It was my first December in Haifa and my first Festival of Festivals. In this, the City of Coexistence, the Festival celebrates major holidays of the three Abrahamic religions. Christmas is the only one with a fixed date, and Chanukah’s has gained more popularity by its proximity to Christmas than by its intrinsic importance in the Jewish calendar. The holiday of Id el Fitter also is celebrated, even though the Muslim religious calendar is even more at odds with the Gregorian than is the lunar calendar we follow. So December it was, and is, and what a December!
There were street events and fairs, concerts, performances for children and adults, illuminations and a general air of celebration all over Haifa.
All my previous Decembers had been full of decorated homes, stores and trees, crèches, gift shopping, traditional family meals. There were performances of Messiah, Deck the Halls and White Christmas on the air, re-runs of Miracle on Thirty-Fourth Street and It’s a Wonderful Life on television. I had to search the racks for non-denominational holiday cards to send to colleagues and non-Jewish friends, and depended on the synagogue gift shops for my Chanukiah candles. And when we lit them at our front windowsill, they were beautiful, but almost lost in the red and green glory of our neighbors’ holiday decorations.
So when my neighbor puts his children’s school art work of angels and decorated trees, mangers and wise men, Madonna and Child in the window, and hung a wreath on their front door, I knew how they felt. And I felt wonderful, chanting the blessing as I lit the candles I had bought in the neighborhood supermarket, and singing Maoz Tsur.
My neighbor’s children are all grown up now, and there are other Christian families and a Muslim family as well in the building. We coexist comfortably as neighbors and friends, and think of ourselves as lights to the world, not just red and green, but also blue and white.
Zelda Dvoretzky was born in New Jersey and grew up in New York. She earned degrees from City College of New York and the University of Michigan, after which she wrote copy for the electronic and print media, and worked in public relations, editing and teaching. She retired to Haifa in 1997, is a member of Haifa Writers, Israel, an organization of writers of poetry in English, and the Haifa Chamber Choir. Zelda stays busy learning Hebrew, teaching English, and keeping in touch with grandchildren, family and friends in Texas, California, and, of course, Haifa. zeldahaifa@gmail.com
There were street events and fairs, concerts, performances for children and adults, illuminations and a general air of celebration all over Haifa.
All my previous Decembers had been full of decorated homes, stores and trees, crèches, gift shopping, traditional family meals. There were performances of Messiah, Deck the Halls and White Christmas on the air, re-runs of Miracle on Thirty-Fourth Street and It’s a Wonderful Life on television. I had to search the racks for non-denominational holiday cards to send to colleagues and non-Jewish friends, and depended on the synagogue gift shops for my Chanukiah candles. And when we lit them at our front windowsill, they were beautiful, but almost lost in the red and green glory of our neighbors’ holiday decorations.
So when my neighbor puts his children’s school art work of angels and decorated trees, mangers and wise men, Madonna and Child in the window, and hung a wreath on their front door, I knew how they felt. And I felt wonderful, chanting the blessing as I lit the candles I had bought in the neighborhood supermarket, and singing Maoz Tsur.
My neighbor’s children are all grown up now, and there are other Christian families and a Muslim family as well in the building. We coexist comfortably as neighbors and friends, and think of ourselves as lights to the world, not just red and green, but also blue and white.
Zelda Dvoretzky was born in New Jersey and grew up in New York. She earned degrees from City College of New York and the University of Michigan, after which she wrote copy for the electronic and print media, and worked in public relations, editing and teaching. She retired to Haifa in 1997, is a member of Haifa Writers, Israel, an organization of writers of poetry in English, and the Haifa Chamber Choir. Zelda stays busy learning Hebrew, teaching English, and keeping in touch with grandchildren, family and friends in Texas, California, and, of course, Haifa. zeldahaifa@gmail.com
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