I just found out about Nittel Nacht, and I’m thrilled. It’s basically a Jewish way to mark Christmas Eve—according to Wikipedia, in Europe pogroms would often start on Xmas eve, and so whoever decided these things declared that Jews should avoid going out that day, and should not study Torah to avoid giving any extra kavod to Christmas, etc. Apparently the main “observances” were chess and card games.
Fast forward to now, and I’m having fun thinking about “reclaiming” Nittel Nacht. My partner comes from a family where celebrating Christmas is a big deal, even tho they’re not Christians. The idea of celebrating Christmas straight-out makes me super uncomfortable, but I’m excited about this idea of celebrating Nittel Nacht as a kind of inter-religious festivity.
Has anyone here heard of Nittel Nacht before? Any friendly ideas for fun family traditions to start?
submitted by /u/azamraa
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Source: Reditt
