Oddly Enough Blog
News, but not the serious kind
Time to beheading home, Santa
Email 
Print
Blog Guy, like many of your readers, I come here for news about other cultures. I’m curious about how Christmas is celebrated in Israel.
Sure, I can tell you about Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity, which…
Not THAT Christmas! The real, commercial one. Santa Claus and reindeer and stuff.
Oh. I’m not big on doing research, but we do have some photos from Israel this week which you may find interesting. On the left you can see the custom of “Sleazy Santa.” They take an inflatable Santa down narrow narrow alleys in Jerusalem and pretend to peer in windows…
Where did that tradition come from?
From our own pop culture references. “He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake…”
Wow, who knew? What else?
There’s also Unwelcome Santa, shown in this photo on the right. Children in Santa hats visit the Israeli President and other Jewish leaders and irritate them with Christmas songs.
That’s a real eye-opener. I would imagine what with the window-peeping and the annoying singing, Santa isn’t too popular by the time Christmas Eve rolls around!
You’ve got that right. That’s when an angry mob pulls Santa’s head off.
WHAT? But there’s nothing in Commercial Christmas tradition to justify that!
Yeah? Read “The Night Before Christmas.” And I quote: “…a twist of his head, soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.”
Blog Guy, you know nothing! You’re just making up stuff so you can enjoy Christmas Eve with your wonderful family. Go on, admit it.
God bless us, every one!
Join the Oddly Enough blog network
Follow this blog on Twitter at rbasler
Top: A vendor holds the head of a Santa Claus doll as he arranges a display outside a shop in Jerusalem’s Old City December 21, 2010.
Left: A man wearing a Santa Claus costume places an inflatable Santa Claus doll in an alley in Jerusalem’s Old City ahead of Christmas December 22, 2010.
Right: Israel’s President Shimon Peres listens as children from Nazareth’s Latin Patriarchal School choir perform traditional songs for Christmas at his residence in Jerusalem December 23, 2010.
REUTERS photos by Baz Ratner
Comments RSSPost Your Comment
-
Author Profile
-
*remembers Halloween*
@forward: remembers Halloween and dismembers Santa?
And the sci-fi Frosty the Snowman: with a corncob pipe and a button nose and three eyes made out of coal…
What is Santa doing in Israel of all places?
In the words of Ackmed the Dead Terrorist.
“Ho Ho….poof”
~sniff sniff sniff~….~sniff sniff~
a MeRrY ChRiStMaS
frOm Doks DaWGs, tHunDEr aNd jAcK
haPPy hoLiDAyS @==@
~sniff sniff sniff~
The headless horseman meets the ghost of Christmas Past!
That would explain the line in the song “It’s That Time of Year.” “There’ll be scary ghost stories.”
Merry Christmas, Thunder and Jack!
Oops – “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” Ghost stories and all. Kind of fitting for your Christmas blog.
@Onedoor: I simply love Halloween
Now that Beheaded santa was a sight for sore eyes…