RASHI, RAMBAM and RAMALAMADINGDONG

The collapse of Israel’s government last week means that for the fourth time in two years, Israel will be holding elections. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be facing opposition from the political right, including Gideon Saar and Naftali Bennett, both of whom served as ministers in his previous governments. Bennett, a wealthy software entrepreneur, entered the political world in 2006, serving as Netanyahu’s Chief of Staff. In 2011 he co-founded the My Israel party, and in 2013 he led the Jewish Home party, which won 12 seats in the Knesset election. Bennett went on to serve as Minister of the Economy and Minister of Education, among other posts. While Naftali Bennett has advocated for gay rights in Israel, he opposes gay marriage. What did he say in a television interview about gay marriage?

Israel Bilat by U.S. Secretary of Defense is licensed under CC BY 2.0

A. “Judaism doesn’t recognize gay marriage, just as we don’t recognize milk and meat together as kosher.”

B. “Judaism doesn’t recognize gay marriage, as it clearly states in Leviticus, ‘If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, the two of them have done an abhorrent thing; they shall be put to death–their bloodguilt is upon them.’ ”

C. “Judaism doesn’t recognize gay marriage, just as we don’t recognize masks and social distancing as kosher.”

D. “Judaism doesn’t recognize gay marriage. The 5th commandment states, ‘Honor thy father and thy mother.’ This means that children shall have a mother and a father, not two mothers or two fathers.”

E. “Judaism doesn’t recognize gay marriage, just as we don’t recognize Bibi and Gantz together as kosher.”

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There are many rules and traditions regarding the Chanukkiah, or Chanukkah menorah. For example, candles are placed in the Chanukkiah from right to left, but they are lit from left to right (lighting the newest candle first). Also, the candles are supposed to be in a straight line, not in a semicircle, and the height of each candle should be the same (NOTE: That makes RASHI, RAMBAM and RAMALAMADINGDONG'S moose menorah a non-kosher menorah. But still a very cool Chanukkiah!). What is the maximum height a Chanukkiah can be, and why?

A. 36 feet, representing the 36 righteous people, or Lamed-Vavniks.

B. 18 feet, which represents Chai, the word for life, that numerically is the equivalent of 18.

C. There is no maximum height for a Chanukkiah.

D. 40 feet, representing the number of years the Israelites wandered through the desert.

E. 32 feet, because the Chanukkiah is supposed to be seen, and that’s about the highest that most people see when they look up.

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Renowned Argentinian football (soccer) star Diego Armando Maradona died of a heart attack last week at the age of 60. Maradona is generally considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time, and is particularly remembered for a goal he scored against England in the 1986 World Cup Quarterfinals that has been dubbed “The Hand of God” goal. He played in four World Cups, leading Argentina to victory over West Germany in 1986, and he was jointly awarded the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award along with Pele. What was Diego Maradona’s connection to Jews and/or Israel?

Maradona by diego vaz is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

A. Maradona’s ancestors were Jews from Toledo, Spain, who converted to Christianity during the Spanish Inquisition. He only learned of his Jewish background in 1990 during a trip to Israel where the Argentinian soccer team defeated Israel in a match at Ramat Gan stadium. During the visit, Maradona visited the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora (now Beit Hatfutsot: The Museum of the Jewish People) where genealogists showed him records documenting his family background.

B. Maradona first visited Israel in 1986 when he contributed two goals to Argentina’s victory against Israel. He returned in 1990, again leading his team to victory, and in both of those years Argentina went on to play in the World Cup Finals. According to  Israeli sports reporter Uri Levy, Maradona considered his trips to Israel to be good luck charms. Levy stated that Maradona “...turned his visits to Israel into something superstitious. He said that every visit to Israel … will bring us a World Cup (victory).” Said Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in response to Maradona’s passing, “On behalf of all Israeli citizens, I express my deepest condolences for the death of my dear friend.”

C. In 2014, following Israel’s incursion into the Gaza Strip, Maradona criticized Israel, saying “What Israel is doing to the Palestinians is shameful.” He continued to be supportive of the Palestinian cause, later saying, “In my heart, I am Palestinian.” Said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in response to Maradona’s passing, “He was a milestone in world sports, and a loving friend to Palestine and its people.”

D. Maradona retired from competitive football in 1994 after failing a drug test at the World Cup Games. After retirement, he worked as a soccer coach and team executive, as well as playing in exhibition matches to raise money for charity. In 1999, Maradona played in a competition in Israel which featured handicapped Israeli and Palestinian players, raising money to send athletes to the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

E. The soccer player’s birth name was Diego Armando, and he was the child of Jews whose ancestors had fled Spain during the Inquisition rather than convert. He was a standout soccer player from a young age, and in high school he played for the local Jewish soccer club, Fútbol Judíos Argentinos. At that time his outstanding playing earned him the nickname from his teammates of “Mr. God,” which in Hebrew is “Mar Adonai.” He later adapted the nickname as Maradona, and in 1981 he legally changed his name to Diego Armando Maradona.

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Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth of Great Britain and renowned spiritual leader, philosopher, and author, died last week. Sacks was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005 and awarded a life peerage in the House of Lords in 2009, taking the title Baron Sacks, of Aldgate in the City of London. He was the winner of numerous awards, including the Templeton Prize, American National Jewish Book Award (4 times), The Norman Lamm Prize at Yeshiva University and the Jerusalem Prize. Rabbi Sacks wrote and spoke eloquently on many subjects, including interfaith dialogue, Torah vehokhmah (Torah and Wisdom), materialism, secularism, anti-Semitism and more. Which of the following are among Rabbi Sacks's writings?

National Poverty Hearing: Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks by cooperniall is licensed under CC BY 2.0

A. During the debate on Great Britain leaving the European Union, Rabbi Sacks criticized the political divisiveness, writing in 2018, “Anyone who engages in divisiveness transgresses a Divine prohibition, as it is written: ‘And he shall not be as Korach and his company’ when the Torah wishes to tell us not to agitate disputes and perpetuate disunity, it does so by saying: Don’t be like Korach….”

B. In 2014, Rabbi Sacks wrote an essay on the topic of love versus justice. In the essay he stated, “Judaism is a religion of love...But love is not enough. You cannot build a family, let alone a society, on love alone. For that you need justice also...In the 1960s the Beatles sang ‘All you need is love.’ Would that it were so, but it is not.”

C. In 2019, Rabbi Sacks criticized the Labor Party for anti-Semitic comments by leader Jeremy Corbyn, writing, “I do not normally get involved in partisan politics. But I cannot close my eyes to the heinous statements by Mr. Corbyn and too many of his supporters. The party leadership have never understood that their failure is not just one of procedure, which can be remedied with additional staff or new processes. It is a failure to see this as a human problem rather than a political one. It is a failure of culture. It is a failure of leadership. A new poison–sanctioned from the top–has taken root in the Labour party.”

D. In 2015, Rabbi Sacks wrote an essay imploring Jews to be proative in working to reduce global warming. He listed numerous quotes from the Torah, the Talmud and other sources, starting with Genesis 2:15, “The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it.” He went on to criticize those who do not believe in climate science, writing, “It’s a family joke that when I was a tiny child I turned from the window out of which I was watching a snowstorm, and hopefully asked, ‘Momma, do we believe in winter?’ ”

E. Rabbi Sacks criticized consumerism, writing in 2011, “The consumer society was laid down by the late Steve Jobs coming down the mountain with two tablets, iPad 1 and iPad 2, and the result is that we now have a culture of iPod, iPhone, iTune, I, I, I.”

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Speaking in 2013, Joe Biden said of the Jewish people, “You make up 11 percent of the seats in the United States Congress. You make up one-third of all Nobel laureates. So many notions that are embraced by this nation that particularly emanate from over 5,000 years of Jewish history, tradition and culture: independence, individualism, fairness, decency, justice, charity.” He concluded by saying what?

Joe Biden - Caricature by DonkeyHotey is licensed under CC BY 2.0

A. “These are all as you say, as I learned early on as a Catholic being educated by my friends, this tzedakah.”

B. “These are all as you say, as I learned early on as a Catholic being educated by my friends, this mitzvah.”

C. “These are all as you say, as I learned early on as a Catholic being educated by my friends, this chutzpah.”

D. “These are all as you say, as I learned early on as a Catholic being educated by my friends, this yiddisher kop.”

E. “These are all as you say, as I learned early on as a Catholic being educated by my friends, this kreplach.”

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New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, was reelected in a landslide victory last week. New Zealand voted in favor of the 1947 United Nations partition plan for Palestine and officially recognized Israel in 1950. The countries have numerous trade agreements covering products including fertilizers, milk and cream, circuit boards, medications, and more, and a visitor visa waiver program makes it easy for citizens of each to visit the other country. New Zealand and Israel also increased cooperation in one area which had to do with “Atomic Falafel.” What was that?

Falafel! by young shanahan is licensed under CC BY 2.0

A. Atomic Falafel was the code name for a secret security operation between the Israeli Mossad and NZSIS, the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service in the 1960’s. The details still remain secret, though it is believed to relate to Israel’s successful effort to develop nuclear weapons. As a result of this inter-agency cooperation, New Zealand and Israel signed a joint agreement to work on developing safe methods of producing nuclear power plants, as both countries were dependent upon oil imports for their energy production.

B. Kiwi Foods, a New Zealand food products distributor, wanted to import hummus and other Israeli products from the Israeli company, Sabra. However, Kiwi did not want to harm their relationship with companies in Saudi Arabia with whom they did business. Saudi Arabia was a leader in the efforts to boycott Sabra because of the Israeli company’s alleged ties to human rights violations in the West Bank. The New Zealand importer arranged to secretly bring in Sabra products which they rebranded under the label Atomic Falafel. Sales were so successful that the two countries signed a trade agreement to open up the New Zealand market to other Israeli food products, ignoring the boycott efforts, while removing tariffs on wool exported from New Zealand to Israel.

C. In 1950, Israel had petitioned to enter the World Soccer Cup competition, but the governing body of the games, FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, rejected Israel’s application under pressure from Arab nations. Israel was again rejected when the games were held in 1954. In 1956, a Jewish soccer player from New Zealand emigrated to Israel and began to play competitively. The player, Benjamin Nathan, had been given a nickname by his non-Jewish teammates in New Zealand, who called him the Atomic Falafel for the powerful way he kicked the ball. When Israel applied again in 1958 to enter the World Cup, the Atomic Falafel was a member of the Israeli team. Word reached his friends and coaches in New Zealand who were outraged that their former teammate would not be able to compete. New Zealand’s soccer governing body, New Zealand Football, began lobbying other national teams and built support for Israeli participation, which was then granted by FIFA. Israel did not win any games, though Nathan, the Atomic Falafel, did score three goals during competition. Following the World Cup Games, New Zealand Football and the Israel Football Association signed an agreement which included an annual competition that rotated between the two countries.

D. Atomic Falafel was a 2015 movie made by an Israeli director in cooperation with a New Zealand production crew. The plot concerns Israeli and Iranian teens who connect on Facebook and manage to prevent a nuclear crisis between their two countries. As a result of the commercial success of the film, Israel and New Zealand signed a treaty providing funding for additional cooperation for film, animation, television, and other digitial communications industries.

E. Israel had developed a new spy technology, which was a falafel ball that contained a microscopic radioactive isotope. Anyone who ate this “Atomic Falafel” could be traced using sophisticated drone equipment like a flying Geiger counter. Israeli intelligence agencies learned of a plot to bomb the Israeli embassy in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington. To prevent this, they set up a falafel stand in Wellington as a front. They planned to get a low level terrorist courier whom they had identified to eat an Atomic Falafel, and then they could trace his movements to locate the terrorists planning the attack. The courier did buy a falafel at the falafel stand; however, unbeknownst to Israel intelligence, as the man lifted the falafel to his mouth, the Atomic Falafel ball fell to the ground, and a Kiwi bird swooped down and ate it. Israeli intelligence forces spent days roaming the streets of Wellington, surprised at the amount of territory the man was able to cover very quickly. When they finally burst into an abandoned building where they thought they had cornered the man, they only found a kiwi bird in a nest. Luckily, New Zealand security had foiled the terrorist plot on their own, but the incident led to a security pact between Israel and New Zealand known as the Atomic Falafel/Nuclear Kiwi Mutual Defense Pact.

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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died earlier this month at the age of 87, following 27 years of service on the United States Supreme Court, where she was the first Jewish woman to serve. Throughout her career she was an advocate for women’s rights, as evidenced by her writing the majority opinion in United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996) which struck down the male-only admission policy of the Virginia Military Institute. Her forceful and principaled opinions earned her the moniker Notorious RBG. What was the “Great Yom Kippur Controversy” that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was involved in?

614px-Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg_2016_portrait by Camilo Schaser-Hughes is in the public domain

A. Ginsburg was a member of the Jewish Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority at Cornell University. While she was a student there, a number of the sorority sisters proposed that the sorority house kitchen be open on Yom Kippur, though it had always previously been closed for that holiday. But many of the members were not observant, and wanted to be able to eat in the house as they did every day. Ginsburg herself was not observant, but she led the opposition to the proposal. Local rabbis and communal leaders also weighed in on what became a heated debate. Ultimately, Ginsburg’s side won and the kitchen remained closed in what became known as the “Cornell Great Yom Kippur Controversy”.

B. In 1995, the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear arguments on a case on Yom Kippur. Chief Justice William Rehnquist was resistant to canceling the hearing and changing the date. Said Rehnquist, “We confer on Good Friday and nobody complains about that.” Justice Ginsburg nevertheless convinced him to change the hearing date, emphasizing the fact that some of the lawyers who had been preparing their case for many weeks would find themselves torn between their court and client obligation and their personal religious belief.

C. Ruth Bader was born in 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in the East Flatbush neighborhood. Her family was not very observant, but they were members of the Conservative East Midwood Jewish Center. When Ruth was in 3rd grade, there was a proposal in the Brooklyn schools to close on Yom Kippur (prior to that schools had always been open on all of the Jewish holidays). The proposal was pushed by the Teachers Union, a fledgling organization founded in 1935, which Ruth’s mother, Celia, a teacher, served as president. In a major speech given by Celia Bader, she said that the proposal was not only to accommodate the Jewish teachers, but also for the children, such as her daughter Ruth, who should be allowed to be with their families on the holiest day of the year. This  “Great Yom Kippur Controversy” led to an adoption of Yom Kippur as an official school holiday, and Rosh Hashanah was added to the list five years later.

D. In August 1991, a Jewish member of the Navy Seals who was serving in the Middle East on missions related to Operation Desert Storm filed suit because his commanders said that he was not allowed to fast on Yom Kippur. He argued that his religious rights were being violated. The military command countered that the national security interest of not having a team member whose physical weakness from fasting might endanger the mission and the lives of other personnel overrode his individual rights. Because the case was timely and national security was involved, the case was quickly escalated to Judge Ginsburg, who was serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The case became known as the “Great Yom Kippur Controversy”, and received national attention from Jewish organizations including the Anti-Defamation League and the Orthodox Union, as well as military and veterans organizations. Judge Ginsburg ultimately ruled in favor of the military and the Jewish serviceman agreed to eat on Yom Kippur.

E. In 1987, when Judge Ginsburg was serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, she was also on the Board of Trustees of her Conservative synagogue, Adas Israel Congregation. The Law Committee of United Synagogue of America had approved egalitarianism as an option for member synagogues a few years earlier, and Adas Israel was now debating whether to allow equal participation by women in their ritual life. Judge Ginsburg opposed women’s participation, stating, “When it comes to the Torah, I am an originalist. Judaism clearly states that counting in a minyan, leading services, and other roles, are for men only. There can be no leeway, as the words and meaning of Torah and the Rabbis are clear.” There was a huge split in the congregation, and when the board voted by a narrow majority to maintain a non-egalitarian approach, board members who favored egalitarianism filed a lawsuit to force the leadership to allow equal rights for women. Judge Ginsburg represented the Board of Trustees in court, while the dissenting members hired a lawyer to represent them, Antonin Scalia, who argued in court that Torah is clearly a living document, one that should be interpreted according to its core principals, but consistent with modern life. A judge ruled in favor of attorney Scalia’s argument, and egalitarianism was implemented. Judge Ginsburg resigned from the board stating, “My burden is not to show that originalism is perfect, but that it beats the other alternatives. Sadly they accepted the argument of Mr. Scalia. He seems like a nice man, though. I suspect we would get along very well together.”

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One of the traditions on the first day of Rosh Hashanah is Tashlich, when Jews symbolically cast away their sins by tossing breadcrumbs into a body of water (though the ceremony can take place at any time during the High Holidays until Hoshana Rabah, the 7th day of Sukkot). The ceremony arose from a verse from the prophet Micah (7:19), which states, “He will take us back in love; He will cover up our iniquities, You will hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Last year, Hillel at Stanford University partnered with another student organization to celebrate Tashlich in a non-traditional way. What did they do?

Tashlich in Tel Aviv 1920 by Shimon Korbman is in the public domain.

A. Hillel partnered with the Student Space Initiative to celebrate the tradition with Tashlich in Space. Jewish students wrote their sins on slips of paper which were placed, along with breadcrumbs, inside a rocket which the Student Space Initiative built and launched skyward. The program was promoted with the slogan “Reflect. Renew. Blastoff.”

B. Hillel partnered with the Stanford Muslim Student Association to celebrate the Tashlich tradition with Pita for Peace. Jewish and Muslim students met together and baked pita bread, while teaching each other about Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Raʿs as-Sanah al-Hijrīyah, the Islamic New Year. Then all of the students collected the crumbs from the baking project and tossed them into nearby San Francisco Bay.

C. Hillel partnered with the Mock Trial Club to celebrate the tradition with Mock-Atone. Jewish students described the sins which they wished to symbolically cast away, and members of the Mock Trial Club voted on whether to accept their contrition or not. The students whose sins were absolved then pushed the non-forgiven students into the university swimming pool as prayers were recited.

D. Hillel partnered with the Stanford chapter of Swipe Out Hunger, an organization that provides meals from student meal cards to homeless and hungry people in the local community. The program, Cast Out Your Sins–Hand Out Your Bread, enabled Jewish students to give away loaves of bread to those in need, rather than simply throwing away breadcrumbs. The program was promoted with the slogan “Feed Your Soul, Feed Your Neighbor.”

E. Hillel partnered with the Stanford Cannabis Alliance to celebrate Tashlich/Hashlich. The students spent the evening smoking pot and munching on Cheetos, Oreos, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Then they all picked up the munchy crumbs from their laps and tossed them around the room before falling asleep on the couch.

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Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest serving prime minister, announced his retirement as a result of deteriorating health. Japan recognized Israel in 1952, but for many years they did not have strong relations, as Japan was a major trading partner of the Arab League, which supplied oil to Japan. Over time, however, Japan and Israel have strengthened their ties, particularly since 2014 when the two countries increased their security, economic, and political cooperation following a visit to Japan by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In 2018, Prime Minister Abe and his wife visited Israel, and while the trip was considered to be successful, there was one diplomatic gaffe by the Israelis. What happened that upset Abe and his wife and the Japanese staff and diplomats?

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by Hudson Institute is licensed under CC BY 2.0

A. A dinner was held at the residence of Prime Minister Netanyahu in honor of the Japanese prime minister. At the beginning of the dessert, Prime Minister Abe raised his glass and offered the traditional Japanese toast, “Kanpai.” Prime Minister Netanyahu misunderstood his guest, however, thinking he said pecan pie, and he replied, “No, I'm sorry, we are serving apple pie.”

B. A dinner was held at the residence of Prime Minister Netanyahu in honor of the Japanese prime minister. For dessert, the Israelis served chocolate pralines, that were placed on the table inside shiny leather shoes. However, the idea of a shoe on a table is highly offensive in Japanese culture, where shoes are not even worn inside homes, causing much distress among the Japanese dinner guests.

C. As part of a trade agreement signed between the two countries, Israel agreed to increase imports of cars from Japan. However, in the official document, the Israelis wrote “Nisan” (which is the spelling of the first month in the Jewish calendar) instead of “Nissan,” (which is the spelling of Japan’s second largest automobile manufacturer). Unfortuntately, however, the Israelis did not catch this spelling error in the document, and did not know that “Nisan” is a Japanese slang word for a sexual act.

D. A dinner was held at the residence of Prime Minister Netanyahu in honor of the Japanese prime minister. Placecards on the table noted the spot for each person to sit. The Japanese prime minister’s seat was designated by a card reading “Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,” when in fact, it should have read “Prime Minister Abe Shinzo,” as in Japanese culture the correct form is to state the persons surname first followed by his or her first name.

E. A dinner was held at the residence of Prime Minister Netanyahu in honor of the Japanese prime minister. Among the guests was Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson, who addressed the Japanese prime minister incorrectly, saying his name as if it were spelled Abby (the proper pronunciation is A-Báy, accented on the second syllable). When he was corrected, Carlson said, “So I’m disrespecting him by mispronouncing him intentionally? So it begins. You’re not allowed to criticize Abby, or Abie, or Abu Dhabi, or whatever?”

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Joe Biden announced last week that Senator Kamala Harris of California would be his running mate. Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent, is married to attorney Douglas Emhoff, who is Jewish. His two children from a previous marriage call Kamala “Momele.” Harris has a long history of support for Israel, favoring a two-state solution and opposing BDS. She has also spoken out strongly against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate crimes, saying at an AIPAC meeting, “As someone who’s personally prosecuted hate crime, I also believe that we cannot stand by while anti-Semitism, hate crime and bigotry are on the rise, whether that’s a swastika on a Jewish Family and Children’s Services bus in San Francisco or the burning of a mosque in Tampa. No one should have to be afraid to put a menorah in their front window or on their front lawn.” What Jewish activity did Kamala Harris participate in when she was growing up?

Kamala Harris by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

A. Harris attended Westmount High School in Westmount, Quebec, where she played the role of Hodel in the school’s production of Fiddler on the Roof.

B. Kamala’s best friend was a member of Young Judaea. Kamala used to go door to door with her friend selling World’s Finest chocolate bars as a fundraiser for the organization.

C. When Kamala was 12, she moved to Montreal, where her mother took a job as a researcher at Jewish General Hospital. Every year Kamala would attend the Chanukkah party sponsored by the hospital, and she would help distribute presents to the Jewish children who were being treated at the facility.

D. Harris used to collect donations in the JNF Blue Boxes for planting trees in Israel.

E. Harris ran for president of her senior class, and during her campaign she targeted Jewish students. She spoke of her support for a two-state solution at a local B’nai B’rith Youth Organization meeting. She appeared at a bagel store and posed eating lox on an onion bagel. She went to the Jewish Community Center’s Purim carnival where she kissed a bunch of Jewish babies. She gave a speech to the student body where she used ten Yiddish words including chutzpah, kvell, meshuggeneh, and tushie. She appeared at the county fair where she was seen eating a fried knish on a stick. And she sold campaign T-shirts that read “Vote Kamala, Bubele.”

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A protest movement has grown in recent weeks in Israel against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently on trial for bribery and corruption charges. Thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets and called for Netanyahu’s resignation because of those charges, his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting economic crisis, and his supposed efforts to manipulate the government to protect him from the corruption prosecution. Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s son Yair was slapped with a restraining order by The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for illegally publishing the names and addresses of leaders of the protest movement and calling for them to be trolled, potentially putting them and their families in danger. In response, Netanyahu has blamed the media for inciting the public, saying, “There has never been such a distorted mobilization—I wanted to say Soviet but it has already reached North Korean terms—of the media in favor of the protests.” What name has been applied to the anti-Netanyahu protest movement?

Jerusalem Demonstrations by Yaara Di Segni is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

A. The Crime Minister Protest Movement.

B. The Bye Bye Bibi Movement.

C. The Justice We Shall Pursue Against Bibi Movement.

D. The People of the Book, Not the People of the Crook Movement.

E. There’s Only One BB King and it Ain’t Netanyahu Movement.

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The state of Oregon is suing the federal government to prevent federal agents from arresting city residents who are protesting against racism and police brutality. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, who is Jewish, says that federal agents have literally grabbed people off the streets without a warrant or explanation. Mayor Ted Wheeler called the actions “a direct threat to our democracy.” It is believed that the involvement of Homeland Security agents and U.S. marshals is a political ploy by the Trump administration. Portland has a long history of civic involvement by Jews, including five Jews who have served as mayor of the city, most recently when Vera Katz held that office from 1992-2004. The first Jewish mayor of Portland was Bernard Goldsmith, who served from 1869–1871. Goldsmith was born in Bavaria and emigrated to New York City at age 5. He eventually moved to California and started a jewelry store, and in 1861 he moved to Portland where he opened a retail store with some of his brothers. Which of the following is true about Bernard Goldsmith?

Portland, Oregon - Old Town by Colin Durfee is licensed under CC BY 2.0

A. Goldsmith was one of the first directors of the Library Association of Portland, founded in 1864. The association’s directors declared that “the library should forever be kept free of politics.”

B. As mayor of Portland, one of Goldsmith’s focuses was on making the city a livable space. He brought about the purchase of 40 acres of land for a park, which later expanded to more than 400 acres, now known as Washington Park. He also pushed for an ordinance that required business owners to plant shade trees along the street in front of their shops.

C. Goldsmith served as a cavalry officer in the Indian Wars in California and Oregon in 1855-1856. He prevented renewed fighting by personally intervening and bringing complaints from Indian leaders to the superintendent for Indian affairs in San Francisco.

D. Goldsmith was the driving force behind the plan to build locks on the Willamette River, enabling boats to sail from the Pacific Ocean to Eugene, Oregon, which led to  greatly reduced cost for commercial shipping. When the project was hit by cost overruns, Goldsmith contributed $200,000 of his own funds to allow the project to be completed.

E. Goldsmith was the driving force behind the plan to fish for lox on the Willamette River, enabling Jewish appetizing stores to be built from the Pacific Ocean to Eugene, Oregon, which led to  greatly reduced cost for Sunday brunch. When the project was hit by cost overruns, Goldsmith contributed 200,000 bagels from his own funds to allow the project to be completed.

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Comedian, actor, writer, and director Carl Reiner died last week at the age of 98. Reiner was a pioneer in television as a writer and performer on Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows and Caesar’s Hour. He created one of the best sitcoms in television history, The Dick Van Dyke Show. He performed in films including It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming. He wrote and/or directed movies such as The Jerk, Oh, God!, and Where’s Poppa. He starred on Broadway, and he voiced characters in animated films including Toy Story 4. And he partnered with his best friend Mel Brooks to perform The 2000 Year Old Man and other comedic routines on records and TV. Reiner grew up in the Bronx, the son of Jewish immigrants. While proudly Jewish, he said he became an atheist after the Holocaust. How did Reiner describe his bar mitzvah?

A. Reiner did not make a bar mitzvah until he was an adult. In a 1968 interview in TV Guide he said, “My father was a watchmaker. My mother was a seamstress. They worked all the time, and didn’t have time or money for a synagogue. When my son Rob was preparing for his bar mitzvah he asked me about mine. I told him I never had a bar mitzvah, and he said I should have one. I didn’t do anything at that time, after all, it was his moment. But a few years later I decided it’s my turn. I didn’t tell anyone about it except Estelle [Reiner’s wife] until a week before the service.” His experience inspired the episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show when Dick and Sally thought Buddy might be having an affair, but it turned out he was secretly studying for his bar mitzvah.

B. Reiner noted that he had “a bootleg bar mitzvah.” While his friends (Lenny, Shlermy, David, Marty and Mutty) all went to Hebrew School for many years, he only began bar mitzvah lessons a few months before his 13th birthday, when his father hired a rabbi to teach him. As Reiner wrote in his autobiography, I Remember Me, “All I can remember about the rabbi was his long, white beard, his healthy paunch, and the dirty toothpick he took from his vest pocket at the start of each lesson. He used the weathered toothpick to pick his teeth and to point to letters and words in the prayer book.”

C. Reiner described his bar mitzvah in his 2004 book, My Anecdotal Life: A Memoir. “I didn’t grow up in a religious home. Like any 12 year old, I didn’t really know what being Jewish meant, except that we ate salami and knishes, and some of the other kids in the neighborhood disappeared on Saturday. But we joined a little shul, really a shtiebel, that met in our apartment building, and the rabbi was a nice guy, with a real twinkle in his eye. He taught me some prayers, I went to shul with my family, sang the prayers, and then had my first sip of schnapps. It’s a nice memory. And that rabbi, that’s who I had in mind when I cast George Burns as God in Oh, God!”

D. Reiner spoke about his bar mitzvah in an interview with Barbara Walters in 1996. “It wasn't a big deal,” he said. “I studied with this old rabbi at the shul in our neighborhood in the Bronx. He was ancient, he had this accent that I could barely understand. He kept telling me stories about how Jews walked through the desert 2000 years ago. I just wanted to get outside and play Ringoleavio or stickball. But I owe a lot to that rabbi. He was the inspiration for Mel’s 2000 year old man. That paid a lot of bills for me.”

E. Said Reiner in a 1992 People Magazine article, “I wasn't really interested in a bar mitzvah. But I did go to Hebrew School, and I remember the rabbi saying that I had to decide what prayers I wanted to lead. I had no idea, and no interest. I played like the prayers meant something, but I was just faking it. But then one day I heard this really cute girl in class named Sally sing some prayer. It was amazing. I had never heard anything like it. She was definitely not faking it. I went right to the rabbi and said, ‘I'll daven what she’s davening.’ ”

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This weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma, President Trump held his first campaign rally since the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the country. The campaign said that there were more than a million ticket requests; however, the 19,000 seat arena was only a third full. The Jewish community of Tulsa traces its history to the beginning of the 20th century, with many Jews settling there and opening retail stores. In 1908, Russian immigrants Max and Harry Madansky opened a clothing store in Tulsa that eventually added additional locations in Bartlesville, Muskogee, and Oklahoma City. In 1921, they took out a full page newspaper ad announcing the change of the store name from Madansky Brothers to May Brothers, explaining that the name change was “the final step to prove ourselves wholly American in every sense of the word. We have eliminated those parts of the name Madansky that are of foreign origin. We wish to forever renounce the name that reminds us of our foreign birth.” In the early-1940’s, B’nai Emunah, a synagogue that was a hybrid of Orthodox and Conservative practice, built a new building, only to learn that many women protested and refused to sit upstairs in the women’s balcony. How did the synagogue resolve that dispute?

Golden Driller, Tulsa USA by The Erica Chang is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

A. They designated one side of the downstairs room for mixed seating and the other side for men only, with a large curtain down the middle aisle.

B. They designated the front half of the sanctuary for men and the rear rows for mixed seating, with a large curtain dividing the front and back sections.

C. The synagogue leadership refused to allow the women to sit downstairs, at which point roughly a third of the membership resigned and started a new synagogue which had mixed seating.

D. They designated half of the balcony for mixed seating, maintaining the downstairs seating for men only.

E. The President of B’nai Emunah made a speech where he called out the protestors. “Our incredible success in rebuilding B’nai Emunah stands in stark contrast to the extremism and destruction and violence of the radical mixed seaters. We just saw it outside. We just saw it outside, you saw these thugs that came along. These people, call them protesters, isn’t it beautiful, it’s so beautiful. No, they’re so wonderful. They call them the Tulsa Mixed Seaters. But they can’t do that. The lion may lie down with the lamb, but the men shall not sit down with the women. Not in my synagogue. MEGA! MEGA! Make Emunah Great Again!”

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Last week President Trump appeared for a photo op in front of the St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. The event was in response to demonstrations calling for justice and equality for black Americans following the horrendous murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. After the police and National Guard used chemical irritants and smoke to disperse the peaceful protesters, Trump walked to the church and posed for pictures while holding a Bible. After 10 minutes he returned to the White House. While there have been Christian Bibles printed in English for many centuries, English editions of the Hebrew Bible have only been around for about a century and a half. Which of the following is an English edition of the Hebrew Bible?

A. The Jewish School and Family Bible, by Abraham Benisch, published in England in four volumes from 1851 to 1861. Benisch, a respected journalist and Hebraic studies scholar, went on to become the editor of the Jewish Chronicles, the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world.

B. The Koren Jerusalem Bible, a Hebrew/English Bible from Koren Publishers in Israel. This edition followed their earlier publication of the Koren Bible in Hebrew, the first bible published in modern Israel, leading David ben-Gurion to state, “Israel is redeemed from shame.”

C. The Jewish Family Bible, edited in 1881 in England by Michael Friedländer, the principal of Jews’ College in London. Friedländer, who taught theology, Talmud, mathematics, Arabic and more, was best known for his English translation of Maimonides’ Guide to the Perplexed.

D. The Twenty-four Books of the Holy Scriptures, also known as the Leeser Bible. This edition was the first Hebrew Bible published in English in America. Isaac Leeser, a rabbi and educator in Philadelphia, finished this work in 1853.

E. The MAGA Bible, also known as “the bible that Ivanka Trump carried in her $1,540 Max Mara handbag to a photo op for her daddy.” Asked by reporters about the bible, President Trump replied, “It’s Ivanka’s bible. So it’s a Jewish bible. A Hebrew bible. Because Ivanka is now Hebrew, as you know. So she wouldn’t hand me a Christian bible like Eric would. But all bibles are good. Jewish bibles are good. Christian bibles are good. Muslims don’t have a bible. But anyway, the bible I held is more than good. It’s great. I call it the MAGA Bible because one of the ways we can Make America Great Again is by holding bibles. That’s why I went to that church to show the nasty demonstrators that good Americans hold bibles. I’m guessing that George Floyd is looking down and smiling at this bible, and saying this is a great thing that’s happening for our country. This is a great day for him, it’s a great day for everybody. This is a great, great day in terms of equality and the Bible.”

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Thousands of protesters were met by police with tear gas and water cannons in the streets of Hong Kong as China imposed new national security laws over Hong Kong, bypassing the territory’s legislature which normally would deal with such issues. The Jewish community in Hong Kong dates to the mid-1880’s. The Sassoon family of Iraq were among the first people to establish a business outpost in Hong Kong, which played a significant role in the growth of the territory. Another Jew who had an impact in Hong Kong was Matthew Nathan, who is remembered for Nathan’s Folly? What does that refer to?

Hong kong kowloon skyline by Gustavo Jeronimo is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

A. Matthew Nathan was a British general during the era when merchants of the British East India Company began to grow opium in Bengal which they then wanted to sell in China. The Chinese resisted these efforts, which were harmful to their economy and led to major addiction problems. General Nathan pushed the British government to support the merchants, leading to the First Opium War from 1839-1842. Nathan led the British troops to victory, resulting in the transfer of Hong Kong to the British. However, the victory was hollow as Chinese resistance continued and intensified after the war, eventually leading to the Second Opium War in 1856. As a result, the First Opium War has become known as Nathan’s Folly.

B. Great Britain’s 100 year lease of Hong Kong came to an end in 1997. There was great trepidation in Hong Kong as to whether China would impose their restrictive political and economic system on the territory, which had been operating as a free market democracy. Because of these fears, a recession set in with property values greatly plummeting. Seeing an opportunity, Matthew Nathan, a British entrepreneur, purchased office buildings, shopping centers, and other properties throughout Hong Kong, believing that China would respect their agreement to let Hong Kong continue to operate as they had under British rule. In fact, though China did not initially intervene in any significant way, Nathan was not able to capitalize on his investments because of the general fear of the future, leading him to declare bankruptcy in 2002 in the largest bankruptcy filing in Hong Kong history, which became known as Nathan’s Folly.

C. Matthew Nathan was a British engineer who went to Hong Kong in the early 1900’s as part of British civil service. He proposed building an access road to the swampy area called Kowloon from the developed area of Hong Kong. Nathan Road was seen by many at the time as a huge waste of resources, thus getting the nickname Nathan’s Folly. Eventually, however, Kowloon grew to what is now the most densely populated part of Hong Kong, and Nathan Road is one of Asia’s most notable shopping areas.

D. While there had been a Jewish community in Hong Kong since the 1800’s, the numbers remained small, with only a couple of hundred Jews in Hong Kong in the 1960’s. One of those Jews, Matthew Nathan, decided that the community should have a synagogue and community building, instead of meeting in people’s houses, as had been the practice. He began a fundraising campaign reaching out to local Jews as well as Jews in Europe and America, as he developed plans for a 500 seat sanctuary and a social hall large enough to seat more than a thousand. Many in the local community thought that this was a waste of resources, as the community remained small and somewhat disconnected. Thus they dubbed the project Nathan’s Folly. Yet Nathan managed to raise more than $1 million and oversaw the construction of the building, which has become a focal point of the Hong Kong Jewish community, which has grown to approximately 5000 today.

E. Matthew Nathan was an American Jew who was raised in New York City. His family had a tradition of eating out every year on December 24 at a local Chinese restaurant, along with everyone else they knew. Nathan ended up moving to Hong Kong, where he decided to open a Chinese restaurant. People told him that he’d never succeed, as there were literally thousands of Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong. They called the project Nathan’s Folly, but Nathan moved forward, believing that he had a “guaranteed not-to-fail” marketing idea. He named the restaurant Christmas Eve, because he knew from experience that on Christmas Eve, Chinese restaurants were ALWAYS mobbed with people. Sadly, the idea did not catch on, and the restaurant quickly closed.

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Rock and roll pioneer Little Richard died last week at the age of 87. Richard (whose real name was Richard Penniman) had his first hit, Tutti Frutti, in 1955, followed by other hits including Long Tall Sally, Good Golly Miss Molly, Jenny Jenny, and Slippin' and Slidin'. He was a major influence on so many musicians who followed, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Joan Jett, Brian Wilson, Bette Midler, and Elton John. Which of the following is true about Little Richard?

IMG_8246 by xrayspx is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

A. Little Richard was a presenter at the 1988 Grammy Awards, announcing the winner of the Best New Artist category. Richard, who had never won a Grammy, held up the envelope and said, “the best new artist is -- me!” After a standing ovation from the audience, he again held up the envelope and said, “and the winner is…still me! Being a brown Jew from Georgia, I had to tell the truth.”

B. Little Richard was one of the first musical heroes of Bob Dylan, who wrote in his high school senior yearbook that his life’s ambition was “to join ‘Little Richard’.” They met many times, and Little Richard was one of the main influences on Dylan’s decision to convert to Christianity in the late 1970’s. And oddly, it was Dylan who influenced Little Richard when Richard embraced Judaism in the mid-1980’s.

C. Shlomo Carlebach, the rabbi, composer, singer, and spiritual leader, began his singing career in Greenwich Village, where he met and worked together with Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger, among others. Dylan told “Reb Shlomo” about Richard and lent him some of his Little Richard albums. Carlebach later said, “I learned a lot about the importance of lyrics in music from Dylan, but I learned everything about the soul of music from Little Richard.”

D. At one point in his life, Little Richard converted to Judaism. One Friday in the 1980’s, Little Richard was recording with Paul Shaffer and Richard said he had to be done by 5pm because “It’s Shabbos and I’m an Orthodox Jew, have been for years. After sundown, I do no work.” The session ran a bit long, but Shaffer was able to show Little Richard that Shabbat didn’t actually start until 5:21pm that day. Little Richard told Shaffer, “Baby, you’re a better Jew than me.”

E. Little Richard was born and raised in Macon, Georgia. His family, like many black families in the south, had contact with the local Jewish community because many of the local businesses that served the black community were owned by Jewish immigrant families. As a child, Richard had already begun applying his musical and comedic talents when talking about his life, including referring to the local Jews as Heebie Jeebies. He eventually used that phrase in one of his first songs, Heeby-Jeebies, though the song had nothing to do with Jews.

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While it is still not clear if there will be an NFL football season this fall, the league is moving forward, having just held their annual draft of college players. The ceremony took place via teleconference, without much of the pomp that normally accompanies the announcements by teams of their selected players. One college player got the attention of the Jewish world in February when he was interviewed during the NFL Combine, the event where prospective players are showcased prior to the draft. The athlete appeared for an interview wearing a Star of David around his neck, and a reporter asked him the significance of the star. Who was the player and what was his explanation?

A. The player was Yetur Gross-Matos, the Penn State defensive end who was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the 2nd round. Gross-Matos said, “I was raised Christian by my mom. My folks were divorced, but I still saw my Dad a lot. He’s Jewish so I wear the Star of David for him.”

B. The player was Shaquille Quarterman, the University of Miami linebacker who was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 4th round. Quarterman explained that at Miami he was a member of the historically Jewish Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. Said Quarterman, “Many of my friends in ΑΕΠ were Jewish, and a bunch of us bought the same Star of David to wear. It means a lot to my brothers and me.”

C. The player was Justin Herbert, the University of Oregon quarterback who was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the 1st round. When asked by a reporter from the Los Angeles Times why he was wearing a Star of David, Herbert looked surprised, and answered, “Umm, a Star of David? I don’t really know what that is. This is a sheriff’s badge. My grandpa was a sheriff in Eugene, where I grew up. When he died he left me his badge, and I’ve worn it ever since.”

D. The player was Josh Uche, the University of Michigan linebacker who was selected by the New England Patriots in the 2nd round. Uche explained that while he was at Michigan, there were rising tensions between black and Jewish students over issues including the Israeli/Palestinian problem and Black Lives Matter protests on campus. Uche joined a group of black and Jewish students who came together to attempt to find common ground and defuse the conflicts. Said Uche, “I became very good friends with a Jewish student who gave me this Star of David as a present on my birthday. That was real cool. It has a lot of meaning to me.”

E. The player was Jerry Jeudy, the Alabama wide receiver who was selected by the Denver Broncos in the first round. Jeudy explained, “My last name’s Jeudy. People sometimes call me Jeu...so I just got a Jewish star. I’m not Jewish though.”

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Fifty years ago (April 10, 1970), the Beatles officially split up. Their popularity, however, has not waned. At an online auction last week, an ashtray used by Ringo Starr at Abbey Road Studios sold for $32,500 and a drawing by John Lennon and Yoko Ono called Bagism sold for $93,750. The handwritten lyrics of the song Hey Jude sold for $910,000, nine times the pre-auction estimate. What was the Jewish connection to that song?

Hey Jude/Revolution by Richard Bartlaga is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

A. Paul McCartney originally wrote the Hey Jude ending as “la la la, la la la la…”, using the “la la” sound that was typical in pop music at that time. But as he refined the song, he remembered the Chassidic chants, or niggunim, that he heard at the bar mitzvah of Brian Epstein’s nephew, which included the “na na na” syllables, so McCartney changed the sounds at the end of Hey Jude to "Na na na, na na na na.”

B. Israeli peace activist Abie Nathan founded the Voice of Peace radio station in 1973, which broadcast from outside Israeli territorial waters on a boat, the “Peace Ship.” Nathan had purchased the boat with financial help from John Lennon. Hey Jude was the very first song ever broadcast on Voice of Peace radio.

C. When the Beatles traveled to India to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Paul met Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, who was also visiting the Maharashi’s ashram to explore Eastern spirituality. Paul learned from Reb Zalman about the group of Breslover Chassidim known as the “Na Nachs,” who found spiritual meaning in the phrase Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman (referencing Rebbe Nachman). McCartney couldn’t pronounce the gutteral Hebrew letter Chet so he just said “Na Na Na Na, Hey Man” which he later incorporated into Hey Jude, singing “Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Jude.”

D. Paul McCartney wrote the song about Julian Lennon, John’s son, and the original title of the song was Hey Jules. But McCartney changed it to Hey Jude because he liked the sound more. When the Beatles put a sign reading Hey Jude in the window of their London Apple Boutique store, McCartney received an angry call from a Jewish man named Mr. Leon who said, “How dare you do this!” He and many Jews thought this was an offensive slur, based on the German translation of Jew as Jude.

E. Until the release of the song Hey Jude, cantors in Reform and Conservative synagogues had sung Adon Olam to the tune of every pop song ever written. However, no cantor has ever managed to successfully fit the words of Adon Olam into the Hey Jude melody.

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Bob Dylan just released a new 17-minute song titled Murder Most Foul, which is about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and more broadly about the music and culture of the 1960’s and beyond. Dylan, who has toured almost non-stop for years, recently canceled his current tour because of the coronavirus pandemic. Bob Dylan once offered a promotional blurb that was printed on the back cover of a book by a Jewish author: “Anyone who is either married or thinking of getting married would do well to read this book.” What book did Dylan promote in this way?

Bob Dylan by Xavier Badosa is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

A. Fear of Flying, by Erica Jong, the 1973 best-selling novel about a Jewish journalist who struggles to free herself from the shackles of traditional male relationships.

B. Doesn’t Anyone Blush Anymore by Rabbi Manis Friedman, a 1990 book about the importance of modesty and intimacy in relationships, including the advice, “If you help yourself to the benefits of being married when you are single, you’re likely to help yourself to the benefits of being single when you’re married.”

C. Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy, published in 1999 by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, wherein the noted rabbi and author discusses sex, love, trust, and intimacy in these modern times through the lens of Jewish wisdom and tradition.

D. Dr. Ruth’s 2009 book Top Ten Secrets for Great Sex: How to Enjoy it, Share it, and Love it Each and Every Time, in which the noted Holocaust survivor and sex therapist discusses such issues as kicking boredom out of the bedroom and knowing the Kama Ruthra.

E. Philip Roth’s 1969 novel Portnoy’s Complaint, about “a lust-ridden, mother-addicted young Jewish bachelor,” and his relationship with his parents, girls, Israel, and liver.

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Bernie Sanders continues his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, though he now faces an uphill battle against Joe Biden. Sanders recently released a video in which he states that he is “very proud to be Jewish” and that he looks forward to “becoming the first Jewish president in the history of this country.” Nevertheless, he has alienated many Jewish voters because of his criticisms of Israel, as well as his recent refusal to appear at the AIPAC conference, about which he tweeted, “The Israeli people have the right to live in peace and security. So do the Palestinian people. I remain concerned about the platform AIPAC provides for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights.” What were the circumstances a number of years ago when Bernie Sanders said the following?–“All in all, it’s not so bad. When it’s good, it’s good. If it doesn’t feel right, just say no. There’s always tomorrow. There’s always tomorrow. It could be worse. Now, let’s just thank God you have your arms, you have your legs, let’s eat.”

Bernie Sanders by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

A. He said these words as he welcomed guests to the luncheon following his son Levi’s bar mitzvah in 1982.

B. He uttered these words at Brooklyn College in 1949, when he played the butcher Lazar Wolf in a production of Fiddler on the Roof. In the scene where Lazar Wolf summons Tevye to ask for Tzeitel’s hand in marriage, the characters start by making small talk, and Tevye asks Lazar how his butcher shop is doing. At one performance, Sanders forgot his lines, so he ad-libbed the above words.

C. He offered these remarks when he played the part of Rabbi Manny Shevitz in the 1999 movie My X-Girlfriend’s Wedding Reception, as he addressed the guests at the reception.

D. He said these words on the Senate floor during a 2013 debate on the legalization of marijuana.

E. When Sanders was 12 years old, his Hebrew school teacher caught him talking during class. He brought Sanders up to the front of the class and said, “Alright, Mr. Sanders. Instead of just telling your friend what this week’s parsha is about, why don’t you tell the entire class.”

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Joe Biden’s campaign for the Democratic party presidential nomination received a huge boost with his big win in the South Carolina primary. Biden has a long history of support for Israel. At the 2013 AIPAC conference, Joe Biden spoke of his love for Israel and described the moment years earlier when he first realized that Israel mattered to him. As a child in 1948, he sat at his dinner table listening to his father speak about the debate over the establishment of a Jewish state, and it greatly impacted him. How did he describe what his father told him?

Sen. Joe Biden at Kewpee Burger by Beth Rankin is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

A. “It was at that table I first heard the phrase that is overused sometimes today, but in a sense not used meaningfully enough...the phrase, ‘Never again.’ It was at that table that I learned that the only way to ensure that it could never happen again was the establishment and the existence of a secure, Jewish state of Israel.”

B. “It was at that table I first heard the phrase that says so much in only three words ‘Am Yisrael Chai,’ the people of Israel live, the nation of Israel lives. It was at that table that I learned that the only way to ensure that the Jewish people, the people of Israel, would continue to live was the establishment and the existence of a secure, Jewish state of Israel.”

C. “It was at that table I first heard the strange word ‘sabra,’ used to describe Israeli people, that they were like the prickly pear–tough on the outside but sweet and delicate on the inside. It was at that table that I learned that the only way to ensure that these unique and special people, these sabras, could continue to thrive was through the establishment and existence of a secure, Jewish state of Israel.”

D. “It was at that table I first heard the word ‘Hatikva,’ the beautiful anthem of the Jewish people, which meant ‘the Hope.’ It was at that table that I learned that the only way to ensure that the hope of Israel to survive and thrive after the horror of the Holocaust was the establishment and the existence of a secure, Jewish state of Israel.”

E. “It was at that table I first heard the word that is used by so many Jews today, the word ‘Bamba,’ that incredible snack that was in a basket on the table. Now my father was talking about Israel, why there should be a Jewish state or something. But I don’t really know what the heck he was talking about because I was just focused on this amazing Israeli peanut butter-flavored crunchy snack. Now, as a politician, I’m used to eating just about anything. Corn dogs, deep-fried Oreos, bacon balls, and smoked raccoon. And being just a regular guy, I love it all. But it was at that table, when I first ate Bamba, that I learned that the only way to ensure that I could keep eating that heavenly food was with the establishment and existence of a secure, Jewish state of Israel.”

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Kirk Douglas died recently at the age of 103. Douglas, whose real name was Issur Danielovitch, made his film debut in 1946, and went on to perform and star in dozens of movies, in addition to writing, directing, and producing. He was nominated for and received numerous awards, including Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, Kennedy Center Honors, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award. After Douglas’s bar mitzvah, his synagogue offered to sponsor him to become a rabbi, but he declined, already knowing that he wanted to be an actor. Judaism was only a minimal part of his adult life until he was in a near-fatal helicopter crash, about which he later said “I came to believe that I was spared because I had never come to grips with what it means to be Jewish.” He did, however, make one reference to his religious observance during his acting career. What did he say?

Kirk Douglas by monstersforsale is in the public domain.

A. Referring to the 1950 film Young Man With a Horn, in which Douglas played Rick Martin, a character based on jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, Douglas said, “As a kid, I used to love hearing the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I tried it once, but couldn’t get out a single note. I thought that was hard, until I had to learn to play the cornet for this role.”

B. In the 1960 epic Spartacus, Douglas played a Roman Republic slave named Thracian. In the opening scene, Douglas refused to work in the mining pit, so he was sentenced to death by starvation. Said Douglas, “While I wasn’t an observant Jew, I did always fast on Yom Kippur, even though I never went to synagogue. So there I was on the set of Spartacus, being sentenced to death by starvation, and it was actually Yom Kippur, the day I wasn’t eating. It was just a crazy coincidence, but I never forgot that. Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence.”

C. In 1966, Douglas starred as Colonel Mickey Marcus in the film Cast a Giant Shadow. The plot is based on the real-life story of David “Mickey” Marcus, a Jewish officer in the United States military who was recruited to help the fledgling Israeli Defense Forces in the 1948 War of Independence. Douglas told of his experience filming in Israel on Yom Kippur. “The shoot went on that day. I didn’t mind, I never celebrated Jewish holidays, and neither did the other cast and crew, almost none of whom were Jewish. I went into the food tent on the set during a break and got a sandwich. I sat down next to an Israeli actor who I was shooting a scene with that day. He wasn’t eating, just reading. I offered him a bite but he said he was fasting. I didn't understand that. He was working, but he wasn’t eating. I always thought Judaism was all or none. That was the first time I thought about how I could find my own place in my Jewish observance, and the next year, I began fasting on Yom Kippur.”

D. Douglas starred as Doc Holliday in the 1957 movie, Gunfight at the O. K. Corral. Douglas said of the role, filmed on location in the desert town of Tombstone, Arizona in September of 1956, “It wasn’t very comfortable. Especially on Yom Kippur. I worked on the holiday, but I still fasted. And let me tell you, it’s not easy riding horses in the hot Arizona sun on an empty stomach.” 

E. Referencing his costar in the 1952 movie The Bad and the Beautiful, Douglas said about Yom Kippur, “I still worked on the movie sets, but I fasted. And let me tell you, it’s not easy making love to Lana Turner on an empty stomach.”

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Lawyer and professor Alan Dershowitz has spent much of his career defending controversial figures, including O. J. Simpson, Claus von Bülow, Patty Hearst, Mike Tyson, Leona Helmsley, Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, and now Donald Trump. He has also been a staunch defender of Israel and advocate for Jewish causes. Professor Dershowitz was scheduled to participate in a mock trial; however, the hosts canceled the event. What were the circumstances?

Alan Dershowitz by The Huntington is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

A. In 1995, Dershowitz was scheduled to participate in a mock trial at New York’s Central Synagogue entitled “If the Tefillin Don’t Fit, You Must Acquit: Should Abraham Have Killed his Bound Son?” based on the Biblical story of Abraham preparing to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac upon God’s command. However, the event was called off when it was announced that Dershowitz had joined the legal team defending O. J. Simpson against charges of killing his wife. A spokesman for the synagogue said, “In the interest of not conflating the story of O. J. Simpson with our forefather Abraham, we have concluded that it is best to cancel this mock trial.”

B. In December 2019, Dershowitz was scheduled to participate in a mock trial at The Great Synagogue of Jerusalem entitled “Be My, Be My Bibi: Should Benjamin Netanyahu’s Indictments Be Quashed?” Dershowitz issued a statement in advance of the mock trial, saying that the Israeli attorney general “completely failed to meet that high constitutional standard and, therefore, it would be unconstitutional to remove a president based on the allegations that were made against them in the articles of impeachment.” When told that his comments must be referring to the impeachment of President Trump rather than the indictment of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Dershowitz said, “Trump. Bibi. Harvey. OJ. Claus. Jeffrey. They’re all the same to me.”

C. In August 2019, Dershowitz was scheduled to participate in a mock trial at New York’s Temple Emanu-El entitled “The Charges: Kidnaping and Child Trafficking” based on the Biblical story of Joseph, whose brothers kidnapped him and sold him into slavery. Dershowitz was going to serve as the defense attorney for Joseph’s brothers, defending their actions against Joseph. The event was canceled, however, after Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide. Dershowitz had previously defended Epstein, helping him secure a beneficial plea deal to charges of sexually abusing young girls, and it was decided that Dershowitz’s role in this mock trial defending kidnaping and child trafficking would be problematic, to say the least.

D. In April 2019, Dershowitz was scheduled to participate in a mock trial at New York’s B’nai Jeshurun synagogue entitled, “The Thousand Songs of Solomon: Should the 1000 Wives and Concubines of Solomon Disqualify Him as Israel’s Greatest King?”. Dershowitz’s role was to defend King Solomon, arguing that all of Solomon’s relationships were voluntary, and that this was the nature of male/female relationships during that Biblical era. The event was canceled, however, when Dershowitz joined the legal defense team for Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual assault by more than 100 women. Said Dershowitz upon learning of the cancellation, “Mr. Weinstein and King Solomon both deserve the best defense possible, and I was prepared to do so for both. However, I will continue to defend Mr. Weinstein, and I will leave it to others to defend King Solomon.”

E. In early January 2020, Dershowitz was scheduled to participate in a mock trial at Washington D.C.’s Sixth & I synagogue entitled “It’s a Family Affair: Was Jacob Right to Steal His Brother’s Birthright?”. Dershowitz had submitted his opening argument for the mock trial to the synagogue for use in their publicity: “There is no question but that Jacob did the right thing, and there is no doubt that his father Isaac rightly enabled Jacob to carry out his deception.” However, shortly before the mock trial, Dershowitz, in preparation for his defense of President Trump, said, “There is no question but that Hunter Biden did the wrong thing, and there is no doubt that his father Joe Biden wrongly enabled Hunter to carry out his deception.” At which point the synagogue canceled the mock trial, saying, “Oy vey, what were we thinking? Instead of a mock trial, please join us for a chicken dinner and screening of the movie Fiddler on the Roof.”

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Jeopardy continues to make the news. Host Alex Trebek and his wife recently gave an interview to Michael Strahan about his struggle with pancreatic cancer. One of last week’s episodes has raised some controversy when a contestant’s answer of Palestine as the location of the Church of the Nativity was not accepted (with Israel being given as the correct answer). And the show is generating huge ratings with its Greatest of All Time tournament between Brad Rutter, Ken Jennings, and James Holzhauer, with the winner to be determined this week. Over the years there have been many Jeopardy questions with a Jewish theme. In 2015, returning champion Choyon Manjrekar won a match despite his wrong answer to the question “A Christian hymn and a Jewish holiday hymn are both titled this, also the name of a 2009 Tony-nominated musical.” What was his funny/controversial wrong answer that went viral at the time?

160204-D-PB383-346 by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

A. Jesus Christ Superstar.

B. American Idiot.

C. Kinky Boots.

D. The Book of Mormon.

E. I Can Get It For You Wholesale.

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