Post by Rabbi Neil on Dec 24, 2021 20:32:53 GMT
Before the Enlightenment changed the relationship between Jews and Christians, sometime in the late 16th and early 17th century a really interesting Jewish custom developed on Christmas Eve, most commonly known as Nittel Nacht. Nittel Nacht probably means the Night of the Hanged One, a common term for Jesus in medieval literature. That wasn’t the only name for it, though – Jews in Alsace, Galicia and Western Poland called it Vay Nahcht (Night of Woe), which was a rather clever parody of the German term Wei Nachten, meaning Holy Night. Jews in Southern and Central Europe would call Christmas Eve Goyim Nahcht (Night of the Non-Jews), Tole Nacht (Night of the Crucified One) and Yozls Nahcht (Jesus Night). In Galicia and the Ukraine, it was called Finstere Nahcht (Dark Night), Moyredike Nahcht (Fearful Night) and Blinde Nahcht (Blind Night).
As can be seen from many of those names, Christmas Eve was usually a dangerous time for Jews. Studying Jewish texts openly was an act that separated the Jew from the rest of Christian society and often led to Christian violence against Jews. Indeed, even going out in public on Christmas Eve was a dangerous activity, so the fascinating custom developed on Nittel Nacht – to use its most common name – of not only staying indoors but also of specifically refraining from studying Torah! That’s extraordinary and seems to be a modern expression of justifiable trauma turning into custom. So, what would Jews do while sitting at home and not studying Torah? They would play chess or card games, which is also particularly interesting because often card games were associated with gambling, which is traditionally forbidden. Hence we read, for example, the following pledge by one Jew in the late fifteenth century, who wrote “May this be for a good memory, Amen! At the twenty-third hour of the beginning of April, 1491, the undersigned received upon himself by oath on the Ten Commandments that he would not play any game, nor incite another to play for him, with the exception of draughts or chess, and this oath shall have force for ten full years.” I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I had to pledge not to play board games! This may be one of the reasons, by the way, that Jews tend to be so good at chess, because it was seen as a strategic game and not a gambling game, and therefore was permissible for Jews to play. So, playing chess and card games helped Jews stay inside and not face violence, even if the chance aspect of card games was problematic for some.
Other customs developed, which are more challenging to learn about. Some East European Jews secretly read a text called Ma’aseh Talui – Tales of the Crucifix – which was a secret scroll that told derogatory version of the birth of Jesus. It comes from a series of legends called Tol’dot Yeshu – the History of Jesus, which Church fathers knew about from the 9th century and which they considered to be blasphemy, for good reason since it describes Jesus as being the illegitimate son of Mary by a Roman soldier, it describes his power as coming from black magic and more. So negative was this perspective about him in the Jewish commnuiyt that it was even said that on Nittel Nacht that Jesus would walk around the latrines being filthy. Imagine the scary story of Krampus, but with excrement. In a similar vein, a custom developed on Nittel Nacht for Jews to eat lots of garlic because that would scare the vampiric Jesus away.
Specifying a Christian holiday as a day of deliberately not studying Torah is mind-blowing – it seems the complete opposite of what one might expect. In the modern age, if Christmas and Shabbat coincide then many Jews deliberately go to services as an act of Jewish pride. Of course, we can do such things because we’re so much safer than Jews of previous centuries. But not studying Torah – even refraining from giving a Torah speech on Shabbat – is truly extraordinary because it gives power to Christmas and allows it to take Jews away from Torah. As one person online commented sarcastically about this – “Nothing is more Torah-observant than celebrating the birth of Jesus by refusing to study Torah but rather engage in games and festive foods!” Tomorrow morning, I am of course going to read from the Torah scroll and I am of course going to lead Torah study – the thought of not doing so specifically because it’s Christmas Day is shocking to me.
Post-Enlightenment, the custom of Nittel Nacht lost popularity as the threats against Jews from the Christian community diminished. Jews started mixing and learning about their Christian counterparts, and didn’t need to see Jesus as an illegitimate, demonic, vampiric figure that was a clear manifestation of the fear they had of those who worshiped him. Some ultra-orthodox communities today still continue some form of Nittel Nacht, which speaks volumes about them and their relationship to the non-orthodox Jewish world, but on the whole Nittel Nacht has all but disappeared.
The declining custom of Nittel Nacht since the Enlightenment is, I believe, a cause for celebration. We don’t fear Christian violence in the same way, although of course violent anti-semitism still exists in parts of the Christian and secular world. Some Jews even go to church with their Christian family members because they’re secure enough in their own faith to know that they would not be influenced, and they know that no-one there is going to try to convert them. When Christianity is divorced from the state, its power to convert and commit acts of anti-Jewish violence thankfully disappeared, so Jews are able to be with Christian friends and family and help them celebrate their festival.
Nonetheless, specific Jewish customs do remain. Yiddish theater plays would often have their opening performances on Christmas since everyone was off work so what else are you going to do with yourself? But the most famous modern Jewish custom on Christmas first got its name in 1903, when the Yiddish word oysessen, eating out, was phrased, describing how Jews would go and eat in non-Christian restaurants that still remained open on the day. Indeed, just a few years earlier, in 1899, the American Hebrew journal criticized Jews for eating at non-kosher restaurants, but Chinese restaurants were quickly becoming the specific gathering place for Jews on Christmas. This choice of Chinese restaurants over Italian restaurants was clear, since Italian restaurants tended to have Christian iconography on the walls, were often closed on Christmas Day and would often mix milk and meat. By contrast, Chinese restaurants were usually empty of Christian iconography, would still be open on Christmas Day, would rarely use dairy and would often hide the unkosher food in dumpling form, so that Jews could pretend they were eating kreplach when they were really eating unkosher food, giving rise to the rather challenging term “safe treif.” More than that, though, there was safety in Chinese restaurants as both communities could appreciate each other’s immigrant experience.
It seems, then, that Jewish customs on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day originally developed out of fear and the need for safety. Over time, they then developed as a means of drawing together on a day when many workplaces and businesses would be closed. My hope is that over time this positive trend of Jewish observance on Christmas continues. Not Jewish observance of Christmas, of course – that’s not what I’m saying. But I think we can appreciate the journey from justified mistrust to coming together at a festive time. So, if Shabbat and Christmas coincide, I always end the service singing Adon Olam to one of a number of popular wintry tunes – not to a Christmas carol because that would be inappropriate religious misappropriation, but to something that gives a nod to the festive season and to the fact that we can share things such as music at this time. The arc of Jewish customs on Christmas has therefore gone through hundreds of years from a place of deep fear to a place of mutual respect and connection. That is why here at Temple Beth Shalom (before the pandemic), we invited members of Christ Lutheran to come and create their Christmas wreaths in our Social Hall and we would specifically donate one to that community. We are no longer afraid of Christianity and can therefore change the way we behave over Christmas. That, I believe, is a very good thing.
So, may this Shabbat that coincides with the Christian celebration of Christmas be a time for Jews to learn about our Christian counterparts, to help them celebrate their own festival, and to remind us not only of what is unique and special about our differing faith traditions, but also to remind us of how much closer our communities have come over the millennia. May we celebrate this journey toward mutual acceptance and respect, and let us say, Amen.
As can be seen from many of those names, Christmas Eve was usually a dangerous time for Jews. Studying Jewish texts openly was an act that separated the Jew from the rest of Christian society and often led to Christian violence against Jews. Indeed, even going out in public on Christmas Eve was a dangerous activity, so the fascinating custom developed on Nittel Nacht – to use its most common name – of not only staying indoors but also of specifically refraining from studying Torah! That’s extraordinary and seems to be a modern expression of justifiable trauma turning into custom. So, what would Jews do while sitting at home and not studying Torah? They would play chess or card games, which is also particularly interesting because often card games were associated with gambling, which is traditionally forbidden. Hence we read, for example, the following pledge by one Jew in the late fifteenth century, who wrote “May this be for a good memory, Amen! At the twenty-third hour of the beginning of April, 1491, the undersigned received upon himself by oath on the Ten Commandments that he would not play any game, nor incite another to play for him, with the exception of draughts or chess, and this oath shall have force for ten full years.” I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I had to pledge not to play board games! This may be one of the reasons, by the way, that Jews tend to be so good at chess, because it was seen as a strategic game and not a gambling game, and therefore was permissible for Jews to play. So, playing chess and card games helped Jews stay inside and not face violence, even if the chance aspect of card games was problematic for some.
Other customs developed, which are more challenging to learn about. Some East European Jews secretly read a text called Ma’aseh Talui – Tales of the Crucifix – which was a secret scroll that told derogatory version of the birth of Jesus. It comes from a series of legends called Tol’dot Yeshu – the History of Jesus, which Church fathers knew about from the 9th century and which they considered to be blasphemy, for good reason since it describes Jesus as being the illegitimate son of Mary by a Roman soldier, it describes his power as coming from black magic and more. So negative was this perspective about him in the Jewish commnuiyt that it was even said that on Nittel Nacht that Jesus would walk around the latrines being filthy. Imagine the scary story of Krampus, but with excrement. In a similar vein, a custom developed on Nittel Nacht for Jews to eat lots of garlic because that would scare the vampiric Jesus away.
Specifying a Christian holiday as a day of deliberately not studying Torah is mind-blowing – it seems the complete opposite of what one might expect. In the modern age, if Christmas and Shabbat coincide then many Jews deliberately go to services as an act of Jewish pride. Of course, we can do such things because we’re so much safer than Jews of previous centuries. But not studying Torah – even refraining from giving a Torah speech on Shabbat – is truly extraordinary because it gives power to Christmas and allows it to take Jews away from Torah. As one person online commented sarcastically about this – “Nothing is more Torah-observant than celebrating the birth of Jesus by refusing to study Torah but rather engage in games and festive foods!” Tomorrow morning, I am of course going to read from the Torah scroll and I am of course going to lead Torah study – the thought of not doing so specifically because it’s Christmas Day is shocking to me.
Post-Enlightenment, the custom of Nittel Nacht lost popularity as the threats against Jews from the Christian community diminished. Jews started mixing and learning about their Christian counterparts, and didn’t need to see Jesus as an illegitimate, demonic, vampiric figure that was a clear manifestation of the fear they had of those who worshiped him. Some ultra-orthodox communities today still continue some form of Nittel Nacht, which speaks volumes about them and their relationship to the non-orthodox Jewish world, but on the whole Nittel Nacht has all but disappeared.
The declining custom of Nittel Nacht since the Enlightenment is, I believe, a cause for celebration. We don’t fear Christian violence in the same way, although of course violent anti-semitism still exists in parts of the Christian and secular world. Some Jews even go to church with their Christian family members because they’re secure enough in their own faith to know that they would not be influenced, and they know that no-one there is going to try to convert them. When Christianity is divorced from the state, its power to convert and commit acts of anti-Jewish violence thankfully disappeared, so Jews are able to be with Christian friends and family and help them celebrate their festival.
Nonetheless, specific Jewish customs do remain. Yiddish theater plays would often have their opening performances on Christmas since everyone was off work so what else are you going to do with yourself? But the most famous modern Jewish custom on Christmas first got its name in 1903, when the Yiddish word oysessen, eating out, was phrased, describing how Jews would go and eat in non-Christian restaurants that still remained open on the day. Indeed, just a few years earlier, in 1899, the American Hebrew journal criticized Jews for eating at non-kosher restaurants, but Chinese restaurants were quickly becoming the specific gathering place for Jews on Christmas. This choice of Chinese restaurants over Italian restaurants was clear, since Italian restaurants tended to have Christian iconography on the walls, were often closed on Christmas Day and would often mix milk and meat. By contrast, Chinese restaurants were usually empty of Christian iconography, would still be open on Christmas Day, would rarely use dairy and would often hide the unkosher food in dumpling form, so that Jews could pretend they were eating kreplach when they were really eating unkosher food, giving rise to the rather challenging term “safe treif.” More than that, though, there was safety in Chinese restaurants as both communities could appreciate each other’s immigrant experience.
It seems, then, that Jewish customs on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day originally developed out of fear and the need for safety. Over time, they then developed as a means of drawing together on a day when many workplaces and businesses would be closed. My hope is that over time this positive trend of Jewish observance on Christmas continues. Not Jewish observance of Christmas, of course – that’s not what I’m saying. But I think we can appreciate the journey from justified mistrust to coming together at a festive time. So, if Shabbat and Christmas coincide, I always end the service singing Adon Olam to one of a number of popular wintry tunes – not to a Christmas carol because that would be inappropriate religious misappropriation, but to something that gives a nod to the festive season and to the fact that we can share things such as music at this time. The arc of Jewish customs on Christmas has therefore gone through hundreds of years from a place of deep fear to a place of mutual respect and connection. That is why here at Temple Beth Shalom (before the pandemic), we invited members of Christ Lutheran to come and create their Christmas wreaths in our Social Hall and we would specifically donate one to that community. We are no longer afraid of Christianity and can therefore change the way we behave over Christmas. That, I believe, is a very good thing.
So, may this Shabbat that coincides with the Christian celebration of Christmas be a time for Jews to learn about our Christian counterparts, to help them celebrate their own festival, and to remind us not only of what is unique and special about our differing faith traditions, but also to remind us of how much closer our communities have come over the millennia. May we celebrate this journey toward mutual acceptance and respect, and let us say, Amen.