Official Name - State of Israel; Medinat Yisra'el
Local Name - Yisra'el
Capital - Jerusalem
Time Difference - UTC+2 - 7 Hours ahead of Washington D.C.
Chief of State - Shimon Peres
Head of Government - Binyamin Netanyahu
Jerusalem, the capital of Israel and the proposed Palestinian state, is the holiest city in Judaism and Christianity, and one of the holiest in Islam. This is where The Temples of Solomon stood, this is where Jesus was crucified, and this is where Muhammad ascended into heaven. Basically, this is an extremely important place to about half of the world's population.
Since
Christmas is one of the holiest days in
Christianity, and Jerusalem is where Jesus spent much of his time and where he was put to death, Christmas is an important day in Jerusalem. Many Christians from around the world gather here for Christmas celebrations.
Jesus was said to be born in
Bethlehem on Christmas Day (the reason that Christmas is so important in Christianity), so it is also a very popular tourist site at this time of the year. No one actually knows what day Jesus was born, but December 25th has been celebrated as the day of his birth since the 300s CE.
Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, is also around the same time as Christmas. According to
Wikipedia:
Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar.
This time falls during what is considered in the Western World as "
The Holidays" (not to be confused with
the band).
Hanukkah is said to be the
celebration of a miracle occurring in the Jewish Temple. Judea (Israel) was under the rule of the
Seleucid Empire, and the king
Antiochus IV Epiphanes, had ruled that Judaism was illegal and that everyone had to worship Zeus as their supreme god. The Jews didn't like this, so the
Maccabees lead a successful revolt and retook the Temple. A menorah was lit and was supposed to burn day and night while the Temple was rededicated to the Jewish god, but there was only enough oil to last one day. Miraculously the menorah stayed lit for 8 days, which was the time required to prepare the new oil. This was seen as a sign from God, so the event is still celebrated today.
There is no one Islamic holiday that falls during this time. Some, such as the
Islamic New Year and
Ashura, do fall during this time in some years, but there are no major holidays that routinely fall during this time.