Naomi Tomky

I was an American Jew in Palestine. I wondered if I had made a mistake in coming here, in leaving the relative safety of my hotel in Jerusalem, or the even greater comfort of my Seattle home, where my husband and six-month-old waited for me. But the most dangerous thing about eating lunch in Palestine was that I might have exploded from eating too much.

Both involve lights, a miracle, and fall on the 25th day of a winter month, but that’s about where the similarities end between Hanukkah and Christmas.