The century-old practice is so widely observed that there are countless articles, parodies, and even an entire Wikipedia page on “Jewish American Chinese restaurant patronage.” Some restaurants in NYC have gone along with the joke and switched to Chinese cuisine for the day.

Jews began this tradition at the end of the 19th century on the Lower East Side, where Eastern European Jewish and Chinese immigrants lived side-by-side. The densely populated neighborhood was crowded with Chinese restaurants, where Jews felt accepted and safer than they did at the more “fashionable” Italian and German spots.

To be expected, few restaurants stayed open on Christmas. Chinese immigrants, however, saw no reason to close their restaurants and lose a day of sales for a holiday they did not celebrate. Thus, Jewish and Chinese communities were bonded not only by their shared immigrant and refugee experiences, but also by their  “otherness” on Christmas.

Plus, Chinese cooking is virtually dairy-free, which is helpful for Jews who observe Kosher laws and cannot mix dairy and meat.

This list of Chinese restaurants in NYC was crowd‑sourced from trusted friends and family. Of course, there are some famous ones, as well as vegan and celiac‑friendly options. 

Make sure you check in advance to see which spots are open on Christmas Eve vs. Day. And if you’re ordering delivery, please tip well, as we are still in a pandemic and delivery workers are risking their health to bring us food! 

Now let’s begin.

1. Jing Fong Restaurant (Upper West Side, Chinatown)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ben Hon (@stuffbeneats)

2. Han Dynasty (East Village, Upper West Side, Brooklyn)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Peggy | NYC Foodie (@peggyeats)

3. Nom Wah (Nolita, Chinatown)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Food Baby (@foodbabyny)

4. Atlas Kitchen (Harlem)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fiona | nyc food & cocktails (@fionaeats365)

5. Birds of a Feather (Brooklyn)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by jenn | nyc foodie influencer (@jennerous_eats)

6. Little Alley (Midtown)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Indulgent Eats | NYC Hong Kong (@indulgenteats)

7. Fat Choy (Chinatown)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Christine Wong 黄美榆 (@conscious_cooking)

8. The Handpulled Noodle (Harlem)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Handpulled Noodle | Harlem (@pullmynoodle)

9. Shun Lee (Upper West Side, Midtown)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sandra (@ariandthefoodie)

10. Mr. Chow (Midtown East, Tribeca)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by imshtuffed (@imshtuffed)

11. AweSum DimSum (Flatiron)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by RestaurantGroupie-Food&Travel (@restaurantgroupie)

12. Golden Unicorn (Chinatown)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Katie | NYC Foodie (@thebellychronicles)

13. Spicy Moon (Greenwich Village, Noho)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fletcher · NYC Food & Sailing (@thehungryskipper)

14. Tri-Dim Shanghai (Upper East Side, Upper West Side)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Food Baby (@foodbabyny)

15. RedFarm (West Village, Upper West Side)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mike Chau (@mikejchau)

16. Hao Noodle and Tea (Meatpacking)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jean LeeEat-Drink-Travel (@jeaniuseats)

17. Café China (Midtown)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Irene Wong (@irenewongi)

18. La Salle Dumpling Room (Morningside Heights)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Feed your feed! (@nomtasticfoods)

Lastly, if you are healthy and up for a fun night out, check out the one-night-only return of legendary Moshe Peking for a 70’s-style Kosher Chinese prix-fixe dinner at Wall Street Grill, prepared by chefs Eric Huang and Joseph Paulino and hosted by Tablet Magazine!

The post A New York City Guide to Chinese Food on Christmas appeared first on Jewcy.

So, if you’re like me and are set on not celebrating the birth of Jesus, but need some mundane and leisurely activities to keep you busy on your day off while the world is on pause, I got you. We’ll brainstorm together. I already have some ideas.

1. The Classic Jewish-American Tradition

Can’t rate this one first hand, given that I’ve yet to partake in it. (This year will be my first time and I can’t wait!) But Chinese food on Christmas is a very sweet tradition that American Jews seem to cherish. And I agree. The non-commemoration of the most famous goyishe holiday with an intercultural feast is such a home run. Follow up your meal with a late night movie for a truly authentic night.

2. Pretend It’s Still Hanukkah

No need to be salty that our holidays are over, while everyone else is celebrating theirs. Just pretend they aren’t! I wouldn’t say the prayers or actually light a menorah. And definitely don’t say the prayers–G-d’s name in vain and all. But listening to some Hanukkah music, sufganiyot, and latkes are not a bad deal. Watch A Rugrats Chanukah for some extra fun, too.

3. Drink And Watch Netflix

The second season of Emily in Paris with Jewish actress Lily Collins (yes she is, Google it) is out and if you haven’t binged it in its entirety yet, this is the time to do it. And get some wine, while you’re at it. Other options are the terrible new Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That… or whatever Succession is.

Of course, if you’re looking to live vicariously through your laptop screen, you can watch Christmas movies, duh. Serendipity will be my recommendation here because I’m a sucker for rom-coms and Love, Actually doesn’t do it for me. There’s also a Christmas-themed reality dating show on HBO Max called 12 Dates of Christmas. And I don’t know why I had never heard of it until this week, but you can bet that’s what I’ll be consuming on the evening of December 24.

4. Learn About Jewish Suffering

Like I said before, there’s no need to be salty. But if you choose to, that’s valid and know that I support you. I won’t point you to anything about the Shoah, because I’ll suggest that you stay more on theme this season.

Did you know that since the middle ages up until relatively recent times, some Christian communities in Europe would use December 25th to launch pogroms against Jewish communities? Because they blamed us for Jesus’ death and all that jazz. Not cool! Read about it!

There’s also the Inquisition, which most Jews know very little about. You can read about that too. Why not.

5. Walk The Empty Streets

It’s literally the perfect night to feed your main character complex and hit the empty lit-up streets. How emo! All you’ll need is headphones (preferably not wireless because vibes) and some cash just in case your run into your bashert and end up going on a one-night adventure. Cut to the wedding scene! I told you I’m a sucker for rom-coms…

6. Be Shomer Shabbos

This year, Christmas falls on Shabbat. But even if you’re reading this on a year that it doesn’t, isn’t observing the weekly Jewish holiday a great way to disconnect yourself from all the Christmas frenzy? Turn off your phone, grab a few books, and voila. Christmas passed and you didn’t even notice. 

…Except being shomer is pretty hard, and that’s probably unrealistic if you’re going cold turkey. But this is the best night to give it a try! If you can’t fully dive in, try starting small. Maybe just no phone for 25 hours? Easy enough?

7. Nittel Nacht

Did you know Chasidic Jews have their own Christmas tradition? Yeah, me neither. Unlike Jews on the more secular Jews’ Chinese food tradition, it is less of an alternate activity as it is a diss. Drama!!!

The custom of Nittel Nacht (nacht meaning ‘night’, and nittel deriving from the Hebrew niteleh, ‘the hanged one’) dates back to the 16th century, but tensions date back to the writing of the text Toledot Yeshu, a Jewish telling of Jesus’ story–and not a very flattering one.

It is a custom to not study Torah. Some rabbis even forbid having sex! Instead, they partake in other activities such as playing chess or cards, while others read Toledot Yeshu to remember the longstanding feud.

8. Sleep In

As good an option as any. Listen, I will definitely be indulging in some well-deserved rest, and so should you! Honestly, it’s not like I have any Christmas presents to wake up to unless you count my daily dose of Adderall.

Worst comes to worst and none of these options appeals to you, hit me up and we can play some board games or something. I have no plans so…

Anyway, Happy Not-Our-Holiday and Shabbat Shalom!

The post Christmas: Eight Things to Do if You’re a Jew appeared first on Jewcy.

Jesus was not white. This statement is simple enough, and it is truthful, I suppose. (I never assumed he looked like a Renaissance painting because I have common sense, and now we have BBC’s reconstruction, which looks like he would have been profiled by airport security, for sure.) 

But once you give an inch… Now, absolutely everyone wants to claim the lord and savior as theirs. I mean, we’re all obsessed with “representation,” and the son of God is the ultimate cop. Jesus has been Black. He has been Asian. He has been Irish. Jesus has even transcended the racial debate and has been gendered as non-binary. OH, and lest I forget, Jesus has of course been Palestinian. A Palestinian Brown Jew, nonetheless. Might as well have been a sphinx. 

So here’s where the Jews come in. We–and this is a loose ‘we’ thankfully–have resorted to defending ourselves against misinformation and erasure by stating the obvious. Jesus could not have been Palestinian because Palestine did not exist in his lifetime. He was born in the Kingdom of Judea, and the term “Palestine” wasn’t used until more than a century after his death. And I hope I don’t have to explain why he wasn’t Black or Asian because I won’t. Jesus was a Jew. He was Judean, if you will. Fine.

There are, of course, those of us who are going as far as to say Jesus was Mizrahi, which is unfortunately as ridiculous as saying he was a Palestinian Jew. If we’re using the argument that he could not be Palestinian because Palestine wasn’t a thing… Well, then neither was the Mizrahi because the diaspora wasn’t a thing either (not as we know it today), and Jesus was also not in it. No sense at all. This argument, apart from being very wrong and using the same non-logic as other communities, seems to one-up the defensiveness of just saying he was a Jew. It’s a little iffy, and this is the sense I get from a lot of the Jewish response.

To put it plainly, my friends, some of you Jews are a little too eager to ‘claim’ Jesus. 

I get it. As Jews, we’re forced to cede our representation all the time now because we’re deemed not worthy of it. But Jesus!? We’ve spent thousands of years distancing ourselves from this man who, by the way, was a heretic according to our tellings, one whose name many religious Jews will not even utter. There was a whole other religion created from him which was used to oppress us, and the cherry on top is we were blamed for his death. Now suddenly he is our poster child? Hashem Yishmor. I’m all for claiming what’s ours, but I will graciously take this ‘L’.

Also, isn’t the whole point of Jesus that he was a beacon of universalism? I claim to be no expert on Christianity, but I’m pretty sure obsessing over Jesus’ race and appearance is counterintuitive to his message, no? The fact that communities want to see themselves in him, and depict him in their own image is not crazy. It’s natural, and I take no issue with it.

I do not care. I don’t! And neither should you. Wasn’t that one of the selling points for Judaism in the first place? That we do not have to care about all this? God knows we have other things to worry about.

Let them claim him. He was one of ours, but he isn’t ours. Ironic as it may be, it is funner this way too and great to watch from afar. What will Jesus be next? Azerbaijani? Losangelino? A teletubby? Vegan? A barb? Maybe he’ll even be Ashkenazi. I bet he likes bagels and klezmer and chopped liver. Happy for him. And ultimately, whatever he is, wherever life takes his legacy, I’ll take comfort in knowing that it’s absolutely none of my business.

The post Jesus Was Ashkenazi appeared first on Jewcy.

I get it. In a sea of red and green, you want to loudly represent the blue. What’s the harm in that? Be proud! That’s not my concern.

But why the hell are we still marketing Judaism as quirky Christianity? 

Over a century ago, a bunch of American rabbis came together in a conference called The Pittsburgh Platform and long story short, they decided that Jews were no longer a nation, but a religious community like any other–specifically Christians and Muslims.

It was an attempt to modernize Judaism and allow American Jews to assimilate into the fabric of the United States. This idea had a lot of influence to say the least, and it still lingers in the way many of my American Jewish brethren see themselves today.

But if you have read any of the scathing infographics from the rightfully angry Jews in your Instagram circles, you know this isn’t true. We know that Judaism is not just a religion but also an ethnicity, that a rejection of Jewish nationhood is not reflective of the relationship Jews from around the world share, and most obviously, that our belief system is completely different from those of Christianity and Islam. We all agree Judeo-Christian is not a thing at this point, right?

Look, I don’t blame these rabbis. Wrong as they were, they were just reacting to a society which has always been reluctant to accept us. They were trying to help Judaism survive, and surely non-Jews not caring enough to understand us played a huge part too. But… one thing leads to another, and thinking of Judaism as a kooky Christianity most certainly paved the way for Hanukkah as “Blue Christmas.”

If Christmas is Christians’ most important holiday, then Hanukkah, which falls around the same time, must be ours. It must be a culmination of all things Jew-ey and Jewish-ey, with the oys and the veys and the gimel, dalet, heis. Add a dash of gentile-steered corporate crazy, some good ol’ Jewish overcompensation, and BAM! We’ve got Hanukkah gnomes, Magen David Santa hats, and of course, the ever-dazzling Hanukkah sweater.

And listen, Hanukkah sweaters, in theory, are probably the least problematic product of this whole balagan. (Don’t even get me started on the Hanukkah Bush.) Truth is, a lot of our culture and traditions are born out of being the other, some even inspired by the larger cultures we live within. And that’s okay! Hanukkah gifts became a thing just so we wouldn’t be jealous of Christian children, and you won’t see me complaining. The problem is that these products are made from a complete misunderstanding of who we are as a people and what we are celebrating. So, we’re stuck with a hoard of with slogans like:

Oy to the World,

Deck the Halls with Matzo Balls,

Jew-dolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,

Happy Llama-kah,

Challah at Me,

And even the raunchy, You Little Horah.

First of all, I am Sephardic so if I’m decking the halls with anything it’s going to be sambousaks. And secondly, notice how these have absolutely nothing to do with Hanukkah whatsoever?! They’re just goyishe holiday phrases with a Jew-ey pun jammed in. The others are just cliché Yiddishisms on knitwear, usually accompanied by illustrations of the most generic and recognizable Jewish symbols like an Orthodox man with peyos (yikes), stars of David, or the most Jewishiest of all… a reindeer with menorah antlers? What the hell?

Hanukkah sweaters are so ridiculous that they’re almost funny except… a lot of Jewish people buy them and wear them.

Like I said before, I get it. Being proudly, outwardly Jewish in a predominantly non-Jewish society is hard, especially when others don’t fully understand our culture. But instead of dumbing down our traditions and our identity to nothing, can’t we stand out in a way that’s authentic to our two-thousand-year-old-peoplehood? And at the bare minimum, in a way that even peripherally relates to what we are celebrating? 

And honestly, if you want to get some Hanukkah-wear, go for it. Who am I to stop you? (Personally, I’d go with a “I like you a latke” or “spin my dreidel” situation.) But let’s stop minimizing ourselves for the non-Jewish world. Let’s remember who we are. We are more than just a piece blue fabric and comic relief in a TV show.

And most importantly, let’s remember that Hanukkah is about a violent revolt against a kingdom who wanted to abolish Jewish culture–not “the light” and “the dark” and “Tikkun Olam.” It was a war against colonizers who tried to ravage our temple and take our property–in no other than Zion, by the way… Hanukkah, chaverim and chaverot, is as anti-assimilation as it gets.

Put that on a sweater.

The post Is It Time to Retire Hanukkah Sweaters? appeared first on Jewcy.

Everyone knows the drill by now. Go out to the movies, order Chinese food— it’s the Jews on Christmas way. But don’t just reach for the kung pao chicken on instinct; you should think very carefully about what dishes compliment your cinematic choice this holiday season (whether you eat before the movie, after the movie, or sneak your food into the theater is up to you). Don’t worry; we’re here to help with some suggestions:

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

The Star Wars franchise is classic, so you gotta go classic— have some lo mein. Like Episode 8, it’s loaded with everything, including a few things that might seem unfamiliar, but the noodles/space opera milieu provide a connection to comfort at its core.

Pitch Perfect 3

Egg rolls are a rare Chinese food you can eat with your hands if you need to, so you can keep eating, but stay ready to do choreography on a moment’s notice.

The Greatest Showman

Sweet, indulgent, but ultimately without much substance? You need something fried, my friend. Try the General Tso’s Chicken.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Get the broccoli stir-fry, and imagine that the greens are a tiny jungle! Whether it’s tofu, chicken, or beef, you can have your own tiny edible the Rock wander through its dangerous terrain wondering why they really needed to reboot this movie!

The Shape of Water

If you don’t keep kosher, you gotta go with shrimp dumplings. Appreciate that human/fish-person romance by having one of your own.

Ferdinand

Similarly, heighten the sense of danger our bull hero is in by eating some beef in black bean sauce. Or use this fact to emotionally destroy the child who made you see the film in the first place.

Coco

Of course— you were waiting to see the latest Pixar movie for when they finally took out that stupid Frozen short. So now, celebrate the film’s Mexican heritage by having one of those fusion burrito things with Chinese food stuffed inside. Culturally questionable? Sure. But we’re in too deep, now.

The Christmas Prince

If you want to stay home and watch the Netflix original rom-com to fulfill the mitzvah of a movie on Christmas, just open a box of fortune cookies. Eventually, one of them will say love will find you.

Image via Vimeo

The post Movies and Chinese Food— But Which? appeared first on Jewcy.

You ain’t seen nothin’ yet:

In 2016, Chanukah will begin on sunset December 24th, and we will light the final candle on the evening of December 31st, officially ending the holiday at sunset the next day, January 1st.

That’s right; this year, Chanukah falls exactly from Christmas to New Year’s.  The same week that your gentile colleagues will be in full celebration mode, so will you. “Christmas for the Jews” is now an actual Jewish holiday (if you don’t count Nittel Nacht), that will continue all the way until the next Federal holiday.

We look forward to seeing the hipster Jewish recipes and all, but there’s a bigger question we need to resolve now, months in advance: What remains is what the portmanteau will be.

Chrismukkah (not endorsed by Jewcy) is already the fusion of the two holidays in interfaith homes, not Chanukah that happens to fall at a certain time. So… Chanukas? ChaNewYearkah? Perfect-Winter-Break-for-Jewish-Kids-Blessathon?

Of course, New Year’s is also a celebration of Jesus’s circumcision, so… Chanubrismas? Yeah, we’re going to go with Chanubrismas until we get something better.

Please tweet us your ideas so that #Chanubrismas doesn’t have to go viral. And remember: you heard it here first. And only 152 shopping days left till, well, whatever this is.

Image credit: Circumcision of Jesus by the workshop of Giovanni Bellini. Via Wikimedia.

The post FYI, The Timing of Chanukah is Bananas This Year appeared first on Jewcy.

The internet has gone bananas for a bunch of photos of Israel on Christmas morning—taken from space. The six photographs, which are jointly credited to astronaut Barry Wilmore and NASA, were uploaded to the International Space Station’s Facebook page on December 26—and they’re pretty stunning.

“Israel – completely clear – on Christmas morning from the International Space Station,” reads the accompanying caption. “Astronaut Barry Wilmore woke up early on Christmas to reflect upon the beauty of the Earth and snap some images to share with the world.”

So far the album has been liked 32,000 times, and shared over 6,000 times. It’s no Gangnam Style, sure, but compared to the ISS’s previous Facebook post (Christmas night in Nashville) and following post (a weekly video update), it’s a runaway success.

But did the beauty of the Holy Land, the Glory of Science, and the Birth of Christ quell the hot tempers of the internet commentariat? Alas, no. The comment thread quickly devolved into a vitriolic propaganda fest, because internet. On Facebook, as in space, no-one can hear you scream.

Anyway—enjoy the photos and happy holidays!

(Photos: NASA/Barry Wilmore)

The post Stunning Photos of Israel—From Space appeared first on Jewcy.

As you were.

The post Here is an Amazing Photo of Nancy Reagan Sitting on Mr. T’s Lap appeared first on Jewcy.

Buzzfeed—purveyor of fun, borderline cringeworthy holiday kitsch (and kitsch in general)—has birthed two more Jew-y cross-cultural videos into the universe. This time, we get ‘Christmas explained by Jews,’ and ‘Hanukkah explained by Christians.’ (Alllll the points to the dude who confuses “ladle” with “dreidel.”)

Happy holidays, you ignoramuses!

The post Christmas Explained By Jews, Hanukkah Explained By Christians appeared first on Jewcy.

Tis the season to reignite the fallacious War on Christmas (fa la la la la, la la la la). Heedless of the wind and weather, Fox News conservatives are again calling for the end to universal holiday phrases. No more of this “Happy Holidays” garbage, they say. If it’s December, it’s “Merry Christmas” or bust, they cry.

Though irate talking heads are bringing the issue to the people, Jon Stewart is taking them all down. This week on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, Stewart perfectly destroys the arguments of Fox’s Prom King and Queen, Sarah Palin and Bill O’Reilly.

And, if you watch all the way through, you’ll get the added bonus of seeing a clip of Palin divulging that in order to teach her family about Hanukkah, she leaves a menorah out on the kitchen table throughout the month of December. A great lesson in Judaism, Palin.

The post Watch Jon Stewart Take Down the War on Christmas appeared first on Jewcy.