Some of the first Yiddish words recorded are nitl and levkoches. Nitl, from the Latin natal=birth, sometimes written Nittel, is a holdover from the Judeo-French spoken before the emergence of Yiddish proper in and around the year 1000. It means Christmas. Like most first Yiddish words, these were found in the margins of Hebrew-written tracts. They were mostly parts of notes by the writer or the reader of the text. Levkoches came a bit later and was truly Yiddish: it referred to Lebkuchen, gingerbread and it appeared in smaller responsa literature collectively called the Minor Arukh. Its origin (the writer of the word levkoches) seems to have lived somewhere between Köln and Oldenburg (no surprise) where the text in which it appears likely circulated. I mention this because I hope by now it’s obvious that there has probably never been a time where Jews in Germanic lands were not interacting in some way with that celebration. It couldn’t be a holy day, so the holy day activities never applied (zakhn mit shabesdikayt). If you had too much fun, then you run the risk of celebrating the day. It was officially a work day, a productive day, though it was impossible to do ordinary business if it meant dealing with non-Jews, so Jews got busy doing boring things like (according to one source), pre-ripping toilet paper to use on Shabbat when it is not permitted to tear. If this tradition is true, this is enormously funny, no? A quiet way to get things done (things which are themselves a bit silly, even if they do fulfill a commandment) and to make a quiet commentary about the supposed holiness of the days around Nitl. There was also a tradition of playing card games on nitl nakht, “kortnshpiln,” something of a known vice for pious Jews. It’s a subtle tease of doing something a bit naughty while the outside world is in the throes of a Christian celebration. At the same time, it was a bit fun. I imagine the reason why levkoches entered into the Yiddish parlance is because levkoches are tasty. It’s that simple. Not everything is about disavowal. Jeez!