Behind the Headlines: a Hint of Christmas in the Air As Israelis Prepare for Sukkot

Why are dozens of Israeli street vendors selling Christmas tree lights and tinsel snowflakes in Jerusalem’s fervently Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim?

It’s Sukkot, of course.

Every year, thousands of people jam into narrow Mea Shearim streets to purchase lulavs, etrogs and decorations for their sukkahs.

On Thursday, the neighborhood was closed to traffic, and vendors set up hundreds of stalls for holiday shopping. While many customers chose traditional posters relating to religious themes, several purchased the tinsel ornaments and strings of lights usually associated with Christmas.

But since most fervently Orthodox Israelis have never seen Christmas being celebrated, they are unaware of the connection.

The scene was much the same next to the Machaneh Yehuda market, where enterprising vendors set up shop. Here the crowd was more mixed, with everyone from backpackers to Hasidim picking through the merchandise.

Lulavs ranged in price from $5 to $20, while etrogs went for $10 to $25. According to Nachman, a recently demobilized soldier who had set up a stall, the closer to the holiday, the lower the prices.

Behind the open-air market on Agrippas Street, several shops were selling “make-your-own sukkahs.” The sukkahs, which are made of metal poles and curtains, range from $125 to $400, including the thatching, or skhakh.

An artist who had just purchased a sukkah with white curtains said she intended to tie-dye her own pattern.

The Nature Reserves Authority has stepped up patrols in public parks and forests to prevent people from cutting down trees and using them as thatch.

Toward that end, various municipalities have timed their seasonal “tree- trimming” to coincide with the holiday. The excess foliage, which has been placed at authorized distribution points, is free to the public.