Winter in Israel

I was reading in a study Bible last night where a commentator said that it is so warm here in the winter people do not need heat.  Quite frankly, the commentator had no idea what he was talking about.  It is certainly true that it does not get as cold here temperature wise as other places, but that fact means the homes are not insulated to stay warm.  I know a woman originally from Siberia.  She has told me she was never as cold in Russia as she get in Israel in the winter.  Heat is certainly needed in order to not freeze in the homes.  If you are out in the sun during the day, it is not so bad, but inside the buildings it is colder, and at night it gets colder still.  The sun is what keeps things warm.  Now, I just want to qualify, my description in the past few sentences is of winter in Jerusalem.  For such a small country the weather can very quite a bit.  From what I understand, Eilat stays quite nice even through the winter.  However that is simply the sounthern tip of the country.  While it is true that due to Jerusalem's higher altitude it stays cooler than the surrounding countryside throughout the year, most of the country does need heating during the winter.  And it could use better insulated buildings. :-)