Took this picture a few years ago in Jerusalem outside a clothing chop. I believe it was once a Santa Claus statue figure that has been trasformed, and thus I will call it the Jewish Santa Claus. Though in truth we should try not to use the word 'Santa' as it is the same as 'Saint' which when saying the name gives energy to its source..
Do Jewish People Celebrate Christmas and What do Jews do on Christmas
Christmas eve, known as ‘nittel-nacht’ amongst Yiddish-speaking Jews, was never a time for celebration. Jesus, Christianity, and everything it stood fore brought heaps of problems and suffering for the Jewish people. It was not uncommon for a bunch of drunken gentiles on Christmas Eve to go out on a rampage attacking Jews. For this matter, Jewish people throughout history stayed at home on Christmas eve and kept a low profile.
Today we may not fear a pogrom erupting while the goyim are at home hanging stockings over the fireplace and waiting for a Coca-Cola invented Santa Claus to come down the chimney. Most gentiles have disassociated Christmas from anything religious, though there are still many who make their annual visit to church for a midnight mass.
I guess if I owned one of the companies that sold millions of dollars’ worth of Chinese-made Christmas decorations I’d see how much money I made for the season and throw a big party for all my Jewish friends. But this is not the case.
So what does a Jew do on Christmas Eve? When I was in Yeshivah we did not study any Torah. This has been the custom amongst many Jews for centuries. Because when Torah is studied positive energy comes to the world and feeds everything. But we don’t want even one drop of energy to go to the spiritual make-up of Christmas and thus no Torah is studied.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe and his father in-law Rabbi Yossef Yitzchok Scnersonn would have a game of chess, and this is the custom I grew up with. On ‘nittel-nacht’ my father and I, along with my brothers, would play chess.
Not studying Torah is not an excuse to waste time. If you are someone who normally studies lots of Torah, perhaps use Christmas Eve to clean out the garage, do some pushups, or visit someone who you’d make happy.
