A Holly Jolly Christmas

Every December I am very aware that most arts and crafts bloggers the world over are busy showing off their Christmas makes, whilst I am blogging about birthday and wedding cards, Bat Mitzvah albums and day trips in Israel! Although I personally do not celebrate Christmas, it is of course especially meaningful in Israel due to the historic significance this little country holds as the land where the Christmas story took place. If you are able to cross over into Palestinian areas, the Christmas Market and Midnight Mass in the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth is known to be a wonderful experience. In Bethlehem you can visit Manger Square and go to Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity, plus there is an annual Christmas Parade. The German Colony in Haifa has amazing Christmas lights. In the predominantly Jewish city where I live there is very little sign of the holiday and you would not have an inkling that Santa is about to visit! I have enjoyed listening to Christmas pop songs on BBC Radio 2 on the Internet though. I like to have a good singalong when there's no one home!

This year Chanukah overlaps with Christmas. The eight day holiday, which began last night, is also known as the Festival of Lights. It commemorates the re-dedication of the second century BCE Second Temple in Jerusalem. The last time our Jewish holiday crossed over with Christmas was 2016. That year, Christmas Day fell roughly in the middle of the Chanukah, as it does again this year. Rarer still are the years when Chanukah starts precisely on Christmas Day, as it did in 2005 and 1959 before that.
Chanukah of course falls on the same date every year - just not on the calendar most are used to. Jewish holidays are based on the Hebrew Calendar, which is lunar, as opposed to the secular Gregorian calendar used by much of the world, which is solar. The lunar year lasts about 354 days, far shorter than the 365 days that make up the secular solar year. The Hebrew calendar makes up for the difference by adding a leap month during seven of every 19 years, so Chanukah keeps moving. In 2013 it bumped back to November!

Despite the fact that I celebrate Chanukah rather than Christmas, I do have a papercut art business and some people, no matter where they live, still need Christmas cards. I personally send my handmade holiday cards to a few friends back in the UK, while other people require cards to send to their clients abroad. After all, they are celebrating Christmas, even if we're not. This year I made these papercut Christmas greeting cards with holly cut out detail. A pop of red for the berries added a second colour.

So, whatever you are celebrating - Christmas or Chanukah - happy holidays to you all! Thank you for all the support you have given me and my blogging adventure this year. Please keep visiting.

* This post has been shared on Welcome To The Weekend Link Up, Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) and Creatively Crafty.