehem - A little hot-buttered rum, perhaps?

So, tonight is Christmas Eve. But you wouldn’t know it here in Israel, which I suppose can be both a good and bad thing.

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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Jerusalem Elections 2008: The Most Crucial in Years

October 31, 2008 - 11:56 AM by · 3 Comments
Filed under: Israeliness, Politics 

BarkatPorush.png

Several weeks ago I gave an Israeli take on the upcoming U.S. elections. But there’s another vote in November that may prove to be just as momentous for this country. I’m talking about the Jerusalem mayoral elections.

Five years ago, the status quo was broken when the ultra-Orthodox (haredi) community fielded a candidate for mayor for the first time…and won. Before that, haredi Jerusalemites were careful not to promote one of their own for fear that an Orthodox mayor would be forced to sanction “non-kosher” activities (such as the annual Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade). Accordingly, the last two Jerusalem mayors, Ehud Olmert and Teddy Kolleck, were both secular.

But in 2003, Uri Lupolianski ran and narrowly defeated millionaire businessman and philanthropist Nir Barkat. Lupolianski captivated both secular and religious voters with his background as the founder of the Yad Sarah organization which is dedicated to helping the elderly and disabled. He received numerous awards for his work there: the President’s Volunteer Prize; the Knesset Speaker’s Award; the Kaplan Prize for Efficiency; and in 2004, the Israel Prize.

Lupolianski wasn’t a bad mayor – he kept a decent balance between the different groups in the city and even allowed his dreaded Gay Parade to proceed (earning him considerable scorn from his constituency). More non-kosher bars and clubs opened during Lupolianski’s term than ever before.

The biggest criticism many residents had of Lupolianski  was that he was dull– he showed little vision other than canceling the Safdie plan to build 20,000 homes on prime forest land that was decried by local environmentalists.

But he’s not running this year. Lupolianski is a member of the ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah party. In order for the entire haredi community to throw its support behind a single candidate, Degel hooked up 5 years ago with rival Agudat Yisrael, with the provision that when the next elections rolled around, an Aguda candidate would run.

The Aguda candidate is Member of Knesset Meir Porush. And that’s where the trouble starts.

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