Christmas in Jerusalem, by Mary Eldin

Amongst our overlapping circles of friends I was the only one who was, nominally, a Roman Catholic so I was always expected to host the Christmas day festivities.  It is a normal working day in Israel so one had to work quite hard to engender a suitably festive atmosphere in what was essentially a little oasis of celebration.

This year was to be very special – my mother was coming to be present for the birth of our first child, expected in mid to late January.  My father hated travelling but, in the spirit of Christmas, he decided she should travel well ahead of time and enjoy a very different Christmas with us while he travelled home to my siblings.  Mum was a deeply religious person and was so excited at the possibility of spending Christmas in the Holy Land.

The first aspect of our celebrations was to get into Christmas mood. The old city of Jerusalem is divided into four quarters – Jewish, Christian, Armenian and Muslim so, in the days leading up to Christmas we spent many hours in the Christian quarter. There are many different denominations of Christians living and working in the quarter, some of whom would be celebrating the holiday at a later date, but that essentially meant the festive season just lasted longer! The winding streets of the quarter were decorated, the shops full of Christmas goods while children chased around in excitement. It was magic.  My mother must have visited every type of church in the area with, of course, the Holy Sepulchre church as a highlight.  We enjoyed a Muslim version of a Christmas dinner in the famous Abu Shukri Cafe.  Its plastic chairs and table clothes belying the reality that this cafe, under the benign gaze of Abu Shukri himself, serves what is the best humous and felafel in the Middle East.  Despite the everyday difficulties of occupation the inhabitants of the Christian and Muslim quarters loved the festive season as it meant a large increase in the numbers of tourists to the old city – a badly needed boost to their struggling economy.

As for decorations – that was fairly easy.  A few years previously i had bought a lovely handmade wooden crib from Bethlehem and, over the years had added more figures, camels and sheep, some clay storage jars and little dark blue Hebron glass bowls with Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.  The tree necessitated a reconnaissance to find a suitable pine tree in a local garden which we could sneak into and break off a few branches!

The next pre-occupation was with the ‘meal’. We were expecting possibly 14 people for a traditional Turkey and Ham meal and we had no oven – only a two and half gas ring!  This meant we could provide some vegetables and also the pudding which my mother had brought with her!  Then there was the problem of dietary rules due to the mix of religious beliefs of our guests.  The ‘family’ would consist of a number of secular Jews (who posed no dietary challenges), two orthodox Jews (the parents of our secular friend Sue, they kept kosher), two Christian orthodox Arab brothers, two Muslims who were somewhat observant (but could be sure to observe Halal rules) and then a number of Europeans ( Dutch and Finnish ) and an Aussie, of whose religious status or otherwise we were unaware, but who did not seem to follow any religious prohibitions when it came to food.

So, what to eat while observing the different limitations? The first decision was to dump the ham as it was maybe a step too far for our Muslim and observant Jewish guests.  However Anita (originally American) who keeps her own kitchen kosher so her religious friends will agree to dine with her, demanded that we have the traditional bacon cooked on the turkey breast!  A compromise was that she would provide a kosher turkey, cooked in her kosher kitchen while one of the other secular Jews would cook bacon and cocktail sausages for those of us who had no dietary limitations!  We felt that these could be served more discreetly than a large ham!  Another guest, with strict instructions from me, agreed to roast potatoes. Others offered to provide the two essentials of all get-togethers in Israel and Palestine – fruit and nuts.

I had often spent Christmas Eve in Bethlehem but had never managed to get into the church for the mass – usually we would all gather in the aptly named Manger Square to celebrate in a rather more secular fashion – with alcohol, dancing and the occasional carol.  However, with the mother coming with us, we decided to get there early enough to hopefully get places for the midnight mass in the R/C  St Catherine’s Church. It is to the side of the ancient Nativity Church which is in the charge of Greek and Armenian Orthodox Christians. We headed out quite early, had some food in one of the local cafes, then took turns queueing outside the church while the others would wander around imbibing the atmosphere, listening to choirs and chatting to the many nationalities filling the square. It was a beautiful night, cold, crisp and with a bright shining, almost full, moon – it did not take much imagination to imagine the arrival of the strangers from Nazareth to this place two millennia ago.  To my mother’s great joy we managed to get in and she always said that her Christmas Eve mass in St Catherine’s church was one of the high points of her life!

The next morning, after exchanging gifts, we attempted to make enough space in our not terribly spacious sitting room to sit 17 people for a meal!  Our guests were to arrive for 3pm but some came earlier to join in the fun.  What still amazes me is that, despite the fact that the disparate elements of the meal were being prepared in different parts of Jerusalem, they all managed to arrive within a few minutes of each other and we all sat down to a hot meal.  After the initial amazement of our ‘local’ guests that we were going to eat a pudding that was several months old, they all enjoyed the ritual of burning the pudding and eating it, some surreptitiously breaking dietary laws to do so!

The celebrations carried on for some hours as people drank local wines and beers, picked at nuts, fruits and other titbits while some tried my excellent Irish coffees – again and again! I can remember sitting there watching my Palestinian, Israeli and other friends, people of various religious creeds and none, people of incredibly different backgrounds and experiences all sitting there enjoying our Christian holiday – eating, laughing, telling stories, singing the occasional song and just being together -differences put firmly aside.  This is what life should be about, people revelling in their differences while appreciating the richness of other traditions and beliefs. This to me is the true meaning of Christmas – welcoming a group of strangers to your home and enabling them to enjoy themselves and each other.