Tonight is Nittel Nacht, a night where European Jews refrained from learning Torah and stayed inside their homes. This “holiday” was instituted for two reasons, but I’m only going to touch on one of those here.
On Christmas Eve and Day violent attacks on Jewish communities in Europe increased. It was dangerous for Jewish people to leave their homes on Christmas Eve and Day because doing so would be risking being murdered by Christians.
In certain places, Christians even made it illegal for Jews to appear in public areas on this day. Christians also frequently launched pogroms on Christmas Eve and Day. As a result of this danger, Nittel Nacht was created by Rabbis hoping to protect their community.
Christmas in the west may now be thought of as a time of celebration for all, no matter religious identity, to participate in, but we must not forget that it wasn’t always like this.
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