Entrepreneur Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, just became the richest person in the world, with a net worth of $195 billion, surpassing Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon. Musk responded to that news with a simple six word statement, “How strange, well, back to work.” Musk, who is often mistakenly thought to be Jewish, visited Israel in 2018, meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, dining in Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda market, and pouring himself a flaming absinthe in a Jerusalem bar. Musk also went to Masada and posted a selfie from there on Instagram, with what pithy caption?
In the 2016 race for the Republican presidential nomination, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Donald Trump were hostile rivals, with Trump claiming falsely that Cruz’s father was connected with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Trump also attacked Cruz’s wife, and in particular, insulted her looks. In response, Ted Cruz said that Trump was a “pathological liar,” “utterly amoral,” and a “serial philanderer.” Yet Cruz went on to become a Trump supporter, and he is now leading an effort by a dozen Republican senators to have Congress overturn the democratic election of President-Elect Joe Biden based on completely false and irrational claims of voter fraud. This, despite numerous court cases on the matter, none of which have been successful. During Ted Cruz’s 2016 campaign, he went with Rabbi Zev Reichman (the director of the Mechina Program at Yeshiva University) to a fundraising event. What did Cruz do that impressed Rabbi Reichman?
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?
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.”
COVID-19 vaccinations developed by Pfizer and Moderna have now been approved, and shots have already begun to be administered to healthcare workers and others. Vice President Mike Pence received the vaccine last week in a televised event, and President-Elect Joe Biden is getting his vaccine today. There is controversy within some segments of the ultra-Orthodox community, where many have opposed other efforts to control the virus, including mask wearing and restrictions on the number of attendees at religious services, weddings, etc. And there is a history of opposition to other vaccines such as the flu vaccine within some Orthodox communities. This includes a group of Jewish mothers who have claimed that vaccines cause autism, epilepsy, and anaphylaxis, and that pediatricians cover up the dangers for their personal financial benefit. Since 2014, they have published an anti-vaccination magazine with what name?
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.
President Trump will be hosting an in-person Chanukkah party at the White House this coming Wednesday. Many of the Jewish leaders who were invited have declined to attend because of the COVID risk. Some, however, plan to be there, including ZOA president Mort Klein, who explained the motivation of those attending, “They want to see important people and they want to be seen.” At the 2015 White House Chanukkah party, President Barack Obama addressed the attendees, including Israeli president Reuven Rivlin, and compared the Chanukkah story to what movie?
A. Said President Obama, “All of us come together along with Jews around the world to celebrate a band of Maccabees who inspire us even today. They remind me of another scrappy gang of fighters, the Dirty Dozen. Right? Their job was to wipe out an entire band of Nazi officers, and they had no military training at all. The were just tough, and committed to a cause. I mean, couldn’t you see Judah Maccabee played by Lee Marvin?”
B. Said President Obama, “All of us come together along with Jews around the world to celebrate a band of Maccabees who inspire us even today. They were the original Inglourious Basterds. They stood up to the oppressors, and showed that with faith, you can achieve victory against the greatest of odds.”
C. Said President Obama, “All of us come together along with Jews around the world to celebrate a band of Maccabees who inspire us even today. Makes me think of Rocky. Now here’s a guy who doesn’t even belong in the fight. There is no way this dude is going to defeat the world champion, Apollo Creed. Right? So here you have Judah Maccabee, the Rocky of his day, going up against King Antiochus, definitely an Apollo Creed kind’a guy. But Judah fools everyone by winning. And when it’s all over, Judah Maccabee, exhausted, stands in the Temple and yells, ‘Yo, Adonai!’ ”
D. Said President Obama, “All of us come together along with Jews around the world to celebrate a band of Maccabees who inspire us even today. They were outnumbered, out armed yet proved freedom can prevail over tyranny, hope can triumph over despair, light can prevail over darkness. That sounds like a description of the new Star Wars movie but this one happened a little earlier.”
E. Said President Obama, “All of us come together along with Jews around the world to celebrate a band of Maccabees who inspire us even today. And think about those Maccabees. You know who they remind me of? The Deltas, from Animal House. Am I right? Judah Maccabee is definitely Blutarsky. His brothers, John, Simon, Eleazar, and Jonathan–they’re Otter, Boon, Pinto and Flounder. And then there’s Antiochus. Now he is Dean Vernon Wormer, for sure. You know, the guy who wants to get rid of the Deltas. He’s the Dean, so you figure he’s gonna win. But those toga-wearing Deltas, or in this case, the toga-wearing Maccabees ruled the day. And just like Bluto inspried his men by saying ‘Over? Did you say over?? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell, no!’, I'm pretty sure that Judah Maccabee said, ‘Oil? Did you say oil?? The oil doesn't stop burning until we decide it is! Was it over when the Russians bombed Tzeitel’s wedding? Hell, no!’ ”
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?
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.
Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the Israeli West Bank settlement of Psagot. This is the first time that a high ranking American diplomat visited one of the West Bank settlements, which are considered illegal under international law. What did a Jewish leader once decide to do regarding Secretary Pompeo, explaining “if we would have passed up the opportunity...after everything he’s done for the Jewish people and Israel, I believe he would have been offended in some place.”
A. Last June, Secretary Pompeo was given the Friends of Zion award. The award, commissioned by former Israeli president Shimon Peres, has previously gone to President George W. Bush, Prince Albert II of Monaco, and other world leaders who have demonstrated great support for Israel. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was scheduled to speak at the event, but he was under great pressure to withdraw from the event when shortly before the ceremony, Pompeo announced that the United States no longer viewed Israeli West Bank settlements as illegal. Ultimately, Barak decided to fulfill his commitment to speak.
B. Amir Peretz, head of Israel’s opposition Labor Party, set up a meeting between Pompeo and Labor Party officials in August, even though the Labor Party largely disagreed with the policies of the Trump administration regarding Jerusalem and the Palestinians. Peretz felt that the meeting was a good idea despite their political differences in case President Trump would be reelected in November.
C. Rabbi Aharon Israel, the head rabbi of Thessaloniki, Greece, agreed to open the city’s Jewish museum for a visit by Secretary Pompeo on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year. Pompeo originally requsted a visit to the synagogue, but Rabbi Israel felt that would be too disruptive during Yom Kippur services. Instead, the museum visit was scheduled during an afternoon break.
D. In January 2019, Secretary Pompeo visited Israel, and he was scheduled to tour Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Museum, on Friday at noon. However, the Secretary was delayed as a morning meeting ran long, causing Pompeo to arrive just before the museum’s Friday afternoon closing. The museum’s director, Dorit Novak, decided to keep the museum open past the onset of the start of Shabbat to allow Secretary Pompeo to tour the facility.
E. Secretary Pompeo attended Rosh Hashanah services in 2019 with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump at their synagogue, TheShul of the Nation’s Capital. Following a request from Jared, Rabbi Levi Shemtov, spiritual leader of the Chabad synagogue, offered an aliyah to the non-Jewish Pompeo despite this being a violation of Halacha, Jewish law. When asked about the unusual request, Jared Kushner replied, “Hey. It’s not like I asked them to give him the Koheyn!”
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?
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 take 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.”
Alex Trebek, host of Jeopardy since 1984, died this week after an 18-month battle against pancreatic cancer. The winner of seven Emmy Awards, Trebek was also known as an activist and philanthropist, supporting causes including World Vision Canada and the Alex Trebek Forum for Dialogue at the University of Ottawa. One of the fun aspects of the Jeopardy program is that on many occasions, the categories are given clever names, often with puns. Which of the following is a real Jeopardy category that contained an answer and question of Jewish content?
A. The answer “This friar who headed the Spanish Inquisition also persuaded Ferdinand & Isabella to expel the Jews” [Question: Who was Torquemada] appeared in the category EUROPE TO NO GOOD.
B. The answer “As the rest of the Jews entered the promised land, Moses died aged about 120 on this mount” [Question: What was Mt. Nebo] appeared in the category EVERYTHING’S COMING UP MOSES.
C. The answer “In this author’s Night, Moshe the Beadle warns the Jews of Sighet about the looming holocaust, but they don’t listen” [Question: Who was Eli Wiesel] appeared in the category MEET THE BEADLES.
D. The answer “Joseph II freed the serfs & ended discrimination against Jews during his 18th century reign as this emperor” [Question: What was Holy Roman Emperor] appeared in the category SERFS UP.
E. The answer “For his role in Nazi Germany’s mass murder of the Jews, he was hanged in Israel May 31, 1962” [Question: Who was Adolf Eichmann], appeared in the category NAMES IN THE NOOSE.
