Christmas in Yiddish Tradition: The Untold Story is an engrossing exploration of Christmas in Yiddish culture. In this book, Jordan Chad argues that Christmas was not always the Christian observance we understand it to be today. Instead, both Christians and Jews partook in midwinter celebrations throughout Europe, and the groups’ respective celebrations reflect evolving understandings of religion and folklore. Christmas did not take on a Christianized tenor until the modern era; if we consider the lineage of the holiday on its own terms, historically, Jews did observe it. Chad’s study traces these interrelated histories from the medieval era to the modern era.
From there, Chad explores the shifting relationship immigrant Jews (and their descendants) had to Christmas — and by proxy, to their shifting understanding of Old World Jews’ historical relationship with Christmas. In the second half of the book, he conducts compelling studies of the role of Christmas Jewish folklore, Yiddish theater, Yiddish and Jewish cinema, and Yiddish literature in (mostly) the United States. Woven into this are the evolution of New World practices of Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, which relate to this concept of Yiddish Christmas in surprising ways. Christmas in Yiddish Tradition takes us all the way to the present day, where Chad argues that Yiddish is (re)emerging as an element of a dedicated Jewish counterculture towards Christmas. He also notes a growing interest in European midwinter folklore more broadly, which includes the history of Eastern European Jewish midwinter practices.
Christmas in Yiddish Tradition is an enjoyable read precisely because it so thoroughly upends many common assumptions about the Eastern European Jewish experience as it relates to Christmas. The origins of these assumptions are carefully traced, if only so they can be deconstructed entirely. One of the keys to Chad’s success is the fresh eye he brings to familiar sources. Much of his material is gleaned from classic sources for Eastern European Jewish folk study. However, without the presuppositions which Chad convincingly argues have plagued the question of Yiddish Christmas, he is able to pull on some novel threads. These threads together recontextualize fundamental questions about Jewish belief and practice today.
Christmas in Yiddish Tradition: The Untold Story is a deeply researched survey of more than a half-century of Christmas in Yiddish culture. Perhaps counterintuitively, it is an excellent book to pick up this winter if you’re looking to get into the holiday spirit.
Hallel Yadin is an archivist and writer based in Philadelphia.
