for what its worth, the religion that follows this guy, all its branches, celebrate easter in the spring, not the winter, because they disagree with this teretz.”
It became a “thing” to celebrate this time of year, because pagans were being brought to the faith and this was the time of their winter solstice. This helped them bridge their old practices with a new belief. How a TREE ever came to be a symbol for their holiday makes no sense. Was there an evergreen or fir tree growing in Beis Lechem?
“A minhag was definitely established not to learn Torah on certain nights that coincide with non-Jewish events.”
Golfer, as was pointed out, there were serious and very compelling reasons for taking this precaution at that time. And since we all know that merely recommending something to someone for his own good often results in his doing the very opposite, perhaps that is why the rabbanim made it de rigeur to refrain from learning on this night, as opposed to suggesting it as a matter of safety (I never heard of it for any other Goyishe holiday). Clearly, this holiday was one when Goyim got very drunk and VERY vengeful. B”H we live in a country where people can learn Torah to their hearts’ content, without fear. perhaps in Europe today, this may still be a problem (I don’t know much about this, to be honest), but in the USA, it is no longer shayach. Baseless fear should not keep us from Torah.
Many people stayed in their own homes during last year’s Superstorm, despite the repeated warnings that it was unsafe. Sometimes, a temporary mandate HAS to be made, in order to ensure the safety of some people. But once the threat is no longer a threat, why should they blindly continue to follow that mandate, when there is no Halacha to do so? I can only say again, that my Rov holds that when we stop learning for ANY reason (except an immediate and present threat)out of fear of the Goyim, then the Goyim win.