Most of you reading this are suspended in the holidays between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.
Ah, I remember those times—the family gatherings, the food, scents, decorations, general cheer, days off and utter attention to HOLIDAY.
Not so here. I’ve lived in Israel for 24 Christmases—most spent in J-town with only a few scattered ones in the U.S. and one randomly in Belgrade!—and no matter how long its been, I just cannot get used to it.
We in Jerusalem have arguably the most observations of Christmas (3) and yet we don’t really have a “Christmas holiday.” How can that be? Simple Jerusalem math.
Here are a few things I’ve learned about Christmas in Jerusalem…
1. It’s a regular working day!
Unless Christmas lands on a Saturday, you will be shocked to see regular rush-hour traffic, kids going to school and all the shops open. (Though I have to admit, that has benefited us with last-minute gift shopping!)
2. There are several dates for Christmas.
Catholics and Protestants celebrate Dec. 25, but there are many Orthodox Christians (if not more!) who observe the holiday on Jan. 7. Then, not to be outdone by any other city in the world, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem sticks to an even older calendar and observes Christmas on Jan. 19. Jerusalem literally begs for complication.
You can watch the explanation here:
4. Local Christians prefer Easter to Christmas.
While Christmas in the U.S. is a bigger deal, here Easter is the main event. And for good reason. As a local Christian put it in an interview I once did: without his death and resurrection, Jesus’ birth would not be special.
5. It can be canceled on a dime.
Christmas celebrations were canceled in the last couple years thanks to Covid and then war. I noticed that, sadly, Christian holidays here are the first to get swept away by external complications. Christmas was back this year, thankfully (read about it here in this article).
6. Christians make up 2% of the population—but feel like a lot more than that on their holidays!
When they do celebrate, the Christians are LOUD! Only 190,000 Christians in Israel and about half a dozen+ denominations all with their own scouts who play bagpipes and drums at every religious procession. It is awesome, raucous and nothing like the staid and reserved Western expression of any religious holiday!
7. Being a minority, one has to double down on his or her beliefs.
When the entire nation is not pausing along with you, you are going against the flow of society, your neighbors, your neighborhood, work and school.
This lack of national focus on your own holidays makes you choose: You either drop it and go with the flow. Or you decide to double down on your beliefs: what they are and why you persist on holding onto them despite an environment that does little to acknowledge their existence.
8. I had to give up trying to replicate the Christmas I grew up with.
Its hard for me to admit that! But we had to create our own traditions here because of the above reasons—and also the lack of some ingredients! Not to mention the culture: My kids aren’t growing up Italian-American in NYC like I did. They are growing up as trilingual minorities with Armenian, Arab and Jewish friends in an intermittently war-torn and frenetically-paced environment.
All of that said, the holiday does have some broad appeal here because Christmas really is a beautiful time of year. I noticed more Jews and Muslims than Christians at the Christmas market at New Gate on Christmas Eve! (Of course, the Christians would have been either at church services or with family, so it makes sense.)
Nevertheless, it really does require a pause and intention to dig in. As we leave the weekend behind, I hope we’ve done that in some small and unmeasurable way.
What about you? How and where did you celebrate? And what are you looking forward to most in the new year? Let me know in the comments!
Happy and blessed New Year to all of you! I’m looking forward to the conversation in 2026!
