After living here for over a year and a half, one thing we learned is Israel has A LOT of holidays! It’s been so hard for us to keep track of them, we now have a list of every holiday on our refrigerator just like the kids’ activities.
Although we’ve been living here for a while, most of it has been during corona and many lockdowns, so we haven’t really EXPERIENCED all of them. Missing a holiday can lead to some embarrassing moments.
My hair stylist is from Angola and she had some embarrassment with the recent holiday for Holocaust Remembrance Day. She is a frequent instagram poster and had one of her dancing in the salon that morning. A customer messaged to tell her music should not be played on this somber holiday. She quickly took it down, embarrassed.
We have also learned all the holidays are like Shabbat and start at sundown the evening before. Passover happened during the first lockdown last year, so this year was like the first for us. Of course, we saw the grocery stores looked a lot different with all of the items covered in plastic unable to purchase with the word “chametz” or do not open. Chametz is the category of food that should not be eaten during Passover. That includes many things you wouldn’t normally expect including cereal.
Bakeries also stop making their normal bread. Many restaurants have different bread on their menus altering items like pizza. Our street also looked a lot different where people normally fight over spaces in front of our apartment…this year we saw the street almost empty for the first time with people celebrating the holiday with family.
That calendar on our refrigerator has me prepared for the next holiday this week. Israel’s Independence Day is on Wednesday, so no school. Or is it Thursday? I have to check.
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