The holiday season in Israel

While their are Christians celebrating Christmas, especially tourists, the national religion is Judaism, which celebrates Hanukah.

Hi everybody,

I'd like to tell a bit more about (what I learned of) the complexity and richness of Israeli society also for what concerns the Christian sector(s).

First of all it's true that in Israel there's a Jewish majority (and that's actually one of the core foundations of the State) but it must also be told that the vast majority of Jews in Israel is "masorti", which substantially means secular but with some fondness about Jewish culture and traditions; not so differently from Italy, my origin country, where most people come from a Christian Catholic education and family background and possibly celebrates Christmas and Easter and marries in a church but it's substantially secular (if not even agnostic or atheist).

Furthermore there's a substantial and articulated Christian minority and Christianity is one of the recognized religions; in addition the majority of Christians in Israel are Greek-Catholic Arabs. There are mostly Christian cities like Nazareth and one of the four ancient districts of Jerusalem is Christian. Most Christians live in the north actually (where I live as well) and personally I have several Christian Arab colleagues but also my partner's best friend (and colleague) is an Orthodox Christian girl originally from Uzbekistan (my partner is a Caucasian Jewish girl originally from Azerbaijan). Also, Christians in Israel live and prosper very well, grow in number and are completely integrated into society. They also benefit from several government support initiatives. This is in contrast to what happens in most of the Middle East, where often they're at least discriminated against if not even tragically persecuted and as a consequence the Christian population is diminishing.

Since the fundamental nature of Israeli society is secular and libertarian and there's a consistent Christian minority, Christmas is decidedly celebrated, both because of the religion and because it's a consumerist and secular occasion as well, just like in many other parts of the world. Here in Karmi'el most shops exhibit a Christmas tree and it's possible to buy decorations in several places (and I'm not talking about a place similar to Tel Aviv).

I'm personally not religious and you could say I know more about Judaism than about Christianity because I'm studying the first now (for curiosity and personal interest towards spiritual traditions) while I know the second only from early education, which is necessarily very simplified, not so loyal to the actual religious message and very often influenced by the teaching quality, often insufficient at least in my experience.

Anyway, being a mixed couple we have both the tree and the Hanukkiah to celebrate Hannukah, the traditional Jewish holiday that this year happens together with Christmas. My work colleagues exhorted me to bring a Xmas tree to work (and also to buy presents for everyone just like S. Klaus, considering I was also born on Dec. 25th, but clearly they can only dream about it; I'll bring a cake on 26th though).

Clearly in my partner's family we celebrate the Jewish holidays and not the Christian once but because of my birthday and of the closeness of New Year's Eve (that is celebrated in Israel too, even more intensely so for people with a Russian ancestry or cultural influence), the gifts exchange happens anyway ("titkhadèsh!" for those who know).

The Jewish majority doesn't celebrate Christmas or it does so in a secular way (not differently from many other places) and public holidays are tied to the Jewish tradition rather than the Christian one, but in Nazareth and Jerusalem (and also in Jaffa and many other places, for sure Tel Aviv and Arab-Christian villages) there are often mega-decorations and mega-events in this period and joining might be well worth the trip because Christmas in the Holy Land has to be something much more meaningful than anywhere else (for believers, at least). The Galilee here is especially stuffed with very important Christian sites and the religious tourism is most probably one of the biggest economic strengths of the country. I'll end by adding that workplaces usually provide "mobile" holidays for non-Jewish workers that want to celebrate Christmas or other occasions belonging to a different religion without working.