Comedian Richard Lewis died last week at the age of 76. Lewis’s comedy grew from his Jewish upbringing and identity, as he noted, “It’s so much funnier being a Jew than anything else. If we don’t find humor then we’re in deep trouble.” He was known for a self-deprecating style of comedy, as seen in many appearances on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and other late night shows, as well as sitcoms and movies, most recently as a recurring character (playing himself) on Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. He and David were born 3 days apart in the same hospital, and later attended the same summer camp, where they hated each other, only becoming best friends early in their professional lives. According to Lewis, what significant event in his life involved his father?
A. Lewis noted that his father “was so well loved as the cantor at our synagogue that the congregation wouldn’t let me sing at my own bar mitzvah.”
B. Lewis noted that his father “was such a successful caterer that he was booked on my bar mitzvah, and I had my party on a Tuesday.”
C. Lewis noted that his father “was so well known as a local mohel that he used to show me off in his ads as a sample of his work.”
D. Lewis noted that his father “was so well recognized as a member of the local Lubavitcher community that he insisted that I always wear black clothes.”
E. Lewis noted that his father “dropped in on Larry’s bris, which was in the hospital right after I was born. He told Larry’s father that the lox they served was ‘Prett-ay, Prett-ay, Prett-ay Good.’ ”
Alabama Chief Justice Tom Parker ruled that frozen embryos are in fact humans, with the same rights as children. Therefore, these embryos cannot be destroyed, for according to the judge, human life “cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God, who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself.” While there are some areas of disagreement within the Jewish community, most agree that embryos and fetuses do not have the same rights as individuals once they are born. Therefore there is not an absolute prohibition against abortion as there is in the Catholic Church, for example. Much is written in the Talmud and in later rabbinic writings about embryos, fetuses, artificial insemination, IVF, abortion, and other related issues of pregnancy and childbirth. Which of the following is a true statement with regard to the Jewish perspective on these issues?
Ivf by DrKontogianniIVF is licensed under CC0 1.0 DEED via Wikimedia Commons
A. The fetus is not considered to be a life until the head emerges during the birth process.
B. Most Orthodox religious authorities allow for the discarding of unused fertilized embryos, but not the use of those embryos in research.
C. When a baby is conceived with a donor egg from a non-Jewish woman but carried by a Jewish woman, some rabbis say that since the egg is from a non-Jewish woman, the baby is not halakhically Jewish. Others, however, state that the source of the egg is insignificant compared to the role played by the gestational mother; therefore the child is halakhically Jewish.
D. Until the 40th day after conception, the embryo is considered to be “merely water.”
E. Judaism is opposed to freezing of embryos, based on the wisdom of my Bubby who always told me, “Oy, it’s freezing outside. Bubbele, you’ll catch your death of cold. Here. Put on a sweater.”
Alabama Chief Justice Tom Parker ruled that frozen embryos are in fact humans, with the same rights as children. Therefore, these embryos cannot be destroyed, for according to the judge, human life “cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God, who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself.” While there are some areas of disagreement within the Jewish community, most agree that embryos and fetuses do not have the same rights as individuals once they are born. Therefore there is not an absolute prohibition against abortion as there is in the Catholic Church, for example. Much is written in the Talmud and in later rabbinic writings about embryos, fetuses, artificial insemination, IVF, abortion, and other related issues of pregnancy and childbirth. Which of the following is a true statement with regard to the Jewish perspective on these issues?
Ivf by DrKontogianniIVF is licensed under CC0 1.0 DEED via Wikimedia Commons
A. The fetus is not considered to be a life until the head emerges during the birth process.
B. Most Orthodox religious authorities allow for the discarding of unused fertilized embryos, but not the use of those embryos in research.
C. When a baby is conceived with a donor egg from a non-Jewish woman but carried by a Jewish woman, some rabbis say that since the egg is from a non-Jewish woman, the baby is not halakhically Jewish. Others, however, state that the source of the egg is insignificant compared to the role played by the gestational mother; therefore the child is halakhically Jewish.
D. Until the 40th day after conception, the embryo is considered to be “merely water.”
E. Judaism is opposed to freezing of embryos, based on the wisdom of my Bubby who always told me, “Oy, it’s freezing outside. Bubbele, you’ll catch your death of cold. Here. Put on a sweater.”
Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis is heading up the criminal trial of Donald Trump and 18 other defendants for conspiring to commit election fraud. Willis herself is being investigated in regard to a personal relationship with her chief investigator, Nathan Wade. During a hearing on that matter, former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes testified that in 2021, Willis had asked him to be a special prosecutor in the Trump case, but he said no. He had already once had to live with private security due to threats against him, and he didn’t want to have to “live with bodyguards for the rest of my life.” Barnes said that in that previous incident, he had assumed at first that the threats were because of his leadership regarding the removal of the Confederate battle emblem from Georgia’s state flag. But he learned from the FBI that those threats against him were because he was “too close to the Jews.” What was Governor Barnes’s connection to Jews that incurred the wrath of some Georgia racists?
A. Barnes was influential in bringing about a reexamination of the case against Leo Frank, the Jewish business owner who was convicted in 1913 on charges that he assaulted and strangled a 13-year-old female employee. When Frank’s death penalty was commuted and changed to life in prison by then governor John Slaton, a mob stormed the prison, dragged Frank out, and lynched him. Frank was pardoned in 1986, but Barnes’s efforts have led to a possible exoneration of Leo Frank.
B. In 2001 Governor Barnes appointed a commission which ultimately approved a plan to provide kosher meals in state prisons. There was opposition by white supremacists and others on the far right, as well as others who simply felt that the cost would be prohibitive, especially because it was assumed that many who didn’t actually keep kosher, or weren’t even Jewish, would sign up for the kosher meals, believing that it would taste better than regular prison food.
C. In 2002 Roy Barnes presented playwright Alfred Uhry, an Atlanta native, with The Outstanding Georgia Citizen Award in recognition of his artistic achievements. Uhry is known for his plays with Jewish themes and characters, in particular Last Night at Ballyhoo, Parade, and Driving Miss Daisy.
D. In 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King was scheduled to speak at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium, but the City Council imposed financial requirements intentionally designed to prevent King from speaking there, even though Jim Crow laws had officially ended in Georgia. Then-lawyer and activist Roy Barnes reached out to friends who were members of Temple Emanu-El, a prominent Reform synagogue in Atlanta, which opened their doors to Dr. King. Barnes introduced King at that event and remained close to the Jewish community.
E. Governor Barnes established a commission to determine what to do about Georgia’s controversial Stone Mountain, the massive mountainside carved with images of Confederate heroes Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. The commission approved Barnes’s suggestion that the mountainside be re-carved to feature CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
Sixty years ago (February 9, 1964), Ed Sullivan looked at his audience and the camera and announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles!” The moment was the unofficial launch of Beatlemania, and cemented Sullivan’s place as the arbiter of the best in entertainment at that time. Sullivan had started as a reporter and writer, known in particular for his syndicated column for the New York Daily News. He went on in 1948 to become host of the variety show Toast of the Town, which was later renamed The Ed Sullivan Show, remaining on the air until 1971. Besides presenting innumerable Jewish entertainers on his show (Joel Grey, Barbra Streisand, Irvin Berlin, and Henny Youngman, to name just a few), Sullivan was a supporter of Jewish causes. He received the annual Brotherhood Award from Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in 1961, and he appeared at a UJA event at Madison Square Garden on June 11, 1967, the day after the Six-Day War ended. In 1930, Sullivan, a Catholic, married Sylvia Weinstein, a Jewish woman, against the wishes of both families. What did Sylvia Weinstein do to mollify her family when she and Ed Sullivan started dating?
A. She promised her family that he would convert before they got married.
B. She told her family that they should not object, as “You’ll see. Someday he’ll get you tickets to see the Beatles!”
C. She told her family she was dating someone named Ed Solomon.
D. She actually did not tell them she was dating a Catholic, knowing that nothing would mollify them. (Of course, they did find out once she got engaged).
E. She told her family that if they made her break up with Sullivan, she would start dating that Italian fellow, Topo Gigio.
The 66th annual Grammy Awards were given out last night, highlighted by Taylor Swift winning Album of the Year for a record 4th time. Among the Jewish nominees were Doja Cat, Jack Antonoff, Gracie Abrams, and Noah Kahan. Kahan, the singer-songwriter nominated for Best New Artist (the winner was Victoria Monét), was born in New Hampshire to a Jewish father (who taught him to play guitar) and a Christian mother (who taught him writing), and he considers himself Jewish. His first hit song, Hurt Somebody, achieved gold status in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other countries in 2017. His successful single and album–both titled Stick Season, an appearance on Saturday Night Live, and sold out concerts at Madison Square Garden have elevated his status in the music world, leading to the Grammy nomination. Kahan has referred to himself as the Jewish Capaldi (a reference to Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi) and also as the Jewish Ed Sheeran. What has Kahan tweeted with a Jewish context?
Levi Strauss & Co. announced that it would be eliminating up to 15% of their corporate jobs in an attempt to save money at a time of greatly declining sales. At the same time, the company, which has 10 years left on its naming rights deal for Levi’s Stadium (site of the San Francisco 49ers victory over the Detroit Lions yesterday, placing them in the Super Bowl), announced that they have extended that contract to maintain the stadium name until 2043. Levi Strauss immigrated to New York from Buttenheim in Bavaria in 1847. He worked in his family’s dry goods business, and in 1854 he moved to San Francisco, where he opened the west coast division of the company. In the 1870s, Levi Strauss & Co. began manufacturing the denim jeans that went on to become their primary product, first for workers such as lumberjacks and railroad employees, and eventually as fashion items, with Levi’s jeans now being sold in 110 countries, with annual revenue of more than 4 billion dollars. Which of the following is true about Levi Strauss and Levi’s jeans?
Levi Strauss 1 is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
A. Strauss came up with the idea for denim pants with rivets based on the apron his uncle, a butcher, used in their hometown in Bavaria. The apron included rivets which attached the waist and neck ties to the main denim material of the apron.
B. The company’s iconic product is Levi’s 501 jeans, first sold 150 years ago. Strauss gave them that name based on the gematria, or numerical value, of the Hebrew word אֹשֶׁר, osher, which means happiness.
C. Strauss did not actually create Levi’s jeans. He just paid for the patent that was granted for the design of the pants.
D. Levi Strauss died in 1902 and was buried in a Jewish cemetery in Colma, just south of San Francisco. His coffin was custom made, covered in denim and sealed with Levi Strauss & Co. rivets.
E. The company has produced denim yarmulkes with their iconic rivet at the top.
The New Hampshire Republican primary is being held this week. While Donald Trump is the clear front runner, Nikki Haley has narrowed the gap significantly in recent weeks. New Hampshire is home to about 10,000 Jewish residents, with a history going back to the late 1600’s. Among the many historic homes under the auspices of the Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth is the Shapiro House, built in 1795 by Abraham and Sarah Shapiro, immigrants from the Ukraine. The state has about 10 Reform and Conservative synagogues, plus two Chabad Centers. Among the notable Jews from New Hampshire are comedian Sarah Silverman and Senator Warren Rudman, who served from 1980-1993. Though the Jewish population is small, what is the situation where the Jewish population temporarily grows significantly in New Hampshire?
A. YJP Boston, a social and networking group of young Jewish professionals, holds an annual Chanukkah Ski Weekend at the Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire that attracts hundreds of participants every year.
B. In election years, many Jews who live in Massachusetts move temporarily to New Hampshire to vote in the presidential primary (New Hampshire law allows part-time residents to register to vote).
C. In October, Chabad of Manchester sponsors a “Changing Leaves Sukkos” celebration that attracts Jews from across New England, featuring a giant sukkah located in the foothills of the White Mountains, with views through the sukkah roof of the beautiful Fall leaves.
D. In the summer, Satmar Chassidic Jews flee from polluted Brooklyn and head to Bethlehem, New Hampshire for allergin-free fresh air.
E. In December, Messianic Jews from across America flee from their heathen communities and head to Bethlehem, New Hampshire to celebrate Christmas.
The Chabad Lubavitch Chassidic world has been in turmoil with the discovery of a hidden tunnel connecting Lubavitcher headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn to a side building. The tunnel was secretly built by followers of the Meshichisten, or Messianist movement–Chassidic Jews who believe that the last Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson (who died in 1994) is actually the Messiah. This group is considered fringe by most Lubavitchers, but they still maintain a presence in the basement of 770, though they are not allowed upstairs. When Chabad representatives brought in a construction crew to seal the tunnel, a number of Meshichisten rioted, leading to police involvement and nine arrests. Engineers and construction crews are now trying to close up the tunnel and secure the buildings that may be structurally compromised. It’s not clear why the Meshichisten built the tunnel, though one theory is that it was to aid in the expansion of the building, which, according to one of the Meshichisten, “The Rebbe, the words of the rabbi, says they need to expand it.” But another Chabad follower said that the tunnel builders were simply bored rabbinical students, noting “If you have a lot of time on your hands, you’re not doing drugs, you’re not messing with girls. You go snooping around and all of a sudden a bunch of guys are like, ‘Lets do something.’” Chabad spokesperson Motti Seligson referred to those who built the tunnel as “young agitators” and “extremist students.” In the basement synagogue where the Meshichisten pray, there is a banner on the wall with their credo. What does the banner read?
770Lubavitch is in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons
A. רֶבִּי מֶלֶךְ יְשׂרָאֵל חַי חַי וְקַיָם Rebbe, Melech Yisrael, Chai Chai v’Kayam. (Rebbe, King of Israel, lives and endures.)
B. מִי זֶה מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד הַרֶבִּי עִזּוּז וְגִבּוֹר Mi Zeh Melech Hakavod? HaRebbe Izuz V’gibor. (Who is the sovereign who is exalted? The Rebbe, mighty and triumphant.)
C. יְחִי אֲדוֹנֵנוּ מוֹרֵנוּ וְרַבֵּינוּ מֶלֶךְ הַמָשִׁיחַ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu v’Rabbeinu Melech Hamoshiach L’olam Vaed! (Long live our master, our teacher and our rabbi king moshiach forever and ever.)
D. וְהוּא הָיָה וְהוּא הֹוֶה וְהוּא יִהְיֶה בְּתִפְאָרָה V’hu Haya, V’hu hoveh, V’hu Yih’yeh B’tifara. (He was, He is, and He shall be in glory.)
E. מְנַחֵם מֶנְדְל שְׁנִיאוּרסוֹן הַעֵז Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Ha-Ez. (Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the GOAT.) [Editor’s note: Greatest Of All Torah-scholars.]
Nikki Haley has recently gained some traction in the race for the Republican nomination for president, though she still significantly trails frontrunner Donald Trump. And she is struggling to overcome the criticism she received for responding to a question about the cause of the Civil War without acknowledging slavery. Haley served as ambassador to the United Nations under President Trump, where she was a staunch defender of Israel, saying among other things “The [UN’s Human Rights] Council must end its practice of wrongly singling out Israel for criticism.” She recently said in an interview, “I hope that everyone will remember what a good friend I was to Israel and know that I would never let up on that.” Nikki Haley has received praise from many Israelis, including which of the following?
A. Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu issued a statement when Nikki Haley announced her run, saying, “Israel never had a better friend in the United Nations than Nikki Haley. If she is elected president of the United States I have no doubt that she will continue to be a fighter for Israel and Jews worldwide.”
B. Israeli model and actress Gad Gadot met Nikki Haley at the 2019 AIPAC in Washington, DC when Gal Gadot was a speaker in a session titled, “Obstacles and Opportunities: Women of a Start-Up Nation.” When Haley announced her candidacy, Gadot tweeted that “Nikki Haley is an American politician who understands Israel’s needs, and she is a woman who can lead in what is still in so many ways a man’s world.”
C. When Haley announced her bid for the presidency, Danny Danon, former Knesset member and Israeli ambassador to the United Nations tweeted “Nikki is a true friend of Israel. I have no doubt that she will always stand by our side. Likewise, Israel will always be the closest ally of the US. Good luck Nikki!”
D. Author and journalist Yossi Halevi Klein said last year about Haley, “It is not my place to tell Americans who to vote for. But what I can do is tell Americans who would be good for Israel. Nikki Haley is the only Republican candidate at this point who fits that description. She understands Israel and recognizes that the United States must support Israel. But from her time at the United Nations, she also understands the challenge of finding a way to expand Israel’s relationship with moderate Arab nations.”
E. The Jerusalem Boys Choir recorded and posted a song titled Nikki Haley, Running For The Top, with lyrics including “Who is that flying high?/Beautiful as the moon/Her hair flows like the Mountains of Gilead.”
.PNG){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}