Every six months we drive into Jerusalem (about 30 kilometers/ 18 miles from here) to get our routine checkup on our car. Modi’in still does not have car dealerships, although they are on their way within a few months (of course the people who told us this were the same ones who told us that the train to Tel Aviv would be running from the center of Modi’in in 2005 (it started on April 1, 2008) and that the mall would also be open in 2005 (it has still not opened.)) The dealership we use seems to be honest and to do good work, so we enjoy taking the car there and using the day to walk around in Jerusalem.

Yesterday my husband and I and our younger daughter and her baby all set out for Jerusalem. We left the car and started walking in the direction of the center of the city. We stopped at the 2 sheqel store (a sheqel now is about $.29) where our granddaughter finally got her own cellphone. Seems her mother is pretty stingy about the use of hers. The rest of the day, the cellphone was a beloved companion.

As we walked down Jaffa Road, past all of the renovated area, we were on a street teeming with life- people of all sizes and shapes and colors dressed in all sorts of outfits– and everyone seemed to be having good time.

We passed by Machane Yehuda market, one of the most colorful areas of the city. We passed a row of jewelry stores. We found a new huge variety store and bought an Israeli flag to affix to our car in honor of Independence Day. We walked a little further and it was then I saw my husband’s cousin.

She didn’t expect to see us and so it took her a while to realize who we were, but then she was all smiles and she asked about our family and we asked about hers. We found out that a granddaughter of hers will be getting married soon and another is due to have a baby (they currently have 4 married granddaughters and one great-grandchild, a boy.) All, of course, is not perfect- and so there was talk about a grandson who was badly injured in an auto accident in the summer or early fall who is slowly recovering, but will probably not have a full recovery. There was talk about an immigrant woman from the US who she is trying to help, but who, alas, seems to engage in self-defeating behavior.

And then we walked on. We walked past the shoe stores and the cheap clothing stores and finally got to Cafe Rimon where we had lunch. After lunch we shopped some more and then I went to the place where we had bought the replacement remote for our TV a while back. The remote stopped working and I wanted to buy another one, but first I wanted to ask the man if he thought the problem was the remote or if it was the TV. So here is that conversation (although the original was in Hebrew)
Me: A year or two ago….
He: Or three or four
Me: I bought a remote for my JVC TV and I think it is broken
He: So give it to me.
Me: It’s at home.
He: So bring it in.
Me: I thought it would be really nervy for me to bring it in when I don’t even know when I bought it.
He: Bring it in.
Me: But I have no proof when I bought it.
He: It will take me a minute to check it out.
Me: I just want to buy a new one.
He: Nonsense! Bring it in and we’ll see.

Now to my American ear, this was a really strange encounter, but for people who live in Israel, it is not as rare. There is a feeling here among a lot of people that we are all in this together and we need to help each other. And it happens that storekeepers, bus drivers, virtually anyone who meets the public often will go so far beyond what they are required to do that you almost can feel yourself tearing up.

When people in the US think of aliya, they think of what they will be losing. I will tell you: nothing. It’s all gain. The houses are smaller, the cars are more expensive, and the people drive like maniacs, but from every other point of view, this life is far superior to anything I experienced in any of the 16 homes I had in the US and Germany. The weather is beautiful large parts of the year, the flowers bloom all year long. People know their neighbors and help them. Parents spend time with their children. Family recreation is a value here and on vacation days there are tons of activities at reduced cost and often at no cost.

And a typical day will always yield at least one encounter that will make you smile!

Here’s a piece of an article from today’s Haaretz newspaper:

A Jew is not allowed to pray in any overt manner whatsoever on the Temple Mount, even if he is just moving his lips in prayer, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter recently wrote MKs Uri Ariel and Aryeh Eldad (National Union-NRP).

The reason given: it could cause public disorder because it would be seen as a change in the status quo. Are you getting this? If I were going to visit the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) I would be violating the law if I opened my lips to pray silently. And what would the western democracies say about this? My guess is that they would support it. After all, they do not want to see unrest in the “holy land.” It is fine to prevent a Jew from praying in his/her holiest place But, sometime, listen to the sermons given in the mosques that incite Arabs to go and kill Jews– those are protected by freedom of speech. Those same western democracies would condemn the Israel government if they restrained such speech.

Does this make any sense? Is there any logic about this? I would say that when our neighbors find our praying provocative, it’s time for them to move to another neighborhood. For our government to give in to them only encourages additional outrageous demands.

Once again I am struck by the fact that except for the Christian citizens of Israel, this day is like any other day. When I lived in the US, I understood that the majority culture found meaning in this holiday. Those who were religious/spiritual looked to it as a time to celebrate something very special to them. Those who liked the feel of the season, the tinsel and the snowflakes and the warm fire and the decorations, looked forward to that holiday feeling. And when I was a child and didn’t understand the deeper meaning of the holiday, I too enjoyed the lights and the songs and the smells of pine and the sounds of bells.

As I became more aware of who I was and what my traditions were, I realized that these symbols beautiful as they were, these songs, melodic as they sounded, were not mine They were part of something bigger and something that had a great deal of meaning to others, but they were part of a tradition that was not mine and that did not have meaning beyond the aesthetic to me and my family and friends.

When our children were small, my husband was a US Army chaplain. We moved from post to post from the time our oldest was 5 until most of the children were out of high school. Often we were the only Jewish family in the neighborhood. Never were there more than a few families on base where both parents were Jewish. Most of the time, the families were not observant Jews. I can think of only two or three exceptions. So as Jews, we were isolated from a community.

Meanwhile, our children were attending the local schools and so every year around Xmas time, it was “and now Mrs. Michelson will tell us about Hanuka, the Jewish Xmas.” As the years went on I enjoyed this less and less. It served only to point out to all of the other children in the classs how out of step our children were with them. Granted, the classmates thought that Hanuka was “neat” as I brought along a menorah and lit candles for them and sang songs for them, sometimes teaching them a song and sometimes I even brought along latkes, and I did the best I could, but for me it was a tedious task each year educating several rooms full of children about what we celebrated and how Hanuka was NOT the Jewish Xmas.

My children and I would go shopping, and see and hear Xmas everywhere we were, and, indeed, there was beauty in it, but each year I became increasingly aware of how much I didn’t fit in that place. It simply wasn’t mine.

When I moved to Israel, it was suddenly an amazing thing to be part of the majority culture. I didn’t have to drive 100 or 200 miles to get kosher meat or to visit the mikvah (ritual bath). I did not have to explain why I had holidays that no one else had. Here, with each holiday, the country prepares with special displays, activities, and sale items, but these are for OUR holidays. And this year, once again, I am shocked that December 25 has come and I didn’t even notice it.

To all of my Christian friends, please accept my wishes for a very blessed Xmas and a wonderful new year.

After hearing about this on the news, I looked it up, and here it is, straight from the source, Catholic World News:

Vatican, Dec. 17, 2007 (CWNews.com) – In a break from tradition, the life-sized crèche in St. Peter’s Square will show Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in their home at Nazareth rather than in a stable in Bethlehem, the Vatican has announced.

Instead of the familiar scene of the Baby Jesus laid in a manger, the Vatican’s Nativity scene this year will show the infant Jesus in a home that also includes his father’s workshop. No reason has been given for the change.
*************

But I have a guess…

It was common for Christian pilgrims and tourists to visit Bethlehem, expecially at Christmas time. From 1967 when Israel returned to Bethlehem until 1995 when they handed the city over to the Arabs, Christian residents and visitors felt comfortable visiting the Church of the Nativity and gathering in Manger Square. But ever since the local Arabs launched their terror campaign in the year 2000, Bethlehem has not been a very safe place for Christians. As a matter of fact, by November 2006, the Christian population of Bethlehem had dwindled from the 80% it had been before the terror war to only 15% of the population. It has decreased since then. In addition, visiting Bethlehem has not been safe. Fewer and fewer Christian tourists feel comfortable entering Bethlehem.

So it doesn’t surprise me that Nazareth has been chosen by the Vatican for its Christmas display this year. Nazareth, a city with a large Christian and Moslem Arab population, lies within the “green line” and it is kept safe by Israeli police. People are able to move freely and they can feel safe there.

I wonder if anyone else understands….