JERUSALEM (RNS) — Decades ago, the notion that a store in predominately Jewish West Jerusalem would conspicuously sell Christmas-themed merchandise would have caused discomfort, perhaps even outrage, especially among Eastern European Jews who throughout history experienced antisemitic attacks timed to the Christmas season.
Today though, Christmas, or at least its most recognizable symbols, are no longer a taboo subject for many Jews in Israel. Even in Jerusalem, where rabbinic authorities withhold kosher food certification from hotels that hold secular New Year’s Eve parties (the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah, is in the fall), several stores now prominently display Christmas-themed items.
In the weeks leading up to Hanukkah and Christmas, dozens of the items for sale at the Flying Tiger Copenhagen gift store at the Hadar Mall in predominantly Jewish West Jerusalem were related to the Christmas season: tree ornaments and lights, cookie molds, cooking utensils, Santa gift bags and reindeer antler headbands. The shop didn’t have Hanukkah-related items.
“Everyone buys here, Jews and Arabs,” said the cashier, a young woman wearing a hijab, as she rang up sales for several Muslim and Jewish customers, some of them Orthodox. “Most of them know these things are for Christmas, but they don’t know much about Christmas.”
Shops …