December in Ra'anana

Just as it was stunning and nice to be in Israel for our major holidays this Fall for practical reasons like schools being canceled, stores being closed, and everyone having the day off, it's remarkable in a similar way to be here in December. There's no Christmas presence.

Ok... there's a little at Helen's school, the American School, for all of the embassy families who are a religious minority in Israel. But that's it.

The keyboard player outside the Mega grocery store? Playing a Hanukkah medley. (I only caught the cadence of Judas Maccabaeus, sorry!)

flimsy menorahs

cheap menorahs

The Muzalim "junk" store? Super flimsy menorahs for 3 shekels (about a buck). Less flimsy ones for 25 shekels (7ish bucks)

expensive menorahs

The Judaica stores? They've moved their menorah wares up. (hundreds of shekels)

sale rack...  no red, no green....

The outdoor sales racks at Parisian clothing stores? Normal beautiful clothes with no special colors standing out.

sufganiyot

The bakeries? Sufganiyot (a Hanukkah treat) and not a scent of peppermint to be found anywhere.

Ra'anana is just as pretty as ever with its main street, Ahuza, lit up after dark. But no Christmas twinkle lights.

Don't get me wrong, I truly like Christmas--the memories, the smells, the music (well, most of the music), my friends' and family's pictures, Christmas cards, and the general joy that gets passed around. I love being invited to people's homes to decorate trees, cookies, etc.

What I don't like about Christmas is watching my kids feel like outsiders because of our lack of house decorations and music concerts with songs everyone knows but them. This is a result of choices Josh and I have made about what I hear Jewish moms calling the "December Dilemma." Jews make a wide range of choices on what to do about December, and our choice has been to have no Christmas in the house.

I am grateful to our school district for handling religious holidays so much better than many/most school districts in America. I have read some horrible stories from other moms this December: letters to Santa as homework, Christmas spirit week, etc. Oberlin SD isn't perfect (I'll never forget the Parent/Teacher conferences that were rescheduled on Yom Kippur and subsequent the lack of follow through from SD administrative leadership with our family), but we are lucky to have a SD --and especially the Oberlin teachers-- that works actively to practice religious inclusion and is open to suggestions.

Even though I like the Christmas experience, it's such a relief this year to not be a religious minority. I don't have to decide how to respond in front of my kids when well-intentioned people wish us a Merry Christmas when we don't celebrate it multiple times an outing. The simplest thing to do is to say Merry Christmas back, but I really want to say "we don't celebrate it, but I hope you have a wonderful Christmas." But then the other person feels bad or an awkward conversation ensues and I just don't have time or heart for all that.

In Israel, I don't have to watch wistful nine-year-olds looking at all the stuff to buy that we won't buy. All the media blaring Christmas all the time. All the stores and doctor's offices decorated for the holiday. I don't have to constantly explain that Hanukkah is not a major holiday and try to tamp down the buying impulse to make up for not celebrating Christmas. I don't have to witness Hanukkah being tokenized over and over again or explained as the Jewish Christmas (think about that one!). I don't have to wince at the Santa Claus mug that made it into our house from a gift basket we won at a fundraiser and that the kids want to use. It's a relief.

My only closing thought? I miss Christmas ale. Not sure how that fits into the whole story, but there it is.  :)