Moving to Israel allowed me to embrace Christmas??

I have always been the Christmas grinch. I hated the carols (though I know them all--most in latin--thanks to Harley, my school from K-12), the elves, the concept of Santa, the trees, and most of all, I think I hated not being a part of any of it.

I have always had Jewish friends who embraced Christmas without losing any part of their own Judaism, and I've had my moments--at Brandeis, for instance, when a close friend championed the administration for a large ceremony at the lighting of the school tree and I happily belted out "Let it Snow!." Nonetheless, I would change the channel when a Christmas song came on the radio, and swore off my favorite radio station, playing only "seasonal music" for a month before the dreaded day.

As everyone reading this blog (so, um, me) probably knows, I made aliyah about 3 months ago. Now that I'm Israeli, and living in Tel Aviv, a strange thing happened. It didn't happen when I lived here for the year, 3 years ago, and I certainly didn't expect it.

I started to miss Christmas. I found myself humming various tunes I hadn't thought of in years, testing my boyfriend on his Rudolph-knowledge, and when said boyfriend brought home, and then roasted (I kid you not!) chestnuts, I burst out in full-fledged song.

I even found myself missing not just the sales after Christmas, but the tinsel-everywhere, quiet-on-the-streets Christmas itself.

A very apt observer once pointed out that sometimes when you get what you need, it turns out you don't need it anymore. I needed to get away from Christmas--from feeling like an outsider, from the "holiday season" making reference to a minor Jewish festival. But now that I'm away, that it's not being forced on me, I find myself longing for a poinsetta (or however it's spelled) or a glimpse of the national tree.

You see, it turns out that somewhere along the way, Christmas, or more accurately, being anti-Christmas, became a part of me. And now that I don't have it, I sort of want it back.

Anyway, hope any of my Christmas-loving friends had a wonderful day filled with family, friends, and great presents. We'll see how this blogging thing goes--let me know what you think!

Blogging...a new adventure!

While I've been keeping an email list detailing my observations, mostly when abroad, for some years now, it was recently suggested that I start blogging. I'll be blogging on my life--probably lots of issues around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but lots on other stuff, too. No one (even my Mum!) is obligated to read, but if you like something I write, please let me know! Off we go!