Snapshot in time: What I did on THE Holy Day in THE Holy Land

 It’s December 24th, 2016, and Christmas Eve is hours away; unique to this year is the fact that the first night of Hanukkah coincides with the birth of Christ.
Before I go on check this picture out and try to guess what it is (the answer is at the very bottom of the post):

Now back to the post:Though I grew up and my family lives in Los Angeles, for the past 8 years I’ve lived in Israel and every year during the holidays the same set of thoughts and questions and day-dreams seem to cross my mind: thoughts and questions like  the one I had just 3 days ago while hiking in the woods atop mount Carmel (which is 30 miles South of Nazareth), “I wonder if 2,000+ years ago Jesus walked these very woods?” and when we crossed a stream I thought,”Was this stream here when Jesus lived? And if it was perhaps he too had crossed it one random afternoon.” And as for day-dreams I often try to imagine how the area looked and how the people acted while he was alive.

I come from a secular Jewish family and since my immediate family is in L.A., even though I’m always invited to spend the holidays with my family in Israel, with the exception of the High Holidays such as Passover or Yom Kippur, when Hanukkah comes around I usually choose to spend the day doing whatever comes to mind since - as mentioned, I’m a secular Jew - and in my view it’s really a holiday for children to learn about a Historical Jewish event (which no doubt is important and a holiday to bond with family and loved ones) but as an adult living a world away from his immediate family I don’t feel especially compelled to do anything specific (though on some years I feel different).
However, having been raised in L.A. where the population is overwhelmingly Christian as were the majority of my best friends, I recognize the significance of Christmas and Jesus and it is always at the forefront of my thoughts when considering that I live in the Holy Land.

With that said, you know what I did today? I went to see a matinee screening of La La Land. I haven’t seen a movie in a theater in Israel for 8 years since 8 years ago I went a theater and the people were so loud and obnoxious the experience was ruined especially since cinema is such an important part of my life. But this year I figured since both Christmas and Hanukkah coincide the theater will be empty and I’ve been looking forward to this film for quite some time. And, well, that’s what I did and boy was I right! I was the only person in the theater and it was a fantastic experience. Check it out:

That’s it for now. I want to wish anyone celebrating either Christmas or Hanukkah a happy holiday and as for the 1st picture, the answer is: the chandelier which hangs from the roof of the mall all the way down 9 floors as seen from within the glass elevator.