Bethlehem Marketplace

Christmases Past

It was like no landscape I'd ever seen before. I felt as if I had traveled into the city of Bethlehem.

Jesus' birthplace.

The City of David. 

It was our church's annual Christmas extravaganza where one could roam and experience the sights and sounds of a Bethlehem Marketplace, interact with people in the Bible ages, and witness a nativity scene (all with characters portrayed by congregation members).

The walls of the educational building had been converted to look like the fortified walls of an old Jewish city while the corridor and the larger rooms were now occupied by workshops and arched windows. Some of the shops were decked with brightly colored awning, separated only by paint color and awning designs.

So picturesque. Resembling a maze.

Looking in, one could see familiar faces attired to look like people in old Jerusalem.

Men were sitting cross-legged on the floor, hard at work making carved rosaries from olive wood. The women sat on low pieces of wood, their bare feet visible outside their dress. Mat baskets and large wooden bowls were on the ground.

A carpenter's shop had been constructed on a makeshift 'hillside,' the front being filled in, except the door, with cardboard 'masonry.' The door looked like it might have been made by one of Noah's carpenters, so roughly was it put together. On its ceiling were reed-stalks which sadly needed repair. 

Outside, a woman with a child astride her shoulder, her forehead and neck bright with a woven scarf, was peddling dates and olives while a miserable-looking beggar pleaded, Alms, alms for the poor.

Turning up one of the short side lanes was the 'main street' where houses extended a short way to the lane, with stairs outside. 

Some women were sitting, grinding corn. An elderly lady was polishing silverware, sometimes shushing rambling children who were spinning dreidels.

Around the corner, exposed light bulbs strung under tents lent a festive atmosphere. 

Up front was my designated place with the children, among them Eldest and Second Daughters. As spectators arrived, I would lead the children to form a double circle, hands joined together and we walked, leaped, hopped, and jumped to the tune of hava nagila. We would step aside only temporarily to give way to a Roman soldier castigating a rebel with a whip. 

The cramped space sometimes would turn positively claustrophobic with the many spectators now squeezing into it.

And then, hush.

Outside, in a stable were Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus in a manger (congregation members with the youngest born baby). Live sheep were grazing nearby.

O litlle town of Bethlehem

In thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting light

The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.