Chrismukkah mood it’s on!

I was walking through Mamilla with my husband this past Saturday morning and my memory went to December 2017 when I was in the middle of my MA studies at TAU and my uncle and cousin came to visit me. We bought a bunch of sufganiyot at Roladin, walked to the bus station and went to explore Bethlehem by ourselves. I remember we took a lot of Christmas pictures, ate tons of food, and just had fun. I turned to my husband and asked if we could go to Bethlehem anytime soon and he said: with your Peruvian passport you can, I will find you someone to go with but I can’t go. But I wanna go with him, why can’t my partner enjoy the same travel privileges I do?

Two nights before this I went with 2 friends to paint ceramics. It is a little tradition we have. We snack something and then spend the following 2-3h gossiping, painting, dramatizing our lives. I chose the item pictured below and started to work on it. Please no judgement because if I had any art skills I would not be working as an operations manager, I would paint/create for a living instead.

Anyway, we finished painting and one of the workers there thinks it is so cute that I wrote Hannukah on my Hannukiah. I nervously corrected her and noted that it says Chrismukkah. She gives me a funny look and because I am used to justified my existence in Israel – thank you, Misrad Hapnim – I explained to her that I am Christian and my husband is Jewish so I am blending in both holidays together. She does not find it cute anymore and leaves with an “ah”. Hey, not everyone likes interfaith marriages, and that is okay, it won’t take my joy away and it won’t make me love my husband less.

Fair disclaimer: if you were able to identify the ceramic place, let me tell you they are the best and we will keep coming with my friends.

This Friday my husband woke up early and helped me set up the tree. He built it up, put it on top of the table we use for it and started adding the Andean Christmas decoration I got for this year. My husband is very secular and open to other cultures, key element for our marriage to work. He has several Christmas hoodies and a Santa outfit because he has the natural beard to go with it

Same Friday at Shabbat dinner my in-laws gave me some stuff they bought for me from their trip to the US. A Christmas t-shirt with some Christmas socks and M&M’s Christmas edition. My in-laws are as Jewish as they come and they have embraced my Christianity and my need to celebrate Christmas like it is totally normal and part of their lives and I love them for that.

So this is my polemical question for today. If I can live my Christianity, my Christmas obsession, my Latino culture at its fullest in Israel as a Peruvian, why can’t my husband, his family and his people live their Judaism abroad in the same way? Why are we advised to hide any Jewish identification on us when traveling outside of Israel? Why should we be worried that people might notice we are somehow associated with Israel/Judaism?

This month is very special for me, putting aside Passover/Easter, is the month where both of our traditions do a cute crossover. We have the candles in Hannukah and my tree for Christmas. We have the sufganiyot and the hot chocolate. We have the gifts on both events. We have love and memories to go by.

If we were ever to have a kid, I would want them to be able to enjoy their Christmas and their Hannukah at its fullest whether in Israel or abroad. I would want them to proudly show their Jewish roots while they sing a Christmas carol with their friends and I would want them to proudly say their mom is Christian while they cut the challah during a shabbat dinner.

My Chrismukkah wish is for the Jewish community to experience their Hannukah in Israel and abroad the same way I experience Christmas in Jerusalem: feeling safe, free and loved.