No More Appropriate Place to Visit

For those of us who are Christian, there is no more appropriate place to visit for Christmas than Israel. And there is no more appropriate person to guide us on our tour than a child. Please welcome my beloved Melisa (aka Misa Bug!), a nine year old brilliant writer and joy of my heart!

Mo'adim Lesimkha!

That is Merry Christmas in Hebrew. In Israel at Christmas time Christians go to church at the exact place Jesus was born. The Church is called the Church of the Nativity. Flags and other decorations fill the church. If you go down the deep winding stairs, you'll find baby Jesus' manger site. There is a big silver star around it that has 14 points with 15 silver lamps. Around the star it says, "Here of the Virgin Mary Jesus Christ was born."

Every year they have a parade with galloping horsmen and policemen that ride Arabian horses. Then one horseman on a solid black steed carrying a cross rides by. All of the churchmen and goverment officials walk at the end.

(Note added from Melisa's Mom: This procession leads the people to the Church of the Nativity where they have the worship service. Only a few hundred people can fit into the church, so they now place large screens and do a video cast of the worship service for the thousands of people gathered outside to worship at the place of Jesus' birth. After this service, many people then head out to the fields where the shepherds saw the angels to continue the worship service).

In the cities a Christian home has a red cross on the door. Plus they decorate their homes with a homemade nativity set. In the middle of every village is a pole with a star on the top.

And so that's how they celebrate Christmas in Israel.

Melisa

Isn't she AWESOME!! And Nut, you're welcome for the easy writing and literature homework! Merry Christmas to my Bug and my Boo and to Nut and Clark too! I love you guys!!