As a country that's about 76% Jewish, most Israelis follow Jewish traditions and holidays, which is what will be outlined here.
Virgin Experience Gifts reached out to the blogger Hannah Katsman to ask about gift giving customs and etiquette in Israel. Not having much of an answer, she decided to write a blog post on it and have her readers comment. So, what did we find?
According to the comments, most people agreed that money is the best gift for most gift giving occasions in Israel, especially weddings and bar or bat mitzvahs. We also concluded that many people actually expect money instead of material gifts, but that traditional wedding gifts (kitchen items, bed linens, etc.) and religious items for religious holidays are also widely acceptable.
It should also be noted that when giving money, it's best to give it in multiples of 18. This is because 18 is the numeric value of “Chai' which means “life' or “living.”
In addition to these customs, one of the most unexpected finds was that Israelis typically do not give gifts on Hanukkah like American Jews do. To find out even more about gift giving in Israel, we talked with Dotan Gershony, a 27-year-old officer in the Israel Defense Forces, who said (amongst other things) that the elements of thought and surprise are two things that always make a gift special.
Gift Wrapping: According to Gershony, “there isn't really a norm as to wrapping a gift. No one will notice if the gift is unwrapped but it mostly is (the regular shop wrapper, nothing fancy). Sometimes you'd add a card for the occasion but it's not a social norm and I have never seen a thank you card so that's a NO on that. The only rule is that you must remove the price tag.
Business: There is no obligation for business gifts and they are not expected but they will be appreciated if received. Gifts from a visitor's home country are also appreciated as it allows the Israeli to show his or her international ties and acquaintances, something they value.
According to Gershony, businesses will give out gifts to their employers on Pesach and Rosh-Hashana.
Bad Gifts: When selecting a gift for an observant Orthodox Jew or Arab, ensure that it is compatible with their religious beliefs. For example, food gifts for observant Orthodox Jews must be kosher.
* Hostess gifts: According to CultureCrossing.net, “If invited over for dinner you should always bring a gift. Either a bottle of high quality wine/liquor, flowers, or nicely wrapped chocolates/sweets is a good idea.”
* Housewarming: Housewarming gifts are quite typical. Anything from food to flowers to serving dishes will be appreciated.
* Birthday: According to birthdaycelebrations.net, “In Israel the child whose birthday it is wears a crown made from leaves or flowers and sits in a chair decorated in streamers. Guests dance around the chair singing. The parents lift the chair while the child sits in it.' As for gifts, anything with special thought behind it will do.
* Bar or Bat Mitzvah: Each child has to prepare for this service for many months or even years ahead of time, and the ceremony will take place around the boy or girl's 13th birthday. On this day they must now obey the jewish laws as an adult and behave responsibly. After the ceremony a reception is held. Gifts are given at the reception, not the service, and the most common gift is cash. Much like with wedding gifts, the amount of cash to be given will be determined by how nice the reception is, how close you are with the person and the family, etc.
* Hanukkah: In Israel, gifts aren't actually expected at Hanukkah. However this is widely done now in the states and elsewhere because of Christmas traditions. If any presents are given in Israel it's usually gelt (chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil) or a dreidel.
*Rosh Hashanah: This season largely resembles Christmas-time in the states as the whole country gets into the spirit, greeting each other with “Good and sweet new year,” and hustling and bustling around. In all cases, gifts are expected at Rosh Hashanah. According to Hannah's blog post, there seems to be a custom to give gifts to your parents or inlaws for Rosh Hashanah and Pesach. According to israel-food-guide.com, it is customary to bring your host a gift of something new for the kitchen. And a very common gift is a food basket with wine and honey, two items frequently consumed to celebrate the new year.
*Passover (Pesach): A great gift for Passover is to bring a kosher wine that is specifically for Passover. Other possible gifts are religious items or kitchen items that can be used for the food involved with Passover like matzo. It's important to note that those who strictly follow Passover will not enjoy flowers unless they are already arranged in a vase as their are certain harvest rules during Passover that do not allow arranging and watering flowers at that time.
* Funerals: Although there are no gifts directly related to funerals and no “gift giving to the dead,” Jewish Israelis gift the family of the deceased with Seudat Hawra'ah, their first meal after the burial which usually involves eggs or bagels to symbolize continuity of life. In addition they hold Shiva, the first period of morning, after the burial. Shiva lasts for seven days, and during that time friends and members of the community bring gifts of support, comfort and sometimes food to the family of the deceased.
* Wedding: Overeall, the most given and expected wedding gift is money. Sometimes money received at a wedding will go toward paying for the wedding as well. According to Gershony there are actually online calculators that will help the gift giver decide how much money to give based on parameters like how you know the person, how long you've known the person, how much he/she gave at your wedding, etc.
But, many Israelis on Hannah's blog also said that half of their guests brought cash while half brought other items. One comment said, “silver Judaica items, such as a kiddush cup, candlesticks or a chanukiah, seem to be popular gifts in Israel.”
And another, “our wedding gifts were pretty evenly split between cash and other stuff we received a lot of kitchen items (particularly serving dishes that we have yet to open, three years later) and several different books on marriage, in addition to the typical Judaica stuff.”
Also, registries are not common, but gift receipts are. It's even been said by some that gift receipts are a must.
*Baby Shower: Baby gifts are common, but are only to be given after the baby is born and never before. It is superstition of the evil eye that even mentioning a baby's name before it is born invites evil spirits, so a pre-baby shower is a no. However, this is not Jewish law.
