The never-ending holidays

It's funny. You don't need a calendar to know what the next holiday is – even if it's several months off. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the end of the holiday season – how it's a very intense period, but very powerful. And long. After 3 weeks of holiday followed by Shabbat (the Sabbath) followed by another holiday, then another Shabbat, and so on and so on, there is a lot to be said for getting back into a routine of "normalcy", of consistent schedule, and day-to-day-life.

But apparently that is simply not to be.

I was in the mall here today, and I saw in 2 bakeries and the supermarket sufganiyot, the donuts associated with Chanukah. Now – Chanukah begins in the final week of the Hebrew month of Kislev, and we are right now at the very beginning of the month of Cheshvan. We are 6 1/2 weeks away from Chanukah, and we haven't yet worked off any of the jazillion calories that we took in during the holidays last month. So why the hell do we already need to start in on the food that really has nothing to do with this particular time of year? Can't we have some "down time" first?

When I posted a status update on Facebook about this earlier, one of my friends in the States mentioned that it's the same thing happening there – that some stores have already started in on the Christmas push – a full 2 1/2 months before the holiday. I remember that being the case from my "previous life" growing up in America (inasmuch as one could say that I have "grown up" at all), but being Jewish, and not celebrating Christmas, I didn't really relate to or feel the early holiday push there.

Here I do feel it.

In America, I have a feeling that it is pretty widely understood that the early sales and marketing ploys for the holidays are done solely for commercial factors. This makes a lot of sense, but since I don't really know the American / Christian holidays so well, and since I have lived in Israel for 23 years, I won't presume to really know anything about it.

In Israel, however, I wonder if perhaps beyond the commercial considerations, the rush to start "setting the atmosphere" of whatever the next holiday is (in this case Chanukah), is rooted in psychological reasons as well.

All of the Jewish holidays are chock-full of historical and theological relevance. Even most of the "secular" Israelis feel some connection to the renewal of the New Year and the Book of Life being "signed, sealed delivered" on Yom Kippur. Most Israelis love celebrating Chanukah. The idea of God miraculously enabling the under-manned, under-trained, under-armed Jewish army of the Maccabees to defeat the all-powerful Greek Empire in battle strikes a note of pride in even the most secular Israelis, most of whom have lived through some of Israel's wars in which the odds against us seemed no better than that of the Maccabees against the Greeks.

A couple of months after Chanukah is the holiday of Purim – also celebrating the Jewish people being delivered against all odds certain annihilation – this time in Persia sometime around the 4th – 5th century BCE. As with Chanukah, the historical touches a chord for most Israelis – whether religious or secular, and there are very few Israelis that do not partake in the revelry and dressing-up which is part of the modern-day celebration.

Exactly one month after Purim is Passover – celebrating freedom and delivery from slavery in Egypt. The vast majority of Israelis – whether religious or secular – participate in the traditional Passover meal – the Seder. The story of Passover and the idea of freedom from slavery is another one of those themes that speaks to almost all of us – no matter our level of religious observance.

After Passover is the one holiday that is not necessarily "religious" in nature, which is the Israeli Independence Day – although there are many folks who see definite signs of the hand of God in this as well (and again – the odds against the fledgling Israeli army upon declaring Independence in 1948 was no better than those facing the Maccabees in the story of Chanukah), and after Independence Day is Shavuoth (Pentecost) which commemorates the Children of Israel receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. Many of the traditions connected with this holiday are also not relegated to the "religious" community in Israel.

When you think about it, it's pretty amazing how much of the holiday traditions, observances and associations are treasured by the gamut of Israelis. The holidays permeate the society here, and it is not all uncommon to hear secular Israelis wishing one another happy holidays when the holidays are upon us.

Which brings me back to the prevalence of sufganiyot in the stores and bakeries just a week and a half after the High Holy Day season ended.

It isn't the same as in America – where there is an underlying commercialism (and maybe not so underlying). There isn't a "sufganiyot industry" making money off of the early sale of the calorie-laden donuts. Contrary to what Chanukah has become in America, here it isn't really about buying presents every night for the kids, so that's also not behind the early switch into Chanukah-Mode.

Rather, I think it's that the holidays are so much a part of our National identity – the historical messages are still alive and well for Israelis in the 21st century. We recognize the fact that the Jewish people and the State of Israel still exist when logically, as a people we should have been wiped out centuries ago, and the modern State logically should never have come into being – much less thrive as it has. Some attribute this to an all-powerful being while others say it is fate, karma, or plain dumb luck – but that doesn't change the reality or the cause for celebration.

In a lot of ways, it's these realizations that define us as a people, to the point where once one holiday is behind us, we almost have to start looking towards the next one. Whatever the holiday is, it is a reminder of who we are as a people, and what we have survived in order to be such.