'Twas the Night Before...Nittel Nacht?

Whatever happens in the Gentile world affects the Jewish world.

-Yiddish Expression

'The Rabbi who sold Rosaries'

Yamaclaus - Chrismukkah Santa Claus Hat and Yarmulke Mashup

From the television show 'The OC' December 2003

Background:

Nittel Nacht refers to a set of customs Jews practiced for centuries to refrain from Torah study on the evening of December 24th or January 6th in the Eastern Orthodox calendar. Torah study was forbidden and sets of rituals evolved where Jews would play chess, cards, sew (a favorite custom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe) or read a medieval book called Toledot Yeshu which tells the story of Jesus from the non-Christian perspective at the time. The book's contents were so well known and inflammatory as to be banned by the church and quoted by Martin Luther.

The first explicit reference to Nittel Nacht is in a 13th century work called the Hagahot Maimoniot where the author describes already widespread practices. While Nacht is certainly Yiddish/German, the word Nittel is either derived from the Latin 'Natalis' meaning birth (natal) or from the Hebrew Natal related to Talui which means to be hanged.

Guiding Questions:

1. What ought the Jewish posture be towards the secular world? Like a sluice, how much do we let in and when do we close the gate?

2. With the vast majority of world Jewry now living in less overtly anti-Semitic, if not philo-Semitic societies, should we continue to memorialize past negative events associated with another's religious holiday?

3. What does it say about Judaism's self-perception (perhaps insecurity) that we have guidelines for ensuring we are not celebrating another religion's holiday?

Torat Moshe (611) vs Torat David (2)

Connection between belief in G-d and Rabbinic Law

Gematria of Moshiach = 359

Gematria of David/Moshe = 358

Maimonides Introduction to the 10th Chapter of Tractate Sanhedrin

1. I believe with perfect faith that all the words of the prophets are true.
2. I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses our teacher, peace be upon him, was true, and that he was the chief of the prophets, both those who preceded him and those who followed him.
3. I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that is now in our possession is the same that was given to Moses our teacher, peace be upon him.
4. I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be exchanged, and that there will never be any other Torah from the Creator, Blessed be His Name.

The assumption is that people desire to learn Torah and so to be prohibited from learning Torah is painful. The people's heeding the rabbinic instruction of refusing to learn Torah is an affirmation of Torat Moshe itself. Jews don't 'just believe' with no further action required. A cornerstone of Torat Moshe/Jewish law is that we allow ourselves to be inconvenienced by our religious convictions.

Fear of observing Nittel Nacht: Story of the Maharsha's bookcase and the Bishop

Shmuel Bornsztain (second Sochatchover rebbe)

1855-1926, Poland

Shem Mishmuel Vol 2 p.75

Torah study at home was not an option as it was quite rare for individuals to own a library of books in those years. Thus anyone walking in the same direction as people going to Midnight Mass would indicate that a Jewish person would attend the services as well. Alternatively, anyone walking in the opposite direction of an entire town headed to church risked life and limb by inadvertently insulting the masses. There were even some regions where the Jewish community was told to turn out their lights on Christmas Eve for their own safety lest the Christians cast aspersions on those refusing to attend Midnight Mass. Some suggest that with Chanukah in close proximity to Christmas, the dreidel was a game invented in order to pass the time while sitting in one's home waiting out any fear of pogroms.

December 24, 1895 Diary Entry of Theodore Herzl

I was just lighting the Christmas tree for my children when [head Vienna rabbi Moritz] Gudemann arrived. He seemed upset by the “Christian” custom. Well, I will not let myself be pressured! But I don’t mind if they call it the Hanukkah tree — or the winter solstice.

Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) by Theodore Herzl

Wherever it was to be, once established in a land of their own, 'a wondrous breed of Jews will spring up from the earth. The Maccabees will rise again. . . . The Jews who will it shall achieve their State. . . .

Nitei Gavriel Minhagei Nittel 6:1

Rabbi Gavriel Zinner of Boro Park

Nittel Nacht customs were never established to be observed in the Land of Israel as Christianity had never been a dominant force there. It is also argued that the holiness of the Land of Israel overcomes any of the mystical concerns surrounding Christmas, especially those related to superstition and impurity.

Nitei Gavriel Minhagei Nittel footnote 4:11, as advised by the Chatam Sofer

In other communities the custom was to go to sleep in the early evening and then wake up for a Torah study session after midnight. It would reflect badly in Heaven for Jews to sleep soundly throughout the night while the Gentiles were up in their places of worship praying to God.

Nittel Nacht as a 'holy' day. How does it look when the entire Christian world is engaged prayer and we are going to the movies and eating Chinese food?