Monday, December 23, 2024
Elder of Ziyon
In December Haifa celebrates the "holiday of holidays", a festival marking Hannukah, Christmas, and the Muslim holiday Eid Al-Adha. A celebration of multiculturalism, Jews, Muslims, and Christians living together peacefully.
The historic German
quarter with the Bahai Temple at the top of the road is decorated with
beautiful lights and filled with vendors selling food, Santa hats, balloons,
and various little toys.
(Bahai is another
religion. Their world center is located in Haifa)
Israelis like having a
sliver of European Christmas environment here at home. The lights are pretty
and a reason to celebrate is wonderful - particularly in a country filled with
difficulties, pain, and grief.
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| Holiday of Holidays in Haifa 2024 |
The thing is that in Israel there is what you see on the surface and the layer of meaning underneath.
I don't enjoy the
“Holiday of Holidays” as much as most people do because, while I too love the
pretty lights, I can't ignore the layer underneath.
This festival is a
good thing in that it brings tourism to Haifa. That's good for businesses. But
whose businesses? And what message is being conveyed in this celebration?
The entire premise of
the festival is based on a distortion of truth. Hannukah and Christmas come
more or less at the same time every year. Eid Al-Adha coincides with the Jewish
and Christian holidays approximately once every 33 years due
to the shifting cycles of the Islamic calendar relative to the Gregorian and
Hebrew calendars.
Celebrating the
holidays as if they come together is a reflection of the Jewish hope that the
different religions can come together, joyously. It's a reflection of an ideal
(a fantasy), not a reflection of reality.
Just like Israelis who
lived in the communities near Gaza believed that the Gazans they employed were
the forerunners of peace between our nations, believing that their cooperation
was the only reality, never dreaming that there was another layer underneath.
They employed Gazans in their homes, providing them with salaries much higher
than they could dream of attaining in Gaza. They invited them to eat with their
families and supported them when they had personal problems – driving their
sick children to Israeli hospitals, staying with them for the duration of the
hospital stay to serve as a liaison with the system and make sure they didn’t
feel alone. The Israelis saw genuine friendship and collaboration between human
beings.
They never imagined
that those same Gazans would be the ones to provide the Hamas invaders with
maps and lists of who lived in which house, if there was a gun in the house, a
dog and anything worth stealing. The Israelis never imagined that the people they
invited into their homes would be the ones to tell the invaders who to
slaughter first, describing habits and schedules to make it easier to achieve
that goal.
It's incredibly
dangerous to address reality as what we wish it was, rather than as it really
is.
The lights are pretty
and, although I am Jewish, I recognize Christmas as a positive holiday – not
the consumerism of what Christmas has become for many, the religious idea of
hope and salvation for every individual is inspirational and beneficial to society.
The thing that most people abroad don’t realize is that the Christians in
Israel are mostly Arabs and Arab culture is stronger than Christian values. The
other Christians are escapees from the Soviet Union, using some Jewish ancestor
as their ticket to a better life. It is legitimate for any human being to
strive to improve their circumstances. At the same time, while these are often
educated people who can contribute to the economy, their lack of connection to
Israel as the homeland of the Jews is a problem.
(Yes, there are many
Russian and Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, who are both Jewish and Zionists and
have done much for the country. I am not referring to them)
The “Holiday of
Holidays” does not display Hanukah on the same level as the Christian or Muslim
holiday. There are no symbols to represent the Maccabees and there is very
little in the decorations that represents the miracle of light. There is
nothing in the atmosphere that conveys the Jewish triumph over the greatest
army in the world and regaining of sovereignty in their land – the miracle of
those days that has become super relevant to us, in this day.
The symbols and
atmosphere of Christmas dominate but the culture that is felt is Arab – the
vendors who benefit from the business, the style, and the food. The Arab
business owners are Israelis, their presentation is successful and the food is
delicious.
So what is wrong?
On the external level
– absolutely nothing. Business is good. Success is good. Everyone loves a party
and good food.
On the underlying
layer, there are two problems – cultural domination and a lack of Jewish pride.
There is no such thing
as a vacuum and when we don’t fill the atmosphere with the spirit of our
celebration, inviting others to attend and benefit from the light of our
miracles, of course, others will step in and fill the void. When we don’t tell
our story of course others, who never stopped telling stories, will insist that
we have no story.
It is lovely to
celebrate with other people and enjoy their holidays. The problem is where is
our holiday? Why aren’t we telling our story? Why aren’t we inviting others to
join our celebration?
The lights are pretty
but I can’t completely enjoy them when I feel I am staring into the void where
Jewish identity, pride and joy is supposed to be.
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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022) |
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