This article is reproduced by permission of the author.
Twas the time before Xmas and all through the fog, not a rabbi was stirring, not one Synagogue!
HAVE YOURSELF AN HASMONEAN XMAS
Far from popular myths about Pagan origins of Xmas, many traditions surrounding it actually preserve elements of Hasmonean Judaism related to a 3 day event of darkest winter referred to as the Tekufat of Tevet in the Talmud (originally when the sun enters Capricorn) which had become the Julian Xmas among Edom until Pope Gregory's 1582 calendar reform forced it to become the Gregorian Dec 24th.
ADAM'S WINTER FESTIVITIES
One occasionally comes across a Talmudists (referencing Avoda Zara 6a-b) saying that Hanukah revived observance of an ancient 8-day celebration originally established before the Tekufat of Tevet (Tevet 22nd) by Adam and Eve following a period of fasting and abstinence the previous year while the northern hemisphere approached its darkest time of the year. After the Tekufat of Tevet Adam and Eve noticed the day got a little bit longer and appointed another 8 day celebration which is also still respected in Judaism. These two octave celebrations were corrupted by the Romans into Saturnalia (Dec 17) and Kalenda (Dec 25) respectively according to the Talmud.
END OF THE TITHE YEAR
The Tekufat of Tevet is also relevant in observing certain commandments such as setting aside a Tithe (10th) of our wealth (Deuteronomy 14:22-29) with which we are to celebrate a pilgrimage each year. But which pilgrimage? Though never explicitly explained in the Bible, we see that various times of the year other than the 7 Biblical Holy-days have also been appointed for it by various rulers. For example Cheshvan 15th by wicked Jeroboam, or Purim by the Babylonian Jews.
But Hasmonean Judaism gave us Hanukkah which the Mishnah tells us was even appointed by a miracle.
The law on Tithing is clarified by the Oral Torah concept of tu b'shevat -preparations for which began during Hanukkah. The idea behind using garlands for Hanukkah (as ordained in the book of Maccabees) even decorating the Hanukah Bush (which influenced the "Paradise tree" ancestor of modern day Christmas trees) is related to the Hasmonean Minhag of tying ribbons around the fruit on the bows of various fruitful trees before Tu beShevat, to distinguish Yashan fruit belonging to one Tithe year from Chadash fruit of the next (which also helps us understand Leviticus 23:14 better). To do this is an example of Talmudist righteousness surpassing that of the Pharisees. Furthermore, the Shammai-Hillel debate over whether the new year for plants begins either on the 1st or 15th of Shevat might have stemmed from being certain whether the solar Tekufat of Tevet has passed or not. Shammai ruled it should always be on the 1st of Shevat even if the solar Tekufat of Tevet had not passed. Hillel permitted it on the 15th of Shevat.
Furthermore, any calendar converter will show that Shammai's new year for plants (the 1st of Shevat) in Gregorian 1 BC (when Jupiter stood still over Bethlehem after its 9 month journey into Virgo) was Dec 25th corresponding to the Kalenda celebration which follows on immediately after the Tekufat of Tevet.
ADAM & EVE'S FEAST DAY
Evidently, early Messianic Noahites were inspired by all this to decorate their Paradise trees with ribbons and Kabbalic spheres for the pivotal Tekufat Teveth before the 1st of Shevat and established the time between Adam Kadmon's Feasts (Hanukkah and Kalenda) as the Saints' day for Adam and Eve (Dec 24th) which concludes with the Kalenda Proclamation of Midnight Mass starting the octave of Kalenda celebrations from Dec 25th to Jan 1st.
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| Yolke Kabbalah |
So Tekufat Tevet marks the pivotal darkest northern time of the year between Hanukkah and Kalenda.
AN EVIL NIIGHT TO BIRTH
Among Eastern Yiddish speakers, the longest night of this darkest time of the year (Tekufat Teveth) goes by a variety of different names such as Fintstere Nakht (Starless Night), Moyredike Nahcht (Murderous Night), and Blinde Nahcht (Blind Night). In total there are more than a dozen terms Yiddish speakers have used to name the time of transition between Hanukkah and Kalenda -according to the Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry (LCAAJ).
But by far the most common Yiddish term for Dec 24th (Tekufat Teveth) is Nittel Nakht (Nitlnakht) which is not only the most frequent and widespread but which also contains the only official scholarly Yiddish term for Xmas once used by Jews throughout Europe.
Ignatz Bernstein explains the Yiddish word Nitl is derived from the medieval Latin natalis meaning birth (related to the English word natal) as in the Latin name of the Dec 25th holiday, Natalis Dies Domini, “the Lord’s birth”, which also gave the Italian and Indonesian terms for Christmas being Natale and Natal respectively.
The earliest explicit references to the precise term Nittel itself appear first in a 13th century work called the Hagahot Maimoniot where the author describes already widespread practices on Nitlenakht (Dec 24th) placing the term Nitl as early as Rashi. The second reference is a work called HaNitzachon which dates back to the generation of the Rosh (1250s – 1327) where it also states that "Nittel" refers to the birth of Jesus although Nitl is actually more commonly associated in Judaic tradition with the birth of the New Testament by the famous Rabbi St Simon Clopas. But more about that later.
Unlike the term Nitlnakht, most other Yiddish words for this pivotal night of the year reflect language distinctive to a particular region. For example, with characteristic precision, the Litvak Pharisees distinguished Dec 24th as Vigilye until midnight which is followed after midnight by Kaleyd being the closest to the original Roman Terms Vigilia and Kalenda. Some less-than-Talmudic examples included: Rizlekh in Ukraine (cf. Ukrainian Rizdvo); Yolkes in Belorussia, (cf. Belorussian Yolka; Christmas tree); Rozhestvo in the Balkans (cf. Bulgarian Rozhdestvo Khristovo); Korachon in Hungary (Hungarian Karácsony) and Krichun in Transylvania (cf. (cf. Romanian Crăciun).
BELIMAH
Other Yiddish terms for the Tekufat of Tevet are more subversively playful inventions largely expressive of Jewish fears associated with this time. Goyimnakht (Nationalists’ night) is self explanatory, while Veynakht (literally, woe-night) -which was common among Jews in Alsace, Galicia, and western Poland- is a pun on Weihnachten the German term for Dec 24th. Beyz geboyrenish (literally, swell birthing) plays on the Polish boże narodzenie (and is related to the phrase "Nitl is a swell load"). Kratzmakh (literally Scratch-Me) is a pun on Christmas among certain Erevrav grinches in America. And finally of course there is Xmas which has become widely used. Indeed many among the Erev Rav have thought (and encouraged enemies of Judaism to think) that the core purpose of being Jewish has only ever been to hate a certain historical Jew. In fact, to listen to such people, one would think that Judaism offers nothing else besides that! In their ignorance such people think that they are making someone/something into nothing without realizing that the "Belimah" they achieve for Jesus/Christmas by their negativity is actually equivalent to identifying him/it as HaShem in Kabbalah. (See also Job 26:7 and Isaiah 49:7 and 53:3). So its a lose-lose situation for the haters. For, according to Yehuda HaHassid, in Sefer Hasidim Siman 191, although we must change the name of a Jewish Tzadik (Saint) who is worshipped as a patron by Christians, at the same time we must “not consider debasing idolatry and urinating on it or excreting on it because that is what was done to Pe’or.” (Sefer Ḥasidim Ms. Parma H 3280, Cap.1348). Thus, Christmas is only mocked or belittled among either only the most ignorant Jews or secret Jews for Jesus who understand the Kabbalah of Belimah.
OTHER TRADITIONS
Besides Hanukkah, Adam's fast, Belimah, Kalenda and Tithing, there are also several other matters associated with the Tekufat of Tevet itself in Talmudist tradition concerning which all serious Talmidim are required to be familiar.
TEKUFAT TEVET TRAGEDY
For example, although the Hanukkah miracle clearly happened in a year when the Tekufat of Tevet was after the end of the 2nd of Tevet, the tragedies of the 9th (Murder of Rav Simon Clopas HaTzadik) and 10th of the Tevet (Breach of Jerusalem) in different years were also associated with that same darkest time of the year in the North Terranean hemisphere. Furthermore, the dark powers of this darkest northern time of year also had an effect on Jephthah as the day he sacrificed his daughter (Abudarham, Sha'ar ha-Tekufot, p. 122a, Venice, 1566). The evil of Tekufat Tevet was also manifest yet again in the sin of Yosl Pondrik (Joses Pandira) on that particular night.
CELIBACY
Hence, we also find concerning the 9th Tevet although tied to Tekufat season and the murder of Rav Simon Clopas haTzadik that it had at least once been misunderstood as due to the fact that "Oto Eish" (in this case a reference to Ben Setada) was conceived on that night (according to Haggahot of Tosafot Yeshanim in name of Gadol Echad, brought in the Tosafot of some editions of the Shulchan Aruch on chapter 580 [Machon Yerushalayim-Friedman edition] though removed from regular editions due to the error). Indeed Ben Stada was conceived on the Tekufat of Tevet but not necessarily the 9th of Teveth.
Thus, another Yiddish term for the Tekufat of Tevet is Yoslsnacht/Yoyzlsnakht (Night of Joses) in reference to Yosl Pondrik's sin, ie to the conception of Ben Setada (the Yiddish version of Krampus). The latter's mother, Miriam Magdala (Mary Magdalen), was supposed to have been raped by the Romanized reveller Joses (Yosl Pondrik) Pandira on the Tekufat of Tevet implying Ben Setada's birth almost nine months later in 29 or 32 CE on Yom Kippur as promoted by many Notzrim.
Thus it came to be believed that Children conceived on Yoyzlsnakht can easily be spiritually corrupted as was Ben Stada so a tradition of celibacy on this night emerged. It was also therefore important to keep away from anything like alcohol which might lead to sexual relations on that night, since any child conceived during the Tekufat of Tevet was sure to be cursed and grow up to be a tool of the evil inclination.
CE PERSECUTIONS
Concern over the potency of winter's darkness had also passed from Jews into Messianic Noahide tradition, both in direct contrast to the drunken debauchery of the Romans and other Pagans. From late antiquity, the Tekufat of Tevet was a time when such maleficent forces made even the Prayer houses of the Judaic Believers (Jew and Noahide alike) into special targets for persecution by the Romans during Saturnalia. Saturnalia is the pagan response to what used to be Adam & Eve's fasting around Tekufat Tevet. Hence the Talmudic prohibition against Eulogizing during Hanukkah and the Hassdic saying that dogs -a symbol of Rome/Esav- appear to those who study in the Beit Midrash on this night. Yoyzl's sin encapsulates a memory of the effects of Roman imperialism suffered not only among Jews but also by early Messianic Noahides and which continued even after Rome's official "conversion". Christians who did not tow the imperial line continued to be persecuted as heretics together with Jews (now accused of deicide) for roughly another 1260 years.
Finally, although Luther and Calvin's attitudes were far from conciliatory to Jews, the reformation brought on an appreciation for Hebraic ideas among Anabaptists as increasing numbers of Christians rose up against various heavy-handed Rome-like authorities. And although Poland's official stance was tolerance at that time, in Cossack areas things soon got so bad for Jews on Dec 24th that a Russian Jewish saying emerged that if one sticks a knife into the earth on Dec 24th, blood will pour out because of the violence associated with that night. Closing the Synagogues and staying at home on the Tekufat of Tevet amid rowdy anti-Semites was a reasonable response to such terror.
FASTING
As a result, one who still remembers Adam's fast for Tekufat Tevet is considered to have fasted for all such tragedies since.
Until very recently Christians also opposed the Pagan Roman corruption of Adam's Monotheistic celebration into Saturnalian drunken debauchery by acknowledging Adam's first winter fast. The earliest Messianic Noahites used to observe the whole period up to the Shepherd's Candle of Joy as a fast which (as the sects of Christianity and Islam evolved from them) became respectively the Advent Nativity Fast and Ramadan before the invention of the Islamic calendar messed up the timing.
So the time before Tekufat Teveth was associated with Adam's fast as a precursor to Saturnalia and although a fast during Teveth was observed among the 1st Century Romaniote Jews like Jesus of Nazareth himself, (as mentioned at the beginning of Luke 4), it didn't survive in Babylonian sects. This is because the Babylonian sect prohibited fasting during Hanukkah which from 1582 often overlapped Saturnalia and soon eclipsed the memory of the earlier Tekufat Tevet fast of Adam and Eve which was only preserved in the Jerusalem Minhag and mostly among Messianic Noahites. Instead, a new form of abstinence associated with Tekufat of Tevet emerged among Jews regardless of whether it was Hanukah or even a Sabbath, ie Bittul Torah.
BITTUL TORAH
Judaism lives puns and yet another for Nittel plays on the Yiddish term Nit “nothing,” in reference to the practice of Bittul Torah (ceasing Torah study) on Dec 24th. Jews usually study Torah almost every night which is believed to strengthen creation but the dark history of tragedies on the Tekufat of Tevet lead to the belief that even religious sparks generated by Torah study to nourish the universe may actually feed the elemental force of winter darkness at this time. In an effort to spiritually reduce the power of the winter, many Jews began to abstain from Torah study at Tekufat Tevet. The power of winter is so strong on Dec 24th, that if you study Torah on the eve before Midnight, its power would be stolen by the ‘Other Side’. But without Torah learning, it is believed there is less power in the elemental forces of the universe. Hence Bittul Torah (usually an act of mourning) was a mystical calculus to weaken the Tekufat of Tevet. This also led to yet another pun for Nitl from ניטל (for Torah was "removed" ie “nital” from the world) also suggesting the removal of Notzrim (who secretly did things against the Lord -II Kings 17:9) by the triumph of Rabbi St Simeon's Evangelion.
Furthermore, Nittel, rhyming with Bittul, is often taught as an acronym for Nicht Torah Lernen in reference to the Hiatus on Torah study.
Apostates (Jews who converted to Christianity) in the 16th century are not known to have mentioned the practice of Bittul Torah for Nittel in their anti-Jewish polemics, which in and of itself indicates that they did not know about it. The requisite conclusion is that even if the apostates were from extremely irreligious backgrounds the Bittul Torah was not universally popular at that time. The earliest reference to Bittle Torah is from the second half of the 17th century in Kitzur Halakhot, a text by Rabbi Yair Chaim Bakhrakh, called Mekor Hayyim. There we have the first known reference to the practice in rabbinic writings being a single line in the index of Rabbi Yair Bacharach’s book where it says: “And the practice of canceling Torah study on Christmas.” Sadly, what he actually wrote about the practice has been lost.
In Jewish circles, refraining from Torah study at the Madrasas on Nittel became popular as a way of avoiding unwanted attention and reducing the chances of inviting violence against them. In a metaphorical sense at least, Bittul Torah had been proven to limit the strength of those who sought to hurt Jewish lives. Besides, Nittel night was when Hitzonim (impurities) reign supreme and therefore Torah study, the most sacred of activities, would not be appropriate on such a night.
To practice Bittul Torah, some would go to sleep in the early evening while others stayed awake fearing that they might dream about Torah study. Such Rabbis would certainly have preferred visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads.
Bittul Torah at Christmas was not generally practiced by Litvak Pharisees but so as not to worry Jews who did, most Pharisees did not sleep on Natal night until after lighting a candle at midnight for a little Torah study before bed: afterall 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.
The Litvak Pharisee practice of lighting a candle at midnight for a Torah study session soon spread whereby even some whose tradition was to sleep would arise at midnight and light a candle for a little study.
In some communities the custom was to either study Torah in one's mind or (since, as the Sages teach us, one’s personal familiarity with Torah-content does not in and of itself define one's religiosity, rather one's actions and emotions are the significant part of one's religious self) while we refrain from Torah learning one could invest in other religious practices — namely acts of loving kindness and charity.
AN ISRAELI PROBLEM
These days only Noahides celebrate Kalenda and Nittel Nacht has been observed less often among many Jews especially Israelis who remain following the Holocaust. As Scharbach writes, “Modern practitioners have found the Nittel Nacht observances increasingly irksome and meaningless leading to the phrase "Nitl iz a beyzer layd" though many continue to observe them for the sake of tradition.” As a result, Israelis who are ignorant of the Pharisee testimony have suggested abandoning or limiting Nittel observances at least in the land of Israel.
For example, Gavriel Zinner of Boro Park pretends that Nittel Nacht customs were not established to be observed in the Land of Israel. But the founder of modern zionism Theodore Herzle would disagree, as in fact also does Avoda Zara 2a:1. It is a strange world indeed when we have to uphold a secular Jew like Herzle as more Jewish than the "Modern Orthodox" like Zinner.
Inside the land of Israel, Avoda Zara precautions require attention for three days in order for the holiness of the Land of Israel to overcome the mystical concerns related to superstition and impurity surrounding Notzri festivities as Meir HaKohen of 13th Century Germany clarifies in the Meditations on the Rambam - Laws of Idolatry (uncensored):
הגהות מיימוניות על הרמב"ם – הל' עבודה זרה (ט:ב) כשמואל דאמר (ע"ז ז: יא:) בגולה אין אסור אלא יום אידם בלבד ופרשב"ם בשם רש"י דהיינו דווקא ניתל וקצח שהם בשביל התלוי.
It says outside of the land of Israel we are only forbidden on the day itself and goes on that Rashbam commentates in the name of Rashi that this prohibition only refers to Nittel and Qetzakh (Quartodecimanism) that are only celebrated because of a Baraita called the Talui.
Revisionists like Zinner are equally gravely mistaken in thinking that Christianity had never been a dominant force in the Holy land which any serious historian on the area knows was dominated by Byzantine Christianity from the 4th to the 7th century and again during the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem as well as under the British occupation after the Battle of Armageddon!
Furthermore, in ultra-Orthodox communities at least one can become quite ostracised for suggesting we should dismiss Nitl observance.
As to whether Tekufat Tevet restrictions should be observed on Erev Shabbat or before/during Hanukah (since 1582 made this possible), the majority opinion is currently that Nitl tradition must always be observed on the local Dec 24th regardless of whether Nitlenakht is an Erev Sabbath or falls before/during Hanukkah reflecting Jewish anxiety regarding the "Roman" majority, who could unleash murderous pogroms at a moment’s notice.
Since 1582, different Jewish communities have different times of when they “observed” Nitl with the dates being either December 25th or January 5th depending on where one comes from. Among the stricter Hareidim it was both. Dec 25th being Nitl Katan but Jan 5th being Nitl Gadol. Nitlenakht is observed the day before Nitl Katan.
GARLIC
The custom to eat garlic on Nittle is ascribed to the apotropaic properties of the herb. As R. Isaac Weiss (1873–1942) explains, for instance, the “custom of the ancient ones [to] eat bread with garlic on the night of darkness” is a means of ensuring that “the impure forces [ha-hitzonim] do not attach themselves to you on that night.” For to stand (metaphorically) “naked and barefoot without the [protection of] Torah and mitzvot” on “the night of darkness” is akin to entering a graveyard unprotected against the “Hitzonim” that reign there. One thus requires additional “protection and guarding” against Hitzonim on that night, such as the protection provided by “the scent of garlic, [which] chases the Hitzonim away.” In other words if you don't have the protection of Torah you have that of the next best thing -Garlic!
Solomon Tzvi Hirsch of Aufhausen confirms that Jews ate garlic on Dec 24th, and goes to some lengths to explain and defend the practice. In Der ju¨dische Theriak (1615), Hirsch acknowledges that “the Jews eat garlic on the holiday of the Christians” but makes an effort to prove that the injunction to eat garlic predates the rise of Christianity – citing several prooftexts from the Hebrew Bible. While not denying that Jews chose to eat garlic specifically on Dec 24th, he maintains that practical considerations alone led Jews to take advantage of that day “when [Christians] wont trade with Jews,” so that they might imitate “the eternal practice of our forefathers” without fear of losing business to the garlic's “wafting odor” which, at least among Jews, also helps ensure celibacy on the darkest night. For Jews, Garlic keeps the spirit of Yosl Pondrik away in much the same way as it might deter vampires on Halloween for Christians.
THE MAGIC OF XMAS
Hasidic Jews see the Tekufat of Tevet as a powerful time, a night in which Magic reigns, the total acceptance and blind belief in the powers of the Tekufat of Tevet, a weird (and almost only) adoption of first the Julian and (after 1582) then also the Gregorian Calendars as having a real Magical significance. One can even be quite ostracized for suggesting that we aught to really disregard Ben Setada completely and best just ignore the many rules and regulations tied to the time. On the contrary, one must go out of the way to pay so much attention to the day Ben Stada was sired, even deny ourselves access to something that gives Jews our entire existence, meaning and purpose in life, the Torah.
Outside of Israel, the The Nittel Mitzvot have always been observed from sunset (or 6pm) to midnight on Nittel Nakht, or from noon to midnight before Nittel HaGadol. They must be concluded by midnight when begins Adam Kadmon's post-solstice celebration which became the Kalenda "Eid" and are typically portrayed by practitioners as a form of supernatural defense.
JUDEO-CHRISTIAN CULTURE
Perhaps as a result of Jewish conversions to Christianity or increased Christian interest in Hebraism, after the Reformation, the darkest night before the Kalenda proclamation was already popularly thought of as a time of heightened supernaturalism. It was a time when the damned (Hitzonim) walked the earth as ghosts, witches, and even werewolves. To discourage such uncanny "troops of the damned" it was even best for Christian faithful also to eat a lot of garlic and avoid sacred activities while creating spaces that belong unambiguously to the living—spaces filled to bursting with waking bodies, light, noise and celebrations with family and friends—singing, dancing, playing games—all to avoid a visitation from the dead, staying up until the Kalenda Candle is lit for midnight devotions.
In the United Kingdom at least, Jew and Christian alike clearly shared the same anxieties which Charles Dickens played on very effectively in his Christmas Carol. To be alone like Scrooge was to invite a haunting while songful fun get-togethers and lights were expected to repel the Hitzonim (evil spirits) which prey on the lonesome.
Dickens also includes reference to waking for the Midnight Candle (which he portrayed as a very Christkind-like Spirit) as well as to a haunting before midnight from among the legions of the Hitzonim (impure forces). The difference from the army of evil spirits (symbolized by Dickens in Marley and his cohort) that Christians believed walked the earth on Dec 24th, was that for the Jews it was of born Jews who had turned to sorcery, most notably the archetypal Jewish Krampus, Ben Setada and the spirit that had possessed his rapist father Yosl Pondrik (Joses Pandera) which flies around from sunset until midnight on Dec 24th.
KRAMPUS
Although, as mentioned already, the term Nittel clearly exists in halachic sources for several centuries some of the customs associated with it are not spelled out until much later. For example, while we find references to Nittel in rabbinic literature throughout the Middle Ages, the first mentions of the tradition of Bitul Torah on Nittel-Nacht comes in the early 17th century, only 32 years after the calendar reform, from an apostate called Samuel Freidrich Brentz in 1614 who said that our Jewish Krampus usually spends the night crawling through sewage, but that if he hears the Torah being studied in a house, he may gain temporary release from this prison. That is how Onkelos met him. Indeed, there are several variations on this Jewish folk belief that our Jewish Krampus returns to earth on Dec 24th. Some descriptions draw attention to the corporeal nature of the visiting Ben Setada in the most marked and grotesque terms.
In parralel to how Krampus in Christian tradition comes to check whether children can say their prayers correctly, a visitation from the Jewish Krampus is also connected to our religious activity. But Pharisees do not fear such a visitation as Hasidim do.
If one is incautious enough to study Torah on that night, whenever our sewer Krampus (Ben Setada) comes across an open holy book he will stick to the holy book and thereby defile it with sewage. Thus, often, far from being a metaphorical representation or mystical abstraction, the Jewish Krampus described in these sources exhibits distinctly Jewish emotions and motivations. Ubiquitously conflated with Jesus of Nazareth (who was born at this time), one informant explains that Ben Setada (who was sired at this time) may appear and “demand to be paid tuition” if “we study on Christmas,” because "he also taught it" and “was once a great scholar” and will wish to be honored for that. Such accounts also emphasize the physicality of Judaism's Christmas visitor – describing burlesque battles between him and his victims.
These more unguarded sources thus confirm that it was not merely some abstract representation of Ben Setada which proponents of these customs feared, but the revenant was a distinctly embodied actor who returned from the dead.
Hence the tradition of consuming a lot of garlic (which wards off hitzonim in Jewish tradition) before going to the toilet. "See that the Talui (Hanged One) does not pull you in!"
TELIYA
Most commonly on this night instead of Torah, Jews would read (as mentioned) a Baraita known as the Ma‘aseh Toleh (or Asham Talui) referred to by Rashi as the Teliya Ye.Sh.U to repel him since he does not like the story of why and when the New Testament was compiled. Hence yet another term for the Tekufat of Tevet is Tolenakht (Teli Night) being a reference to the story and to the North Star, the "hook on which the Zodiac hangs" which is at its highest point in the sky on this night and regarded as the source of Ben Setada's only skills (astonomy). Hence, despite the academic derivation of ניתל from Latin, yet another erroneous folk etymology links it to “HaTalui” (“The Hanged One”) as a reference to the Yiddish Krampus, because he was hanged (“nitleh”) which they argue either evolved, or was deliberately blurred, into the term “Nittel”.
It is an important aspect of the Oral Torah that one day Tolenakht would be converted to serve the purpose of HaShem towards salvation despite every attempt from the "Other side" to hold Tolenakht for damnation.
OTHER CUSTOMS
As mentioned, besides decorating trees, celibacy, Bittul Torah, practicing loving kindness and charity, reading the Teliya and eating garlicy food, keeping vigil til midnight devotions, these days there are many Eastern Yiddish folkways observed as ritual protection against the dangerous Hitzonim (supernatural forces) that hold sway on the last day of Saturnalia. For example, protective covers were placed over holy books or vessels containing liquids and food, to protect them from Tumah (ritual impurity) associated with the Tekufat of Tevet. Other traditional practices among Jews at this time include playing dreidel, trumps or chess, making toilet paper, reading secular texts, accounting, sewing and singing songs to scare off Hitzonim until the midnight candle lighting when Torah study can resume.
The Batei Midrash were closed early and children stayed home from Kheider while men refrained from studying holy texts. People stayed indoors, sometimes shuttering their windows against the worst of the winter. Children played cards, otherwise only permitted during Hanukkah, when games of chance are allowed. Cards are at this time a game of choice. Chess also joins the game of cards as a popular past time among those who participate in the traditions. In fact, even some of the more austere rabbis in Hasidic groups have been known to pass the hours until the midnight candle lighting immersed in quiet chess stratagems. In fact, playing chess on Nittel is a whole custom in true Hasidic fashion with deep meanings.
For those living at a rabbinical seminary, Nittel Katan and Gadol are the only two days in the year that Talmidim are allowed to play board games in the main study hall, and listen to all tapes and CDs. The Rebbe himself might even play chess publicly on Nittel.
For pre-teens these days, it is the only night that allows free, non-guilt-driven, access to watch home videos of family weddings, speeches and events, recorded gatherings of Hasidic Rebbes, and at times, National Geographic films. Nittel was the only night of the year, that not only aren't Jews driven to feel guilty if we ‘waste’ our time doing anything else besides studying holy scriptures, but are actually forbidden from study. As a result it is the only time of the year, that even the ultra-religious play games ‘guilt-free’ at least to some extent.
For Jewish children, “Nittel” is a special, fun day mainly for having family time perhaps going to the movies to see the Christmas blockbuster and eating garlicy food has evolved into eating Chinese garlic dishes.
All that and as already mentioned Jews like Christians not only decorate trees, abstain from marital relations, practice loving kindness and charity, keep vigil til midnight devotions, eat lots of garlic, shun a Krampus figure around the solstice and played games at least until lighting a candle for a midnight study before going to bed. A tradition reminiscent of the Christingle.
The parallels are striking.
As already mentioned, the darkest night Vigilia ends at midnight and the hiatus on studying Torah ends with the beginning of the 8 day Kaleyd (Yiddish for Kalenda i.e. Christmas) celebration established by Adam to celebrate the lengthening of days. The protective covers were removed and a Mitzva was observed to begin each new season like Kalenda with a fresh supply of sweet water, as brought down by the 10th century Hai Gaon.
There is also some Halakhah about when to give presents during Kaleyd as recorded by Israel Isserlein (1390-1460) in Austria mentioned in the Terumas HaDeshen [Siman 195. :
שו"ת תרומות הדשן (סי' קצה')
Responsa of the Terumat haDeshen 195
שאלה: בכמה עיירות נוהגים היהודים לשלוח דורונות לכומרים ולשלטונים ביום שמיני לניתל כשמתחדשין להם השנה, יש
חשש זהירות בדבר או לאו?
Question: In many cities it is the custom for Jews to send gifts to priests and nobles on the Eighth Day after Nittel when they make their New Year. Should we be concerned about the danger of this or not?
תשובה: יראה דיש ליזהר בזה שלא ישלחו ממש באותו יום אלא יום קודם או אחריו...
Answer: It appears that we should be careful regarding this practice not to send it on the actual day of the festival (lest they think we are celebrating) but rather on a day before or after.
This is also the earliest mention of the two Nitl. The day before being Nitl Katan and the day after being Nitl Gadol.
This is exactly what Polish Christians do on Vigilia so if that is not ‘celebrating’ Christmas, what is?
Hence, despite the recent attempts from some quarters to suggest the opposite, Nittel is clearly not such a radical departure” from the Christian tradition at all. But this isn’t to suggest that it is somehow less Jewish.
Many have written about this aspect of Judaism as if it were nothing but Eastern Yiddish folklore about Christmas time evidencing the awe inspired by Jesus but such approaches have actually done more harm to Judaism than good. Thus while secular academics like Rebecca Scharbach argue this is because Nittel Nacht is actually a “Jewish adaptation of the [Christian] traditions, the believer in Judaism is forced to an alternative explanation.
For us, the similarities are due to the survival of a folk memory among Messianic Noahites concerning the fallout from the sins of Yosl Pondrik (Joses Pandira) with whom begins the Teliya recounted by Jews at least for over 18 centuries on the last day of Saturnalia before the midnight candle brings Kalenda.
This history is a tale of two unequal communities buffeted between social conditions that drew them together despite the distinctive communal needs that pushed them apart. The customary system fulfilled a widespread and urgent need within the early modern Jewish communities of central and eastern Europe. It was dangerously dark, deathly cold, food was scarce and hungry wild animals surrounded the Shtetl's at this time of the year. It was best to have get togethers at home. The rest is just sophistry.