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ETCETERA
Calling Thanksgiving 'Christmas' is Just the Israeli Way
Living in the Galilee, bringing Thanksgiving to the Holy Land is no small feat.
By Shane Subelsky Tibi
t had been six months since I made the big move from
I the States to my husband's native home, Israel, and as
that first November abroad unfolded, I began longing for
parades, turkey, pie and holiday sales.
Reflecting upon Thanksgiving had made this American
gal long for friends and family back in Detroit, and since
my in-laws finally lived within proximity to actually invite
over for a meal, I thought they might enjoy a traditional
American holiday dinner.
Thanksgiving, I figured, contained all the requisite ele-
ments for an Israeli celebration: endless amounts of food,
plenty of family and, of course, tradition — sans the Israeli
fare.
Spices not withstanding, I actually convinced myself that
it was my duty as an American expat to foist a Thanksgiv-
ing dinner onto my husband's very Mizrachi [non-Europe-
an] family.
Naturally, it didn't quite go as I imagined. Actually it
didn't go at all.
In explaining to my mother-in-law about this uniquely
American holiday, where families get together and eat,
she of course thought I was talking about Christmas. I
explained that it's not Christmas but an American holiday,
which required I buy a whole turkey.
She couldn't understand why I would buy a turkey
chicken in the freezer.
when we had perfectly good
The whole idea of
turkey hit the rocks
when she learned
that I planned to
stuff it with bread.
She then suggest-
ed I roast a chicken
with rice and pine
nuts.
Maybe I wasn't
explaining Thanks-
giving to properly suit
an Israeli palate. I figured
~~ SOLUTIONS
I needed mouth-watering images to help paint the picture
so I downloaded a photograph of cranberry sauce from
the Internet, but sadly it horrified everyone."Why like this?"
was the general statement.
By the end, after retelling the story I learned in second
grade about the Pilgrims, and how pumpkin pie and green
bean casserole were absolute musts at the table, I felt
defeated.
That was it, no American Thanksgiving. I was like a Jew-
ish Ralphie from A Christmas Story, except I was doomed to
eat a different bird in a non-American setting.
Was it me? Did I give up too soon? I turned to my online
community of other expat American women here mar-
ried to Israelis. A group poll revealed the most challenging
ingredients to find locally to recreate this most American
of meals includes: cranberries — fresh, frozen or canned;
pumpkin pie filling; and a whole turkey. Basically the entire
thing.
Each of my American friends' mothers-in-law suggested
they cook something else like chicken, fish or beef. Each of
their Israeli families was grossed out by pumpkin pie. No
one understood that it wasn't Christmas.
Israelis love food. At any meal, ranging from an average
Tuesday lunch to Rosh Hashanah dinner itself, the table is
buried with an array of salatim (chopped salads, dips and
spreads). Meals are eaten fast and furiously. No bone is
left un-sucked, no finger left un-licked and no noises are
spared.
My Israeli wedding, for example, is a case study in Israel's
food madness. Guests enter to an appetizer buffet won-
derland. It's easy to fill up on the small plate masterpieces.
After the chuppah and the first round of an intense dance
party, the wedding guests sit to eat.
Individually ordered plates arrive. Looks like a meal?
Wrong! Not even close to the main event. Of course, each
table is filled with dozens of salatim. After more intense
dancing, this time to Israeli pop music fueled by vodka and
Red Bull, it's time for the main course — and platters of
grilled meat.
Shana and her husband, Rotem, together with their
infant son Adir. She tried to convince her in-laws that
Thanksgiving was not actually Christmas dinner.
Lastly, there is late-night coffee and an impressive cache
of fancy parve petit fours and ice cream. No one leaves an
Israeli wedding without enough food to digest for the rest
of the week. There is a method to this food system and it is
distinctively Israeli.
However, Israeli's love for food is strictly of the home
field variety. Venturing into other genres is"too exotic"for
the general population. "Gourmet" is not considered some-
thing good. (The thinking is"it's probably weird, expensive
and will leave you hungry for mom's food.")
This year, my second, I'm more grounded. I know my way
around a supermarket. I won't be settling for a chicken.
I may have to reconstitute dried cranberries, skip the
French's Fried Onions and eat an entire pumpkin pie alone.
But, darn it, I will do it! I vow to stuff a turkey this Thanks-
giving, even if I need to appease the family by covering the
table with salatim and calling it Christmas. FR-ir
SHANA SUBELSKY TI B I lives with her husband, Rotem, and infant son
Adir in Moshav Lappidot, the Galilee region of Northern lsraeL She is originally
from West Bloomfield. She loves pumpkin pie.
Colonial
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