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 | Jerusalem Local Customs | Tips 1 - 10 of 97 |  |
 | |  |  | Tradition: "Next Year In Jerusalem" | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
Down the generations the Jews have been saying not 'Next year in the Land of Israel' but 'Next year in Jerusalem'... One can create Tel-Aviv out of Jaffa but one cannot create a second Jerusalem. Zion lies within the walls, not outside them. In synagogues throughout the world, when taking the Torah out of the Ark, Jews sing "kee mi tzion tezeh Torah, u dvar Adoshem me'Yerushalayim", means, the Torah will come forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. "Zion", the Biblical name for Jerusalem, is not just the three-thousand-years-old capital of the Jewish people, it is the intellectual , cultural and spiritual center of Jewish gravity. Mentioned over six hundred times in the Bible, it was the city of David the heroic who conquered it and of Solomon the wise, who built the first of the two Holy Temples there. During the many centuries of exile, Jerusalem symbolized both the glorious past of the Jewish people - and their hopes for the future.
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| | | | Religious Holidays: Sitting in the Sukkah | Tip Rating: | | | | |
SUKKOT - Feast of Tabernacles, a 7-day festival of which only the first day is Sabbath-like, i.e. no public transportation or shopping (and, of course, being a week-long holiday, there is usually a Sabbath somewhere in the middle - unless the holiday begins on a Sabbath). Special features: Many families (more common in religious neighborhoods) build little booths - sukkot - from every material you can think of, hang all sorts of decorations from the rafters, which are covered with green leafy boughs or bamboo mats, but open enough so you can see the stars (paper chains and sparkly Christmas-like decorations are popular...), and eat their meals there all week. Some of the very religious even sleep in them. Symbols of the holiday: the lulav and etrog, bought at special markets before the holiday and taken to synagogue for a procession - a palm frond bound together with sprigs of myrtle and willow, and a bright yellow citron. A blessing is recited over the lulav and etrog every day by each member of the family. All kinds of festivals and happenings are held during the intermediate days of Sukkot. Children are off from school all week and families often take their vacations at this time. The weather is usually beautiful, although there is a chance of rain (the first rains start somewhere around late September - early October). The Jerusalem March, ending in a colorful parade through downtown Jerusalem, is an annual event . Every year, organized groups of marchers - Jews and Christian supporters of Israel - come from all over the world. They sing and dance in costume, and hand out flags and candies to the bystanders. I try not to miss it. It is incredibly moving to see all these people who come to Israel to express their solidarity and bring joy to the streets. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Religious Holidays: Sackcloth and Ashes | Tip Rating: | | | | |
TISHA B’AV (the Ninth of Av), which comes out in July-August is a kind of catch-all day for tragedies in Jewish history. According to the Talmud (Ta’anit 26b), five calamities befell the Jews on this day: 1) The Israelites were denied entry to the Promised Land. 2) The First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians (568 CE). 3) The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans (70 CE). 4) The Bar Kochba revolt was crushed and the city of Betar - the Jews’ last stand against the Romans - was captured and liquidated (135 CE). 5) The Roman emperor, Hadrian, plowed up Jerusalem and turned it into a pagan city – Aelia Capitolina - which the Jews were forbidden to enter. Other catastrophic events said to have taken place on this date were the expulsion of the Jews from Spain (1492); the outbreak of World War I (1914), when Germany declared war on Russia; and the mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, en route to Treblinka (1942). Today, Tisha B’av has become a day for soul-searching, for thinking about why these tragedies happened. This is a fast day, similar in many respects to Yom Kippur, but not as strict. Some people only fast half a day. It is not a Sabbath-like day: Stores are open and public transportation operates as usual. For three weeks leading up to Tisha B’av, very religious people will avoid swimming, going to the movies or having haircuts. On the nine days before the fast, it is customary not to eat meat. Before sundown, a dairy meal (“se’uda mafseket”) is eaten. As night falls, the Book of Lamentations – Eicha – is read out in synagogues around the country, as worshipers sit on the floor or on low stools. Leather footwear is not worn. It is customary to hold the service in semi-darkness, using candles for illumination. In Jerusalem, hordes of people head for the Western Wall, the last remnant of the Temple, to recite Lamentations there. Some more offbeat places for donning “sackcloth and ashes” are the Chamber of the Holocaust on Mt. Zion and Yitzhak Rabin’s gravesite on Mt. Herzl. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Religious Holidays: Slaving Away to Celebrate Freedom | Tip Rating: | | | | |
PESAH Passover, a spring festival celebrated in April (more or less coinciding with Easter) marks the exodus of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. It is a week-long holiday that requires rigorous advance preparation. The house must be throroughly cleaned to remove every speck of "hametz" - bread, cake, cookies, anything containing flour, actually any food product opened before the holiday. It is a kind of spring-cleaning, but multiplied beyond anything you've seen in any other culture...The cleaning countdown in some houses begins the moment Purim is over. The highlight of the holiday is the seder - a festive dinner on the first night of Passover (and outside of Israel, also on the second), at which the "haggadah" is read and a whole slew of special rituals are carried out. Bread is not eaten throughout the holiday, replaced by flat cracker-like squares of matza. The seder can take several hours, and often ends after midnight. It is customary to invite guests and share the meal with others - both family and strangers. Four cups of wine are drunk and a variety symbolic foods are eaten (explanations are provided in the haggadah). In terms of getting around, only the first day and the last day of the holiday are Sabbath-like. The other days, shops are open (not bakeries and pastry shops, though) and buses run. The children are off from school , the weather is usually springy and the countryside is in full bloom. So many people pack a matza picnic and head for the great outdoors. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Religious Holidays: Jewish Carnival Time | Tip Rating: | | | | |
PURIM: The Feast of Lots, celebrating the deliverance of the Jewish people from a tyrant who was out to get them in ancient Persia, is usually celebrated in March. This is actually a one-day holiday which has been stretched into 3 (the Fast of Esther and then two days for Purim because it is celebrated a day later in "walled cities" like Jerusalem and Safed). All the shops are open and the buses run as usual. Basically, it is a kind of carnival day, with masquerade parties and parades in some cities. The Megillah (Scroll of Esther) is read out in the synagogues on Purim eve, and many people come dressed in costumes or at least funny hats. When the name of the bad guy, Haman, comes up, everyone boos, stamps their feet and makes noise. There is a special noisemaker for Purim called a "ra'ashan" (or a "grogger" in Yiddish). The custom on Purim is to send plates or baskets of goodies to one another. Sweet triangular pastries called "oznei haman" (Haman's ears, or "hamentashen" in Yiddish") traditionally filled with poppy seeds or prunes are eaten (although there are lots of other fillings nowadays). On Purim day, many families get together for a festive dinner - "se'udat Purim." You can see kids dressed up all week long because the schools hold costume parties before the holiday. (For more on Purim see the local customs tip on my Israel page). Leave a Comment
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| | | | Religious Holidays: Festival of Lights (and Jelly Doughnuts) | Tip Rating: | | | | |
HANUKKAH: Feast of Lights, an 8-day holiday, usually in December, around Christmas time, celebrating the victory of the "few against the many": The Jews, led by Judah Maccabee, drove out the Syrian occupiers of Jerusalem and the Temple in 167 BCE. When the Temple was cleansed and rededicated, only a small jug of ritually pure oil was found to light the candelabra. The quantity was sufficient for one day, but miraculously lasted for eight. So a special Hanukkah menorah called a "hanukkiah" that holds eight candles plus an extra one (the "shamash," used to light the others), is placed on a windowsill where people outside can see it, (to "publicize" the miracle) and one candle is lit every night, until there are eight. This is not a Sabbath-like holiday, which means everything is open and transportation operates as usual. Kids are off from school that week. In Israel, it is traditional to eat jelly doughnuts, although the idea is to eat something fried in oil -especially latkes - potato pancakes, topped with sour cream or applesauce. In a spin-off of Christmas, the children get presents or Hanukkah gelt (money). Another feature of the holiday is the Hanukkah top - "sevivon" in Hebrew, "dreidel" in Yiddish." It used to be a simple wooden affair with Hebrew letters on each side but nowadays there are souped-up battery-powered versions. (For more on dreidels, see the custom tips on my Israel page). Leave a Comment
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on January 21, 2007
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on October 20, 2005
