Growing up in Newton in the 1970s and 1980s, ­Michael Leviton had a mix of Jewish and Christian friends. When he was a teenager, it was the Jewish friends who introduced him to a delightful holiday tradition: eating Chinese food and going to the movies on Christmas Eve.

“If you’re not observing the holiday, there’s not a lot to do on Christmas Eve,” he said. “What do you do when everyone else is celebrating a religious holiday? Traditionally, the only places open on Christmas Eve have been Chinese restaurants and movie theaters.”