To be blunt, Nittel Nacht (today almost universally ignored) is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”.
First and foremost, not learning Torah that night is mentioned offhand by (or true of) true scholars and Achronim, including the Mekor Chaim and Chavos Yair (according to Wikipedia), not just Chassidim who sought to ex post facto “justify” Nittel. Their pop-mystical “explanations” shed mostly darkness (not much better than apostate informants’ reports about Jews eating lots of garlic and avoiding the restroom on Nittel — although maybe there is something to that as well).
We cannot attribute the whole matter to ignorance. So… Why no Torah?!
Worse, who permits actively playing games on a specific day for no reason?! (I recall the Poskim only criticize card-playing\gambling on Purim or Chanukah.)
Why not use the time constructively some other way (although some did use the time in kosher ways)? And what did Chatzos have to do with anything?
And why the different dates? The Goyish calendar\s bear no significance or truth or line up with True Time. (Reminds me of the ever-moving target of the Israeli state’s “Independence Day” by the Chief Rabbinate…)
Chasam Sofer (קובץ תשובות סימן ל”א):
ממנהג העולם שאוסרים גם תשמיש וסוגרים שערי טבילה כי לדעתי מנהג שטות הוא ויש למחות ביד הנוהגים כן.
But how did this ever arise?
Now, the common explanation is that by forbidding Jews from studying Torah in the Beis Medrash, the Jews would be less visible, and not in their usual habitat, thereby escaping marauding mobs of revelers who had just heard sermons against “[Their-deity]-Killers“. And most Jews didn’t own their own Torah books, so they simply didn’t learn Torah at all.
So it is said.
Problem is, Nittel Nacht was “observed” for many centuries, presumably even when and where there was no such risk. And by Torah scholars, who should know better. And Nittel continued well after the popularization of the printing press. Nor was Tefillah Betzibbur suspended, Corona-style, so why is staying in the Beis Medrash any worse?
Some hypothesize Jews wished to “avoid experiencing any pleasure” at this time. This notion, at least, needs no rebuttal…
Other reasons given appear contrived or forced.
Here is Hyehudi’s unproven, unexamined theory, based on little research:
Nittel Nacht was a time for either family bonding or staying out of sight (or both).
Mima nafshach:
- If it was physically dangerous, best stay home, without a chavrusa.
- And if there was a religious danger of one’s children or oneself becoming jealous of the non-Jews’ hollelus, indecencies and inglories, good food and song, best to stay home, keep everyone home, and employ distractions (but without copying them!). (And saying the unexpurgated Aleinu and reading “Toldos Yeshu” adds a nice touch.)
Similar to what we wrote about Shabbos meals, sometimes ביטולה של תורה זהו קיומה!
(This explanation of avoiding jealousy has the added advantage of being somewhat embarrassing to concede. Which is why you won’t find it anywhere else [unless it’s just false]…)
Proof even Jews could stumble in improper joy, Yevamos 63b:
גזרו על ג’ מפני ג’ גזרו על הבשר מפני המתנות גזרו על המרחצאות מפני הטבילה קא מחטטי שכבי מפני ששמחים ביום אידם.
Needless to add, the custom became corrupted with the passage of time, as the Chasam Sofer says generally elsewhere (and regarding this, too). Especially by some Chassidim who don’t know when to stop.