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Wednesday, December 24, 2025
JHS: The History and Observance of Nittel Nacht in Modern Times
JHS: The History and Observance of Nittel Nacht in Modern Times
Prior to late 19th century domiciles were unsanitary due to lack of indoor plumbing. Therefore there had been the difficulty of most people being able to learn or verbalize much Judaism at home. As the middle classes started to install indoor plumbing the Chafetz Chaim published Toras Habayis to stress in the new reality there creates obligation to learn at home
Therefore they would to go out to the local beis medrash. On X-mas eve, the streets were full of drunken goyim who had just heard sermons about how the Jews had killed their "saviour" so they were looking to avenge him by beating any Jew they could find. As a result, Jews stayed home and since they didn't have lots of books, they couldn't learn. Along came people who said "Chas v'shalom Jews should only do something for a practical reason. We must invent a spiritual reason to justify and say it was the real reason all along!"
If that were true then no one would learn on Easter night either. Certainly not on Good Friday which is the day they believed he was killed. My grandparents told me that they were scared to leave their house (Russia early 1900s) on Easter. I never heard that about Xmas. When I was a kid in Brooklyn in the late 70s and early 80s it was considered dangerous to go on Halloween, All the Yeshivas had early dismissal. No one mistook that for an intrinsic issue with learning on that night.
Fair question.The wealthy had multi-story houses, so it would have been less of a problem 6:13 Correct.Albeit without any irrelevance. Some kept double or triple nittels
don't shoot off your mouth unless your brain is loaded people had out houses wealthier people had chamber pots emptied by servants people learned at home. wealthier people actually employed a personal melamed for the ir children
Prior to late 19th century domiciles were unsanitary due to lack of indoor plumbing. Therefore there had been the difficulty of most people being able to learn or verbalize much Judaism at home. As the middle classes started to install indoor plumbing the Chafetz Chaim published Toras Habayis to stress in the new reality there creates obligation to learn at home
ReplyDeleteTherefore they would to go out to the local beis medrash. On X-mas eve, the streets were full of drunken goyim who had just heard sermons about how the Jews had killed their "saviour" so they were looking to avenge him by beating any Jew they could find. As a result, Jews stayed home and since they didn't have lots of books, they couldn't learn.
Along came people who said "Chas v'shalom Jews should only do something for a practical reason. We must invent a spiritual reason to justify and say it was the real reason all along!"
If that were true then no one would learn on Easter night either. Certainly not on Good Friday which is the day they believed he was killed. My grandparents told me that they were scared to leave their house (Russia early 1900s) on Easter. I never heard that about Xmas. When I was a kid in Brooklyn in the late 70s and early 80s it was considered dangerous to go on Halloween, All the Yeshivas had early dismissal. No one mistook that for an intrinsic issue with learning on that night.
DeleteHow did they make brochos or bench at home?
ReplyDeleteYeah, such farbisena pseudo-intellectual nonsense. At least we get to learn what a domicile is.
DeleteFair question.The wealthy had multi-story houses, so it would have been less of a problem
Delete6:13
Correct.Albeit without any irrelevance. Some kept double or triple nittels
don't shoot off your mouth unless your brain is loaded people had out houses wealthier people had chamber pots emptied by servants people learned at home. wealthier people actually employed a personal melamed for the ir children
ReplyDeleteThe CC was got a juuk to random publish knee-jerk because he had nothing better on his plate
DeleteFacts are naughty things