BONUS QUESTION

In addition to our weekly Monday trivia question, we are pleased to present a bonus Thursday question.

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Merrick Garland, who if approved would be the 4th Jewish person to sit on the current United States Supreme Court, was not the first member of his family to receive an appointment from a president. What relative of his shares that honor?

Supreme Court Authority of Law Statue by Matt Wade is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

A. As Merrick Garland said in his speech on the White House lawn, his maternal grandfather, Irving Horowitz, came to America from the Pale of Settlement in the early 1900’s. At the same time, Irving’s brother Sam went to Palestine and settled in Jerusalem. His grandson, Dr. Yishai Horowitz, a surgeon, was appointed in 1973 by Israeli president Ephraim Katzir to be head of the Magen David Adom, Israel’s version of the Red Cross.

B. Samuel Irving Rosenman, a relative of Garland’s wife Lynn Rosenman Garland, was a lawyer who was active in Democratic politics in New York in the early 1900’s. He served in the New York State Assembly throughout most of the 1920’s, and in 1932 was appointed to the New York Supreme Court by then-governor and eventual president, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

C. Garland’s mother, Shirley Horowitz Garland, worked for many years as the director of volunteer services at Chicago’s Council for Jewish Elderly. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan appointed her to the Board of Directors of the National Council on Aging, where she served for seven years.

D. Howard Rosenman, a relative of Garland’s wife Lynn Rosenman Garland, is a Hollywood producer of such films as Father of the Bride and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Following the controversy over the lack of diversity in Academy Awards nominations, he was appointed last month by Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a committee whose task is to study this issue, with a goal of recommending improvements to the Oscar nominating process.

E. In 1910, Merrick Garland’s maternal grandfather, Jacob Horowitz, emigrated from the Pale of Settlement to America, settling on the Lower East Side of New York. He worked as an itinerant peddler, and eventually saved enough money to open a storefront. In need of a location for his shop, Horowitz asked his apartment landlord to get him an appointment with the president of the real estate company that owned his building, Friedrich Drumpf. Horowitz went to the appointment, where Mr. Drumpf proceeded to yell at him about immigrants and all the problems they were causing, finally ending the meeting by yelling, “Get out. Get him out. Go back to Russia.”

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With polls showing Marco Rubio dropping to third place
in Florida, this Tuesday’s Florida primary could bring the end
to his presidential campaign. Before he goes, here’s a
question about Marco that comes straight out of 

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When Marco Rubio gave the Republican response to President Obama’s 2013 State of the Union address, why did the National Jewish Democratic Council criticize Rubio?

Marco Rubio by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

A. They criticized him because the bottled water that he grabbed during his speech was not kosher.

B. They criticized him because he said that the United States was founded based on Christian values.

C. They criticized him because he did not mention Israel in his speech.

D. They criticized him because he said that the lack of peace in the Middle East falls solely on the Palestinian Authority.

E. Rubio spoke both English and Spanish during his speech. The National Jewish Democratic Council criticized him, saying “Mr. Rubio proclaims his love for Israel while at the same time pursuing policies which are hurtful to Spanish speaking immigrants. Given that, he should have spoken Hebrew rather than Spanish.”

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O. J. Simpson is back in the news, as we learn of a knife that is being examined by the Los Angeles Police Department. Might it be the murder weapon used to kill Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman? O. J. Simpson has a connection to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What is that connection?

Image courtesy of Charles LeBlanc is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

A. Netanyahu lived in America on and off in the 1950’s and 1960’s, as well as throughout most of the 1970’s, when he studied at MIT and Harvard. As a result, he was a huge football fan, in particular of the Philadelphia Eagles, as he had graduated from Cheltenham High School, a Philadelphia suburb. In 1976, Netanyahu attended a game between the Eagles and O. J.’s team, the Buffalo Bills, and after the game Netanyahu met with Simpson in the Bills locker room. Said Netanyahu at the time, “It was great to meet O. J. No matter what else I ever do in my life, I think this will always rank as the most thrilling.”

B. When Benjamin Netanyahu was studying at Harvard, he earned extra money by tutoring bar and bat mitzvah students. One of his students was Ron Goldman. Netanyahu attended Goldman’s bar mitzvah, and when Goldman was murdered, Netanyahu flew from Israel to the United States to pay a shiva call to the Goldman family.

C. In the late 1970’s, O. J. was hired as a spokesman for Hertz rental car company, and he filmed a famous series of ads depicting him racing to the Hertz rental car counter, sometimes jumping over furniture and barricades, sometimes flying above the crowd. When one of these ads began running in Israel, Netanyahu called on the Israeli Broadcasting Authority to ban the ad. He said, “At a time when our enemies are attempting to hijack and blow up airplanes, we cannot encourage people to run past barriers in our airports.” Despite his efforts, the ads remained on the air.

D. Shortly after Benjamin Netanyahu was elected prime minister for the first time, Attorney Alan Dershowitz met with him in Israel. At one point, Netanyahu said, “I want to go to the secret office where no one can can overhear. I want to ask you something.” After entering this secure space, Netanyahu proceeded to ask, “So, did O. J. do it?” Dershowitz replied, “Mr. Prime Minister, does Israel have nuclear weapons?” to which Bibi responded, “Alan you know I can’t tell you that.” Said Dershowitz, “Aha! You know I can’t tell you that.”

E. Netanyahu is a huge fan of the Naked Gun trilogy of movies, and his favorite character is Officer Nordberg, who was played by O. J. Simpson. Nordberg’s claim to fame in these movies is that he always found himself in terrible and absurd situations where he sustained what should have been fatal injuries. For example, in the first film, Nordberg is shot multiple times and falls, banging his head on a pipe and burning his hand on a stove, eventually falling head first into a wedding cake and stepping into a bear trap. He goes on to suffer continued injuries and indignities while in intensive care, but recovers, only to suffer more injuries throughout that movie as well as Naked Gun 2 1/2 and Naked Gun 33 1/3. It is rumored that Netanyahu, whose own political career of frequently rising from the dead closely parallels that of Officer Nordberg, keeps a photo of O. J. Simpson in his private office.

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Emmanuel Lubezki won the Oscar for Best Cinematography for the film The Revenant. Lubezki, a Jewish-Mexican with family roots in Bolshevik Russia, has now won this award three years in a row (having previously won for Gravity and Birdman). When Leo DiCaprio won the Best Actor award for The Revenant, he specifically thanked Lubezki, calling him by his nickname. What is that nickname?

Image courtesy of Davidlohr Bueso is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

A. Lubezki’s nickname is “El Chivo,” meaning “the goat.” He was given this nickname by a friend when he was five years old. Explained Lubezki, “I guess it was my face that looked like a goat.”

B. Lubezki’s nickname is “El Canon.” Explained Lubezki, “I got my first camera when I was thirteen years old. It was a bar mitzvah present from an uncle of mine, and it was a Canon brand camera. Until then I didn’t have any hobbies, but I loved taking pictures, and I never put that camera down. My father started calling me ‘El Canon,’ and the nickname stuck. I still have that camera to this day.”

C. Lubezki’s nickname is “El Chapo,” meaning “the short one.” He was given this nickname by a friend when he was in high school. Explained Lubezki, “I had already become known for my photography skills, and I was the official photographer for my school newspaper. Because I was so short, I regularly used a stepladder when shooting school events. That’s why my friend started calling me ‘El Chapo’.”

D. Lubezki’s nickname was “La Vaca,” meaning “the cow.” Explained Lubezki, “When I was growing up, my family kept kosher. That was strange to my friends, who ate traditional Mexican foods–camarón, shrimp, and puerco, which was pork. I only ate beef and chicken. One of my friends noticed that I always brought roast beef sandwiches to school and he started calling me ‘la vaca.’ Before you know it, the nickname stuck.”

E. Lubezki’s nickname is “Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan.” Explained Lubezki, “My good friend Herman Cain could never pronounce my name correctly. He tried to say it, but it just never came out right.”

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Republican frontrunner Donald Trump (okay, take a second and read those words again!) has drawn criticism from some Israel supporters because of his recent comments on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, when he stated, “Let me be sort of a neutral guy,” while declining to say who was at fault for the recent outbreak of violence. Yet Trump continues to argue that he is a friend to Israel, including remarks he made in January during an interview with David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network. What did Trump say to prove his pro-Israel position?

“Donald Trump - Caricature” by DonkeyHotey is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

A. “Do I support Israel? Of course I support Israel. That’s why I've made their ‘build a wall around us’ idea the cornerstone of my policy against Mexico. Not to mention that I love falafel.”

B. “Look. This is the Christian Broadcasting Network. You love Israel. I love Israel. All of us Christians love Israel. Maybe more, even, than the Jews. Because our Messiah lived in Israel. Their Messiah, when He returns, could come from anywhere. But when He does come, you can be sure that because of my policies as America’s president, there will be an Israel for Him to return to.”

C. “Do you think I would have let my daughter marry a Jew if I wasn’t a supporter of Israel and the Jewish people?”

D. “I was even the grand marshal for the Israeli Day Parade a few years ago. So I will back Israel.”

E. "You think I don’t love Israel? That’s ridiculous. I love Israel so much that I actually allowed a rabbi to put a beanie on my head when I visited the Western Wall in Israel a few years ago. And I usually don’t let ANYONE touch my hair. So that’s how much I love Israel.”

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Republican presidential candidates are dropping like flies, with only 5 left (candidates, that is, not flies). It seems like it was only three weeks ago when there were 12 candidates still in the race. Well, actually, there were 12 candidates still in the race three weeks ago, but you’re probably already feeling nostalgic for Jeb!, Bridgegate Christie, Ayn Rand Paul, and so many other fun action figures. But you’re in luck, because there’s still time to get

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Jewish Trivia Facts & Fun

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In the 2015 case of Zivotofsky v. Kerry, the Supreme Court tackled the issue of whether passports of American citizens born in Jerusalem should list their birthplace as “Jerusalem” (as was the practice since Israel’s founding) or “Jerusalem, Israel” (as advocated by Zivotofsky). The court ruled that passports could continue to list only Jerusalem as the birthplace. Scalia, in opposition, criticized the judgment of the majority, saying what about their reasoning?

A. He stated that their reasoning was “the ultimate in chutzpah.”

B. He stated that their reasoning was a “leap worthy of the Mad Hatter.”

C. He stated that “this is the first time that my liberal colleagues on the court have accepted my originalist view of the Constitution, that only the thoughts and intentions of our founders could shape our decisions on the profound questions before us. However, in this case, they are wrong to apply that standard. The fact that our founders did not mention Israel almost 200 years before its establishment in 1948 does not mean that they would have rejected the inclusion of that country’s name alongside the name of the holy city of Jerusalem.”

D. He stated that their reasoning is “jiggery-pokery, pure applesauce.”

E. He stated that their reasoning is “yisgadaly v’yiskadashy, pure gribenes.”

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What role did the Israeli company Wix play in this year’s Super Bowl?

A. Wix is the parent company of Sabra, which produces the hummus which has been the National Football League’s official dip since 2013. Sabra hummus was sold throughout Levi’s stadium, and was featured in an ad during the halftime show.

B. Wix is an engineering company that produces a variety of precision tools for the Israeli military aircraft industry, including engine thrust reversers, gearbox monitors, and engine pressure gauges. The NFL hired them to produce a small handtool that the referees could use to quickly measure the pressure of footballs, in order to avoid any possibility of another Deflategate scandal.

C. Wix is a “do-it-yourself” website development platform that advertised during the Super Bowl for the second straight year. Last year’s ad featured Brett Favre and this year’s ad featured Kung Fu Panda.

D. Beyoncé released a new song and video last week, entitled Formation and she then performed the song during the Super Bowl halftime show. All the costumes in the video, as well as the costumes she wore during the Super Bowl performance, were created by the Israeli designer Alon Livne and his company Wix. Livne had previously created the wardrobe for Beyoncé’s “Mrs. Carter Show World Tour” in 2013 as well as gowns worn by Naomi Campbell, Lady Gaga, and others.

E. Wix is the graphic design and photo-editing company which was previously in the news when a Brooklyn-based Chassidic newspaper ran a picture of President Obama and his aides watching a live video broadcast of the raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed. Wix was responsible for the version of the picture that ran in the Chassidic press, which had Hillary Clinton removed, as the newspaper did not want to include a picture of a woman due to religious sensibilities. For the Super Bowl, Wix filtered the broadcast which went out to Chassidic communities in Israel and elsewhere, removing any shots of CBS’s female broadcaster Tracy Wolfson, Beyoncé’s entire performance, and all uses of the term “pigskin” by the commentators.

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The focus today is on Iowa, with the 2016 caucuses just a few hours away. Iowa’s first Jewish settler dates back to 1833, when Alexander Levi arrived in Dubuque from New Orleans and helped develop lead mines. More recently, a Jewish resident of Postville, Iowa, referred to Jewish life in that town as “moshiach time” [messiah time]. Why did he say that?

A. Postville is the location of Agriprocessors, a kosher slaughterhouse and meat packing plant. Its former leader, Sholom Rubashkin, has been serving time in jail in New York after being convicted of bank fraud, money laundering, and other crimes. The statement was made because Rubashkin was recently released from prison and returned to his home in Postville.

B. The statement was actually made in a wishful manner. The man had recently moved to Postville from New York because of a job transfer. As he walked down Main Street looking in vain for a bagel store, he was trying to figure out a way out of Postville, concluding that only the coming of the Messiah would help.

C. Postville is the location of Agri Star, a kosher meat packing plant which replaced the bankrupt Agriprocessors business. The man was reflecting on his time working for Agriprocessors when federal agents raided the facility and shut it down, and comparing that to today, when he is happily employed by the new owners who are running the business without scandal.

D. There is a belief in Judaism that the messiah will come “in a generation that loses hope.” The statement was made when the man read the latest polls in Postville showing Donald Trump with an 18 point lead.

E. The man was referring to religious services which are held at the Chabad of North Iowa in Postville. Attendees include Chassidim of all stripes, including Lubavitchers, Gerers and Bobovers, a coming together of diverse Chassidic groups that usually do not pray, work, or socialize together.

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Sarah Palin is in the news for her endorsement of Donald Trump for president. What member of her family has a name which is of Jewish origin?

“Sarah Palin” by David Shankbone is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

A. Her daughter Willow, who was born on Sukkot and is named after the willow branch that is part of the lulav. Palin chose the name willow (rather than myrtle or palm, the other parts of the lulav) because it is a symbol for lips, as Palin kissed her daughter when she was born.

B. Her dog, Jill Hadassah, named for Palin’s college roommate Jill and the Biblical Hadassah.

C. Sarah Palin herself, as her birth name was Sally Palin. In high school Palin became very active in her church Bible studies group, and she decided to change her name to Sarah. Palin wrote in her high school yearbook, “God changed Sarai’s name to Sarah, and now he has changed my name from Sally to Sarah.”

D. Her oldest son Track, because he was conceived underneath the bleachers at the Juneau Jewish Day School running track.

E. Her rifle, which she has stated is a member of her family just like Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig. She calls the rifle, which she named after the Israeli Prime Minister, Bibi Gun.

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Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom has aroused controversy by her critical remarks concerning Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. There have been Jews in Sweden for many years. What is perhaps the first record of a Jewish presence in Sweden?

A. Jews were well established throughout much of Europe by the Middle Ages; however, there are no records of Jews anywhere in Scandinavia until the late 1700’s. In 1789, Mayer Moses Rothschild, a member of the prominent banking family, moved from Frankfurt to Stockholm to open a branch of the M. Rothschild & Sons Bank and establish a relationship with King Adolf Frederick and the Swedish royal family.

B. The first identified Jews in Sweden were the Vikings Erik the Red and his son Leif Erikson. Erik was known as “The Red,” referencing a red heart, a symbol of his compassionate leadership of the Viking communities. His son Leif was actually named Lev, the Hebrew word for heart, but the name has been anglicized to Leif.

C. It was not unusual for Jews to serve as court physicians in the royal houses of Europe during the Middle Ages (5th-15th centuries) and Early Modern Period (15th-18th centuries). An October 1557 letter makes a reference to the Jewish doctor of Sweden’s King Gustav Vasa.

D. There are some theories that the Vikings of Scandinavia were actually descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel. While there is not a lot of hard evidence, there is a record of a stone found in the area of modern day Malmö, which contained Hebrew letters, and is believed to be from a grave site. In 2003, researchers from Tel Aviv University began a DNA study in conjunction with the University of Gothenburg to see if  so-called “Ashkenazic genes” might be found in the Swedish population, but results have so far been inconclusive.

E. The first record of Jews in Sweden was Waterloo, released by ABBA in 1974 after winning that year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The band, consisting of four members–Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog, and Björn Ulvaeus–got its name when Benny’s 2-year-old son Ari came into the room while the band was rehearsing, and called out to him, “Abba, Abba.” The other band members were not familiar with the Hebrew word for father, but liked the sound of it.

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