Happy Hanukah, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Shalom

There is something about the holidays in Israel which reminds me how special it is to be living as a Jew in the Jewish state during this time in history. I feel very lucky to safely walk the streets of Jerusalem celebrating Hanukah with my friends, however it was not always like this and it will probably not continue forever but at this point of time in Israel I am very grateful for my freedom and lifestyle.

Some of the things I love about Hanukah in Israel are:

1. Menorah’s lit up on lamp posts and on taxi cabs (see pic)
2. Chocolate covered parve, yummy, sufganiot (aka Donuts)
3. Walking down the street and seeing Hanukah candles burning in the windows of people’s homes
4. Saying Chag Samach to everyone and not having to explain to anyone that yes, in fact, I am Jewish and do not celebrate Christmas

My favorite Hanukah story in Israel is that one of my friends, Paul, was at the gym the first night of Hanukah at 5:30ish. Over the loud speaker the receptionist announced that lighting the Menorah will be at the front desk in a couple of minutes. All of a sudden the treadmills, elliptical machines, macho men lifting weights, dance class STOPPED! Everyone came to the front desk to light the first candles and sing Hanukah songs. Only in Israel!

My next religious experience was Midnight mass church bouncing in the Old City. These were some of my observations:

1. You can tell who is Jewish at mass by who is swaying back and forth to the pretty Christmas songs
2. The Jerusalemite Syndrome Jesuses were walking around like it was their Birthday
3. The priest of the Scottish church said Christmas is all about a crack-whore, I think he was talking about Mary but he could have been talking about a ritz cracker
4. The priest also said if Jesus was an entitled middle-upper class Jew than he would not be their savior. This could be taken as anti-Semitic or maybe this priest had a bad day with Israeli customer service.

To all my Jewish friends, I hope you enjoyed the Matzo Ball dance, saw a good movie and ate yummy Chinese food. To all my non-Jewish friends, Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoyed it with your loved ones.

Today is my 6 month Aliyah-versary and I will be celebrating with friends at a few parties tonight.

All my love,

Esther