On the origin of Yiddish Christmas Folklore

***English will follow***

The Collectif Judéité(s), continues its Cycle of Conferences 2021-2022: Connections, with Jordan Chad, doctoral student at the University of Toronto.

With the support of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies, the Vered Center and the Microprogram in Jewish Studies of the University of Montreal.

The conference will be in English, followed by a bilingual question period (FR/ENG).

**ABSTRACT**

On the origin of Yiddish Christmas folklore

In Yiddish folklore, Nittelnacht (Christmas Eve) is described as a grim and terrifying time for Jews. Most of the existing theories on the origin of this folklore state that it was born out of a Jewish reaction to Christianity and/or Christian intolerance. However, these theories ignore the fact that it is instead Easter, not Christmas, that is Christianity's holiest day and has historically sparked the most violence against Jews. s. Jordan Chad proposes that the folkloric response to Christmas, among both Jews and Christians, is not a reaction to the Christian holiday in particular, but rather a reaction to the dark season of Winter. He argues that Jewish and Christian folklore evolved in parallel on the basis of ancient Midwinter folklore, but with the "Christ" element reversed between the two groups, to reflect their social and structural positions within of Christian hegemony. Chad specifically points to the similarities between Jewish Nittelnacht and the Christian Nidelnacht of the Ashkenazi region in the early modern era, as these folklores were associated with analogous customs, replacing religious practices with pre-Christmas revelry to ward off spirits. of winter. Analyzing the development of Yiddish folklore in a non-Jewish context allows us to make sense of seemingly counterintuitive Jewish customs, such as abstaining from Torah study on Christmas Eve. Overall, his analysis of the origin of Yiddish Christmas folklore illustrates how Jewish traditions have often been shaped by forces outside of the Jewish community.

**BIOGRAPHY**

Jordan Chad is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on how the social circumstances of Jewish people have shaped their cultural and intellectual trajectories. His career includes several publications on the theme of the intellectual success of secular Jewish people (Contemporary Jewry, 2020) and Yiddish literature (Shofar, 2022; Shofar 2023). In addition to his research in Jewish studies, he is actively engaged in various multidisciplinary research projects that span the fields of physics, mathematics, and neuroscience.

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The Collectif Judéité(s) is continuing its 2021-2022 Series of Conferences: Connections with Jordan Chad, Ph.D Candidate at the University of Toronto.

We would like to thanks the support of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies, the Vered Center and the Microprogramme in Jewish Studies of the Université de Montréal.

The conference will be in English, followed by a bilingual Q&A (FR/ENG)

**ABSTRACT**

On the Origin of Yiddish Christmas Folklore

In Yiddish folklore, Nittelnacht (Christmas Eve) is depicted as an eerie, terrifying time for Jews. Most existing theories on the origin of Yiddish Christmas folklore assert that it arose as a Jewish reaction to Christianity and/or Christian intolerance; however, these theories fail to account for the fact that it is Easter, not Christmas, that is the holiest day in Christianity and that historically evoked the most documented violence towards Jews. In contrast, Jordan Chad proposes that the prodigious folkloric response to Christmas among both Jews and Christians is not a reaction to the Christian holiday specifically, but rather, a reaction to the dark midwinter season. He argues that Jewish and Christian Christmas folklore evolved in parallel based on an ancient midwinter folklore, but with the “Christ” element inverted between Jews and Christians to reflect their respective social structural positions amid Christian hegemony. He specifically highlights similarities between the Jewish Nittelnacht and the Christian Nidelnacht of the early modern Ashkenaz region, as the respective folklores were associated with analogous customs, viz. replacing religious practices with merrymaking before Christmas to ward off revenant midwinter spirits. Analyzing the development of Yiddish folklore within the context of the external non-Jewish environment allows us to make sense of seemingly counterintuitive Jewish customs, such as refraining from Torah study on Christmas Eve. Overall, his analysis of the origin of Yiddish Christmas folklore serves as an illustrative example of how Jewish traditions were often shaped by forces external to the Jewish community.

**BIOGRAPHY**

Jordan Chad is a senior Ph.D. candidate at the University of Toronto. His research examines how the social circumstances of Jews have shaped their cultural and intellectual trajectories. He recently published on the topic of secular Jewish intellectual attainment (Contemporary Jewry, 2020) and recently wrote on the topics of Yiddish physics literature (to be published in Shofar, 2022) and Yiddish Christmas literature (to be published in Shofar, 2023). In addition to his research in Jewish studies, he is actively engaged with various multidisciplinary research projects that span the fields of physics, mathematics and neuroscience.