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COurtesy of my reading of Jewish blogs earlier tonight...
I was reading about an Ashkenazi (and now I think mostly Hasidic) custom called "Nitl Nakht" (Spelled in various ways: it's Yiddish, I can't spell Yiddish at all: I don't know Any of the transliteration schemes appropriate for it) in which on Christmas Eve one Doesn't Learn Torah Or Jewish Stuff. The info I found gave a few reasons:
1. So as not to get hurt going to and from the Beit Midrash (or more culturally appropriately, the Beis Medresh) with rowdy churchgoers around in Eastern Europe. This one was countered by the question as to why there wasn't a similar custom for Easter Eve- err, wrong term: what's the appropriate one, oh-someone-who-knows?
2. Learning creates benefit for the world, and we don't want that to be attributable to their intense prayers because it happened at the same time. That one seems awfully mean-spiritted, but understandable for that cultural context.
3. Learning on someone's birthday or Yahrtzeit (why Do we capitalize Yahrtzeit?) gives their soul benefits, and we don't want to do that for Jesus. (Disregards the fact that Christmas was moved to fit the Pagan holiday calendar, and Jesus was probably born in the spring, I thought... I forget the likely date. But well, the custom came about pre-this-sort-of-scholarship. Although I'm surprised it wasn't brought up.)
4. So that it doesn't look like we're celebrating a gentile holiday in any way.
And the following benefit/amusing result was brought up:
No matter how unobservant a Jew is, they're going to observe this custom, most likely. Of course, this is somewhat less relevant considering that the custom is utterly irrelevant to Jews who come from or live in non-Christian dominated countries now.
But well, it makes IFD marathons all the more appropriate- it's culturally appropriate to do on Christmas that isn't Jewish learning. Also because Chinese restaurants get crowded. Also because people who are Very good and learn often may want a break on occasion so they can do something else with their evening.
I'm not sure the real purpose of that post, but I thought it was an amusing custom, partially because I had random images of bringing some sort of Jewish text to the marathon last night as I was dancing, for some unknown reason. I forget the context- just random daydream, but this somehow linked stuff together in some non-linear/nonsensical way.
I was reading about an Ashkenazi (and now I think mostly Hasidic) custom called "Nitl Nakht" (Spelled in various ways: it's Yiddish, I can't spell Yiddish at all: I don't know Any of the transliteration schemes appropriate for it) in which on Christmas Eve one Doesn't Learn Torah Or Jewish Stuff. The info I found gave a few reasons:
1. So as not to get hurt going to and from the Beit Midrash (or more culturally appropriately, the Beis Medresh) with rowdy churchgoers around in Eastern Europe. This one was countered by the question as to why there wasn't a similar custom for Easter Eve- err, wrong term: what's the appropriate one, oh-someone-who-knows?
2. Learning creates benefit for the world, and we don't want that to be attributable to their intense prayers because it happened at the same time. That one seems awfully mean-spiritted, but understandable for that cultural context.
3. Learning on someone's birthday or Yahrtzeit (why Do we capitalize Yahrtzeit?) gives their soul benefits, and we don't want to do that for Jesus. (Disregards the fact that Christmas was moved to fit the Pagan holiday calendar, and Jesus was probably born in the spring, I thought... I forget the likely date. But well, the custom came about pre-this-sort-of-scholarship. Although I'm surprised it wasn't brought up.)
4. So that it doesn't look like we're celebrating a gentile holiday in any way.
And the following benefit/amusing result was brought up:
No matter how unobservant a Jew is, they're going to observe this custom, most likely. Of course, this is somewhat less relevant considering that the custom is utterly irrelevant to Jews who come from or live in non-Christian dominated countries now.
But well, it makes IFD marathons all the more appropriate- it's culturally appropriate to do on Christmas that isn't Jewish learning. Also because Chinese restaurants get crowded. Also because people who are Very good and learn often may want a break on occasion so they can do something else with their evening.
I'm not sure the real purpose of that post, but I thought it was an amusing custom, partially because I had random images of bringing some sort of Jewish text to the marathon last night as I was dancing, for some unknown reason. I forget the context- just random daydream, but this somehow linked stuff together in some non-linear/nonsensical way.
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That's really interesting, though.
And I don't know what the day before Easter is called. I know that Friday is Good Friday, and Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, but I don't know what Saturday is.
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Shabbat Pesach.
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The Vortex
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But I always thought fears connected to Christian holidays appeared mostly during Easter when the crucifixion of Jesus was vividly remembered?
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The idea of not doing something generic on a given day because it might benefit someone who was born or died that day is bizarre. Aside from what it implies about the game-show nature of prayer, what about the two gazillion other people who were born or died on that day, to whom no malice is intended?
Also, aren't Christmas Eve services always held at midnight? Couldn't you time your BM exodus for when the streets were likely to be empty because everyone was there?
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ALl German nouns are capitalized? Why?
It is a bizarre custom, which maybe is why I wanted to write about it. I should do some more serious research at some point.
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