The BBC camera crew really outdid themselves this year. Happy 2026! 🎆 It is that time of the year when everyone wishes everyone a happy new year. I had always done so myself, until 1990, assuming it was — let’s say — universal. But did you know that Judaism once recognized four different New Years — not just one? I didn’t, when I arrived in Israel in 1990 and discovered that December 31 meant very little there. It was only my second month in the country, as a new immigrant —

The light of belonging: Finding my place in a tradition I didn't grow up with. I know my website is only a few days old, but with Hanukkah just around the corner (December 14 at sunset until 22 at sunset), I had to mention it! Israel usually celebrates Hanukkah in December, though it can fall in November because Jewish holidays follow the Hebrew calendar, while everyday life uses the Gregorian one. In the Hebrew calendar, the twelve lunar months— Nissan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz,