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11 Jewish things to do this Christmas in New York City
(New York Jewish Week) – Hanukkah may be over, but another time-honored Jewish holiday tradition is just around the corner: So-called “Jewish Christmas,” it’s that special time on Dec. 24 and 25 to eat Chinese food, see a new movie and hang out with friends as the non-Jewish world heads home for the holidays.
From Yiddish performances to bluegrass concerts to special Jewish-Chinese fusion meals, keep scrolling for our ultimate guide for Jews who are spending Christmas in the city this year.
Christmas Eve
Lebanese Jewish Cooking Class
Join the Lower East Side’s Romaniote synagogue Kehila Kadosha Janina (280 Broome St.) for a Lebanese Jewish cooking class. Rabbi Issac Choua will present a lecture on Lebanese Jews and will talk about the history of the Brooklyn store Sahadi’s, a Lebanese grocery store established in the city in 1895. Tickets for the 1:00 p.m. class start at $10, email museum@kkjsm.org to RSVP.
Jewish Christmas at Kubeh
The Israeli restaurant Kubeh (464 6th Ave.), dedicated to “lesser-known cuisines of the Middle East,” has devised a special Christmas menu on Dec. 24 and 25, featuring scallion ginger latkes, duck, fried rice and a fortune-filled donut. The pre-fixe meal starts at $65 per person, with the a la carte menu of traditional Israeli and Middle Eastern cuisine also available. Find the menu here and make your reservation here.
Wandering Jews of Astoria’s Christmastime with the Jews
The Wandering Jews of Astoria, a pluralistic Jewish group in Western Queens for people in their 20s, 30s and 40s that focuses on social events, is getting together on Christmas Eve for dinner at 5:00 p.m. at vegan restaurant Jujube Tree (35-02 30th Ave., Astoria) and afterwards, a movie at Regal UA Kaufman Astoria. RSVP and find out more information here.
Traditional Jewish Christmas at Mile End Deli
For another Jewish/Chinese fusion meal, head to Brooklyn for a “traditional” Jewish Christmas at Mile End Deli (97 Hoyt St.) on Dec. 24 and 25. At $55 per person, the menu includes hot and sour soup, smoked shiitake bao, crab rangoon, General Tso’s chicken and smoked meat fried rice. Make your reservations here.
“The Gospel According to Chaim”
A new Yiddish drama, “The Gospel According to Chaim,” by Mikhl Yashinsky is the first full-length Yiddish drama written and produced in the U.S. in some 70 years. The story centers around a former Hasid’s attempt to publish a Yiddish translation of the New Testament. Starring Yiddish writer, actor and teacher Yashinsky, Melissa Weisz, Joshua Horowitz and Sruli Rosenberg, the show opens on Dec. 24 at the Theater for the New City (155 1st Ave.) and runs through Jan. 7. Tickets start at $25.
The Matzoball
For those still looking to secure someone for a New Year’s kiss, there’s famously no better way to meet someone than at Matzoball, the long-running Jewish singles party on Christmas Eve. This year, the ball will take place at The DL (95 Delancey St.) on the Lower East Side. The party starts at 10:00 p.m. on Dec. 24 and will last until 4 a.m. Tickets start at $50, find more information here.
Daniel Kahn will receive the prestigious Adrienne Cooper Dreaming in Yiddish Award this year at Yiddish New York. (Adam Berry)
Yiddish New York Festival
Join klezmer and Yiddish fans from all over the world as they flock to New York City for the annual Yiddish New York festival, this year from Dec. 23-29. The festival, which is headquartered at Hebrew Union College (1 West 4th St.), includes jam-packed days of Yiddish language classes, lectures on Yiddish culture, film screenings, klezmer jam sessions, concerts, original plays and more. In the evenings, there are several special shows and programs, including a 7 p.m. Christmas Eve concert from pioneering klezmer musician Michael Alpert. The full festival pass costs $570 for in-person attendance and $369 for online; find out more information about tickets here and check out the full schedule here.
Christmas Day
Nefesh Mountain at the Jewish Museum
The Jewish bluegrass band Nefesh Mountain is playing two concerts at 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Christmas Day at the Jewish Museum (1109 5th Ave.), a perfect outing for a young family when work and school is closed. The concert tickets are included with the price of museum admission ($18) and guests have access to view the museum’s exhibits before and after the show, including “The Collars of RBG” and “Mood of the moment: Gaby Aghion and the house of Chloé.” Find more information here.
Stand-Up Comedy at PJ Bernstein’s
On Christmas Day, head to the Upper East Side for some stand-up comedy at Jewish deli PJ Bernstein’s (1215 3rd Ave.), where Jewish comics Harrison Greenbaum, Eitan Levine, Riley Lassin, Ben Kirschenbaum, Rachel Lander and Mikey Greenblatt plan to deliver a night of laughs. Tickets for the 7:00 p.m. event cost $15, with proceeds donated to Magen David Adom, Israel’s Red Cross. Get tickets and more information here.
Joel Chasnoff: “Christmas for the Jews”
Comedian Joel Chasnoff brings back his annual Christmas stand-up showcase: Christmas for the Jews, this year at City Winery (25 11th Ave.) on Dec. 25 at 7 p.m. The lineup also includes Jon Fisch, Ophira Eisenberg and Eli Lebowicz and musician Brian Gelfand on piano. Tickets start at $30, get them here.
Yiddish Princess Reunion
After a decade-long hiatus, Yiddish rock band Yiddish Princess will play a reunion concert at the Bowery Electric (32 Bowery St.) at 9 p.m. Co-founded by Sarah Mina Gordon and Michael Winograd, the band promises a “double guitar onslaught. Drums beating you into submission. Precious analog synths beckoning. And a voice that can shatter ice and coo you into mellifluous bliss.” Tickets start at $25.
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The post 11 Jewish things to do this Christmas in New York City appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.