Weekly Quiz - Pre 2019
Anti-Semitic Generals
There are reports that General Michael Flynn may be negotiating a deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller as Mueller continues to investigate Russian interference in the United States election. During the campaign, Flynn received criticism when he retweeted an anti-Semitic tweet which read, “The corrupt Democratic machine will do and say anything to get #NeverHillary into power. This is a new low. >Cnn implicated. ‘The USSR is to blame!’ Not anymore, Jews. Not anymore.” What other general has offered anti-Semitic comments about Jews?
Michael Flynn - Caricature by DonkeyHotey is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
A. At the end of World War II, General George Patton said, in reference to an inspection of displaced persons camps by Earl Harrison, that “Harrison and his ilk believe that the Displaced Person is a human being, which he is not, and this applies particularly to Jews who are lower than animals.”
B. After the surprise attack on Israel by Egypt and Syria in the Yom Kippur War, there was great disagreement as to what role the United States should play. President Richard Nixon proposed an emergency shipment of arms to help Israel. This action was opposed by, among others, National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and General Alexander Haig, who was then the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army. According to the Nixon White House tapes, Haig said, “Mr. President, we all know you are no fan of the Jews. You may think that helping Israel at this time will win you their support, but no matter what you do, those people will continue to be in the pocket of the Democratic Party. And you will bear the brunt of the Arab oil boycott, which I truly believe they will implement the minute the first military plane takes off for Israel.”
C. In 1860, General Ulysses S. Grant issued an order expelling Jews from the United States military, stating “At a time when we must question the loyalty of any soldier from below the Mason-Dixon line, does it make any less sense to be concerned about the loyalty of the Israelite, whose ancestors found no discomfort in betraying our Lord as he ate with his disciples?”
D. In the summer of 1863, General Robert E. Lee proposed an assault on Union troops at Gettysburg. Secretary of War Judah P. Benjamin objected to this plan and argued that it was destined to fail. General Lee is reputed to have said to Confederate cavalry commander general J. E. B. Stuart that “that little Jew is not going to tell us how to win this war.” Lee and Stuart proceeded to lead their troops towards Gettysburg. After initial success on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Confederate armies were ultimately pushed back and retreated to Virginia in defeat.
E. Jews have historically been fond of Chinese food, in part because the absence of dairy products made Chinese meals more acceptable to “kosher-style” Jews. Of course, there were many Chinese dishes made with seafood or pork products which Jews shied away from (except for wontons). One popular Chinese restaurant dish in the mid-20th century was a sweet, deep-fried pork dish called General Tso’s Pork. A Chinese restaurant on the lower East Side of New York began offering the dish using chicken instead of pork, in order to make the dish acceptable to its Jewish customers. This dish, General Tso’s Chicken, became so popular that it eventually replaced General Tso’s Pork on Chinese restaurant menus throughout the city. When General Tso learned of this, he was outraged and issued a fortune cookie reading “The best way to get rid of an enemy is to make a friend. Except for the Jews.”
Elephants
The Trump administration announced that they were ending the ban on importation of elephant hunting trophies, followed the next day by a reversal of this new policy. What is a Jewish connection to elephants?
African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) by Bernard DUPONT is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
A. Elephants were introduced into Italy by Hannibal, who famously crossed the Alps with 40 of the huge animals in 213 B.C. One hundred fifty years later, Pompey and his Roman army, including descendants of those elephants, invaded the Kingdom of Judea and destroyed the Temple in 63 B.C. The Arch of Titus in Rome includes reliefs of elephants carrying menorahs and other spoils of the invasion and destruction of the Temple.
B. While elephants are kosher (they chew their cud and have cloven hoofs), as a practical matter nobody is slaughtering elephants in a kosher manner, due to the near-impossibility of severing the trachea and esophagus in a single stroke. In 1997, a shochet (ritual slaughterer) in Mea Shearim announced plans to slaughter an elephant, having developed a precision titanium-steel blade which he claimed could accomplish the task; however, he canceled his plan after huge protests from animal rights activists.
C. Judah Maccabee’s brother Eleazar, mistakenly believing that an approaching elephant carried King Antiochus, bravely killed the beast, thrusting his spear into the animal’s belly. Sadly, however, the elephant’s final act was to collapse on top of Eleazar, killing him.
D. Elephants are not mentioned in the Torah, but they are first referenced indirectly in the Book of Kings, chapter 10, verse 22. “For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram; once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.” Based on the reference to ivory, the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem obtained an elephant for display; however, a controversy developed as the zoo had acquired an Indian elephant, whereas the elephants of Tarshish, in what is now Spain, would have been African elephants. The zoo did not get rid of the Indian elephant, but subsequently added an African elephant.
E. The story is told of Paltiel the Gilonite (a tribe of North Africa), a descendent of the family of Bathsheba, mother of King Solomon. Paltiel traveled from his home to the Temple in Jerusalem to pay tribute to his great aunt Bathsheba and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Paltiel brought an elephant to offer as a “korban zevach sh’lamim,” a sacrifice of gratitude and respect for God. As Paltiel and the elephant entered the sanctuary of Solomon’s Temple, the elephant panicked and spun around, his trunk flailing in all directions. The priests frantically grabbed at the ceramic bowls of flour, the olive oil-filled pottery jars, the silver coins and the gold ladles, the jars of fragrant spices and the jewel-encrusted candelabras, not to mention the menagerie of other animals awaiting sacrifice–the he-goats and she-goats, the yearling lambs, the oxen and the rams–desperately trying to protect the items and the sanctity of the room. A 30-cubit holy sanctuary was no place for a 20-cubit 6-ton African elephant. Despite their horror, the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, chose not to say anything, lest he offend Paltiel, who had come in peace with good intentions. Said the Kohen Gadol to the other priests, “Al tidabru al ha-pil ba’cheder.” This phrase, which means “Do not speak of the elephant in the room,” has come to refer to situations where something obvious is intentionally left unspoken.
Black Cube
Harvey Weinstein hired the Israeli intelligence company Black Cube to try and prevent publication of stories detailing his sexual abuse of women. Black Cube operative Stella Penn Pechanac duped actress Rose McGowan using an assumed name and claiming to be a women’s rights advocate. Through this subterfuge, Pechanac was able to obtain a copy of McGowan’s unpublished memoir, in order to determine whether McGowan intended to speak of her alleged rape by Weinstein. What is the interesting story about Pechanac’s family?
Rose McGowan by Gordon Correll is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
A. Stella’s grandparents were Muslims in Sarajevo who hid a Jewish family from the Nazis. Fifty years later, descendants of those Jews living in Israel were able to help Stella and her parents and grandmother escape the war in Bosnia and move to Israel. Stella’s Muslim mother was married to a Bosnian Christian man, but both converted to Judaism and Stella was raised as an Orthodox Jew.
B. Stella Penn Pechanac’s grandfather was among the Jews employed at Deutsche Emalwarenfabrik, the enamelware company owned by Oscar Schindler. When Schindler moved his plant to Moravia, Pechanac’s grandfather was among those on the famous “Schindler’s List” whose move to the new location enabled him to escape death at the hands of the Nazis. After the war, he was able to emigrate to Israel.
C. Pechanac’s grandfather, Eduard Fedorov, was a guard in a Moscow prison in the 1970’s. In 1977, he met Anatoly Shcharansky, the Jewish dissident who was imprisoned there, and Scharansky learned of Fedorov’s Jewish roots. Their relationship grew over the time of Scharansky’s confinement. A few years after Shcharansky was freed in a prisoner swap and emigrated to Israel (where he changed his name to Natan Sharansky), he was instrumental in helping Fedorov and his family to emigrate to Israel.
D. Pechanac is not the first member of her family to be in the spy business. Pechanac’s grandfather was Reuven Zaslani, who was born in Jerusalem in 1909, the son of a rabbi. Zaslani, who later changed his last name to the Hebrew name Shiloah, was a friend of David ben-Gurion. In December 1949, ben-Gurion appointed Shiloah to be the first director of the “Central Institute for Coordination,” the organization that later became known as the Mossad.
E. Pechanac is not the only member of her family to be in the business of subterfuge. Pechanac’s parents belong to an organization which opposes the granting of the first Torah aliyah to members of the priesthood, the Kohanim. This organization, known as Cohen-Troll, has begun a campaign of online lies, insults, and bullying of the Kohanim by its members, who post using online aliases. Pechanac’s father posts under the screen name Maxwell Chacham, and her mother uses the alias Agent Tishim v’Tisha.
Houston Astros’ Alex Bregman
Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman is the first Jewish major league baseball player to get a walk-off hit in a World Series game. What other member of Bregman’s family accomplished something in baseball?
Alex Bregman by Keith Allison is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
A. Bregman’s father, Sam, played baseball at the University of New Mexico. In 1989, he played on the United States team at the thirteenth Maccabiah Games in Israel.
B. Bregman’s younger brother, Anthony, played second base on the middle school team at Solomon Schechter Day School of Albuquerque, where he won the Most Valuable Player award in 8th grade.
C. Bregman’s grandfather, Stanley, was the lawyer for the Washington Senators before they moved to Minnesota and became the Twins.
D. Bregman’s mother, Jackie, attended the University of New Mexico, where she majored in physical education and worked as a trainer for the school’s baseball team. This is where she met Alex’s father, Sam, who was a player on the team.
E. Bregman’s great grandfather Samuel, who emigrated to America from Russia when he was 4, played catcher for St. Dominick’s in the Parochial League in Washington, DC, where they listed his name as Bregmanio so people would think he was Catholic rather than Jewish.