From Belarus to Israel: How I Fell in Love with Friday Flowers

I’m from Belarus originally, where flowers are a big part of how we celebrate.

It’s considered bad form to show up to someone’s birthday without a bouquet. March 8th — International Women’s Day — is huge. People bring flowers to their mothers, coworkers, teachers, and friends. You just don’t come empty-handed.

Weddings? Of course, flowers.

We use flowers to mark important dates, to show care, but mostly around holidays and special occasions.

Then, in 2017, I found myself in Israel, and I was genuinely impressed.

We were living near Carmel Market in Tel Aviv, and every Friday, the sidewalks were overflowing with flowers. Beyond the regular flower shops, people brought out folding tables stacked with buckets of fresh stems.

People of all ages were picking up flowers on their way home, not because of a holiday, but because it was Friday.

I later understood it was part of getting ready for Shabbat.

And of course, I bought myself a bunch of sunflowers and placed them in our rented apartment. That small gesture instantly made the space feel like home.

Years later, while working in a flower shop in Brooklyn — in a largely Jewish neighborhood — I saw it again, this time from behind the counter.

Every Friday, clients would send flowers to their moms, buy arrangements for themselves, or order something for their aunt.

It wasn’t about luxury or status. It was simply part of life. There were always fresh flowers in the house, as naturally as there was food on the table.

Now that I work in event floristry, I still see this cultural mindset.

Many of my most thoughtful and flower-forward clients come from this tradition.

Birthdays? Always with flowers.

Friday dinners? Flowers again.

Family celebrations? Flowers everywhere.

And every time I create something for them — no matter how small — it takes me back to that first bunch of sunflowers I carried through Tel Aviv.

Not a holiday. Not an event. Just a moment of beauty, brought home.

And this tradition stayed with me.

I used to think we had a lot of flowers back home — and we do, but mostly for occasions.

This quiet, weekly ritual of bringing flowers into the house simply because it’s Friday… it touched me so deeply that now, wherever I live, there are always fresh flowers on my table.