Nittel Nacht in Israel

Nittel Nacht (ניטל נאַכט) or Nittel is a name given to Christmas Eve by Jewish scholars in the 17th century, observed as early as the late 16th century by Rabbi Samuel Eidels.

The Yiddish word "Nittel" for Christmas is likely derived from the medieval Latin name for Christmas, natalis, although it is also often associated with the Hebrew nitleh ("the hanged one"), which was used in medieval times to refer to Jesus.

The first explicit reference to the practice of avoiding Torah study appears in Rabbi Yair Bacharach's Mekor Chaim, composed sometime between 1660 and 1692, where he wrote “and there is a custom of abstaining from study on the evening of that man's [i.e., Jesus'] holiday." The first allusion to the practice of staying up late playing games appears in a Jewish communal ordinance from 1708 and was later mentioned in the work of Moses Sofer.