Playng cards from a traditional German deck.
Nittel Nacht (Yiddish: ניטל נאַכט) is the name that 17th century Ashkenazi Jewish scholars gave to Christmas Eve. Nacht is the Yiddish word for "night". The word nittel is of unknown derivation. It may come from Natalis, the medieval Latin word for Christmas. It was, however, also associated with the Hebrew word nitleh , meaning "the hanged man", a word used to refer to Jesus in medieval Jewish writings.
Traditionally, Nittel Nacht was an evening when Ashkenazi Jews abstained from studying the Torah. Since it was widely believed that people who would abandon Judaism would be conceived on that night, they would also abstain from having sexual intercourse. It became a night when Jews would stay up late and play games, with card games and chess being particularly popular.
Nittel Nacht customs may have originated because some European countries had laws which forbade Jews from appearing in public during the Christmas holidays and anti-Semitic attacks would often begin on Christmas Eve. Jews therefore came up with activities that would keep them at home during that time. It was also widely believed among Ashkenazi Jews that Jesus was condemned to haunt all of the latrines in the world on Christmas Eve as punishment for spreading false religious teachings. The writings of medieval Jewish-born scholars state that Jewish children were afraid to use the toilet on that night because they believed Jesus' ghost would attack them. The custom of not studying the Torah on Nittel Nacht may have started in order to deny Jesus any relief from his suffering that it was believed hearing a Torah reading would give him.
The gradual introduction of the Gregorian calendar between the 16th and 20th centuries resulted in Orthodox Christians celebrating Christmas on a different date from the one when Catholics, and later Protestants, would celebrate it. This led to debate among rabbis as to when the true date of Nittel Nacht was. It became generally accepted that it was whenever the local Christian community considered Christmas Eve to be.
Nittel Nacht is no longer widely observed among Jews. Some Hasidic communities, however, continue to observe it. They usually observe Nittel Nacht on January 6, the Orthodox Christian Christmas Eve. Some, however, observe Nittel Nacht on both January 6 and December 24.
See also[]
- Dybbuk
- Lilith
- Christmas music written by Jews
- De Night in de Front from Chreesmas
- Hanukkah Harry
- There's No Such Thing as a Chanukah Bush, Sandy Goldstein