Merry Tishrei: Santa Claus blows shofar

Government Press Office issues Happy New Year postcards from Rosh Hashana of 5774 to January 2014, from Jewish High Holidays to Christmas

Kobi Nachshoni|Published: 09.07.13 , 07:53

What happens when a Jew sends a Christian a Happy New Year greeting card? That may sound like the beginning of a joke, but the Government Press Office (GPO) is has taken it seriously and designed a postcard which will be sent to foreign reporters in Israel.

Jewish Tradition

Shana Tova from Alfred Dreyfus

Dr. Hezi Amior

For some 100 years, Rosh Hashana greeting cards constituted main body of postcards sent by Jews. Before State's inception they featured Zionist values, when IDF was established – figure of Israeli soldier became central feature

Shana Tova from Alfred Dreyfus

The result: Santa Claus blowing the shofar with one hand, while holding the four species in his other hand. If you don't like it, the GPO is inviting the public to suggest a different design.

January and the Jewish month of Tishrei are separated by an entire quarter and will never meet, but GPO seeks to bring them together through a joint greeting for the years 5774 and 2014: A Happy New Year postcard inspired by the Jewish High Holidays, which will be sent to foreign journalists in late December when they celebrate New Year's Eve.

GPO competition

Under the banner "Merry Tishrei," GPO has announced a photo contest. The winning picture will be presented on the greeting card and its sender will get to meet the prime minister. An example already appears on the competition's ad: An illustration of the bearded Christian character blowing a Jewish shofar.

Four species, shofar, Torah scroll and odd-looking rabbi (Photo: GPO)

GPO called on the public to suggest pictures for the competition on its Facebook page and is publishing some of them on its website on a weekly basis.

The winning photo will be selected based on the number of "likes" it receives and the opinion of a professional panel of judges comprised of Israeli photojournalists and GPO photographers.

According to GPO Director Nitzan Chen, "The goal is to share the Israeli experience with the world. The winning picture will be used as the GPO's greeting card for the new civil year and will be distributed to all foreign journalists in Israel."