Bill Clinton was the first president to hold a candle lighting ceremony for Chanukkah at the White House, in 1993. What did a 6-year-old girl do at the event?
A. She wandered off in the White House, eventually coming upon Chelsea Clinton in her bedroom. Chelsea and the girl played games and Chelsea read her a book until the Secret Service came in looking for the lost girl.
B. She got too close to the table which held the menorah and knocked into it, causing the menorah to fall over, igniting the tablecloth. The Secret Service quickly snuffed out the flames.
C. She got too close to the candles, causing her ponytail to catch fire. President Clinton quickly snuffed out the fire with his hands.
D. She got too close to President Clinton. The Secret Service quickly snuffed her out with their hands.
E. She sang the Chanukkah blessings and then taught President Clinton how to play dreidel.
President Abraham Lincoln sent a Jewish man, Issachar Zacharie, as an emissary to New Orleans to promote loyalty to the Union and to spy on Confederate troop movements. How did Lincoln know Zacharie?
A. Zacharie was an attorney who gave Lincoln his first job in Springfield in 1836 after Lincoln was admitted to the bar.
B. Zacharie was a banker who provided funding for Lincoln’s presidential campaign in 1860.
C. Zacharie was a barber who removed hair from Lincon’s face.
D. Zacharie was a podiatrist who removed corns from Lincoln’s feet.
E. Zacharie was a mohel who removed, well, you know what, from Lincoln’s sons Robert, Edward, William, and Thomas, a practice that was common among non-Jews as well as Jews.
A Quizbook of Presidential Jewish Trivia Facts & Fun
✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡
The presidential campaign is heating up, and American Jews, like everyone else, are trying to learn as much as they can about the candidates. Every candidate has a Jewish connection, or maybe many Jewish connections.
Is Donald Trump going to stop Mexican rapists from crossing the Gaza border?
Will Mike Huckabee convert so he can wear a yarmulke over his bald spot?
Did Hillary Clinton offend Orthodox Jews by dressing like a man?
What did Lawrence Lessig smuggle into the Soviet Union in his pants (and who the heck is Lawrence Lessig?)
Does Jeb Bush have dreidel cred?
In RASHI, RAMBAM and PRESIDENTIAL-DINGDONG: A Quizbook of Presidential Jewish Trivia Facts & Fun, you’ll learn the answers to these and many more questions about the ridiculously large number of candidates for president and their connection to the Chosen People. Click here to learn more.
President Abraham Lincoln sent a Jewish man, Issachar Zacharie, as an emissary to New Orleans to promote loyalty to the Union and to spy on Confederate troop movements. How did Lincoln know Zacharie?
A. Zacharie was an attorney who gave Lincoln his first job in Springfield in 1836 after Lincoln was admitted to the bar.
B. Zacharie was a banker who provided funding for Lincoln’s presidential campaign in 1860.
C. Zacharie was a barber who removed hair from Lincon’s face.
D. Zacharie was a podiatrist who removed corns from Lincoln’s feet.
E. Zacharie was a mohel who removed, well, you know what, from Lincoln’s sons Robert, Edward, William, and Thomas, a practice that was common among non-Jews as well as Jews.
A Quizbook of Presidential Jewish Trivia Facts & Fun
✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡
The presidential campaign is heating up, and American Jews, like everyone else, are trying to learn as much as they can about the candidates. Every candidate has a Jewish connection, or maybe many Jewish connections.
Is Donald Trump going to stop Mexican rapists from crossing the Gaza border?
Will Mike Huckabee convert so he can wear a yarmulke over his bald spot?
Did Hillary Clinton offend Orthodox Jews by dressing like a man?
What did Lawrence Lessig smuggle into the Soviet Union in his pants (and who the heck is Lawrence Lessig?)
Does Jeb Bush have dreidel cred?
In RASHI, RAMBAM and PRESIDENTIAL-DINGDONG: A Quizbook of Presidential Jewish Trivia Facts & Fun, you’ll learn the answers to these and many more questions about the ridiculously large number of candidates for president and their connection to the Chosen People. Click here to learn more.
When Ben Carson visited Israel for the first time in December 2014, he quizzed his guide about the Israeli system of government, asking “In the United States, we have Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. What do you have?” When the guide explained Israel’s parliamentary system in the Knesset, he asked “And what is the role of the Knesset?” After further explanation from the guide, Carson finally said what?
A. “So it’s the Knesset that makes the laws enabling Israelis to have guns. And because of that, Israel can stand up to its enemies. I respect that.”
B. “It sounds logical. Maybe that’s what the United States needs to ensure a government that works.”
C. “So could a Muslim be elected the head of the Knesset? I've gotten in trouble for saying a Muslim shouldn’t be president of the United States, but I’ll say it now. I don’t think a Muslim should be president of the Knesset either.”
D. “It sounds complex. Why don’t they just adopt the system we have?”
E. “That’s interesting. But did you know that I achieved fame by separating co-joined twins? And here I am in the land of King Solomon, whose claim to fame is that he suggested separating a baby into two to solve a dispute between two women. I separate babies and the King of Israel separates babies. Now surely that can’t be a coincidence.”
How did a Jew named Abraham Zacuto play a role in the saving of Christopher Columbus’s life?
A. During the Inquisition, Jews were rounded up throughout Spain and given the choice to convert or be killed. But many non-Jews were swept up in these efforts, as well. Columbus was imprisoned in Seville in 1491 where Zacuto, a rabbi, was the leader of the Jewish community. Zacuto was able to convince the Inquisition authorities that Columbus was not Jewish, at which point he was freed.
B. Zacuto was a financier and banker for the Vatican in the late 1400’s during the papacy of Pope Innocent VIII. Columbus, who had been a trader sailing around the Mediterranean, was imprisoned by the Berbers on the North African coast and was at risk of being put to death because of claims that he had cheated local merchants. Zacuto, who knew Columbus’s family in Genoa where he was born, arranged to make a payment to Columbus’s captors, who then expelled him to Spain, where he made his connection with Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand.
C. Zacuto, an astronomer, prepared the astronomical charts which guided Columbus on his voyages. In 1502, Columbus and his crew were stranded off the Jamaican coast and in danger from the natives. Learning from the charts that a lunar eclipse was imminent, Columbus told the natives that if they did not cooperate with him, the moon would disappear from the sky. While they did not believe him at first, when the eclipse took place, the frightened natives relented and brought food to Columbus and his crew.
D. Zacuto was the doctor on Columbus’s second voyage to the New World in 1493. On the journey, Columbus took ill with dysentery, but he recovered with the help of herbs and potions provided by Zacuto.
E. Columbus and Zacuto were friends growing up in Genoa. Columbus attended Zacuto’s bar mitzvah, and at the party, Columbus suddenly choked on a meatball. Abie gave his friend Chris a whack on the back which popped the meatball out of his throat, saving Columbus from certain death and evoking a rousing “Mazel Tov” from the crowd. In appreciation, Columbus later named one of his ships after Zacuto’s mother, Penina.
Jews worldwide are celebrating Shemini Atzeret by chanting the Tefilat Geshem, the prayer for rain. A group of Jewish witches in Northern California will gather in a sukkah built around a hot tub, while invoking Native American ancestors and the Canaanite storm and rain god Ba’al Hadad. What is this community of Jewish witches called?
A body of rabbis in Israel calling themselves the Sanhedrin recently tried Pope Francis in absentia, for “crimes leading to the mortal endangerment of Israel and the Jewish nation.” What specifically did they claim was his crime, leading them to write [somewhat incoherently] that “these actions, to our great dismay, are consistent with a long series of actions and stances that are as in the days of the Roman Catholic Religion, that swore to persecute Israel because we refused to accept their Messiah as the Messiah of Israel, and to renounce our faith?”
A. The Sanhedrin tried Pope Francis over his statement about homosexuals, where he said, “If someone is gay and searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” The rabbis, who had previously worked together with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem (the head of the Catholic Church in Israel) and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (the top Muslim cleric in Israel) to oppose any movement toward acceptance of homosexuality, saw the Pope’s statement as a betrayal of their joint efforts to fight against what they see as a biblical sin.
B. The Sanhedrin tried Pope Francis for recognizing “the organization known as the Palestinian Authority as a nation,” and naming Abu Mazen, “the head of said authority, as an ‘Angel of Peace’.” A letter from the Secretariat of the Court of Mount Zion of the Sanhedrin went on to say, “If His Honor the Pope, and the Vatican, do not apologize within two weeks of receiving this letter, and if he does not change his ways, we shall judge these actions in the Court of Mount Zion, in a court of 71 Jewish elders of Zion, and enact the prophecy of ‘The liberators will rise up upon Mount Zion, to judge the Mountain of Esau and the kingdom shall be God’s (Obadiah 1:21). The court shall judge the Vatican in its presence or in absentia, and it is possible that the Vatican will be found guilty of anti-Semitism, as has been known to be done several times throughout history, and to place responsibility upon the Vatican for all of the outcomes of its actions.”
C. The Sanhedrin tried Pope Francis because of his comments on climate change. Charged Rabbi Yehuda Halevy of the Sanhedrin, “Pope Francis stated that man has contributed to climate change and man must do something to reverse this process. This is blasphemy, as our liturgy clearly states ‘Mashiv HaRuach U’Morid HaGashem. God causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall.’ We are disappointed that a man such as the Pope, who claims to believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, would challenge God’s dominion over the earth, and we intend to hold him responsible before a court of rabbinic sages.”
D. The Sanhedrin tried Pope Francis because of his support of the Iran nuclear deal. The Pope’s spokesman had said “The way to resolve disputes and difficulties should always be that of dialogue and negotiation.” Sanhedrin spokesman Rabbi Yechiel Cohen stated, “There can be no negotiation about the right of Israel to exist. Anyone who believes otherwise is an enemy of Israel, and we will not allow outsiders to lead us down a path of destruction.”
E. The Sanhedrin tried Pope Francis over his red zucchetto, the small skullcap that he regularly wears. The skullcap had fallen from the Pope’s head as he bent to kiss a child during a recent public audience at the Vatican, and writing could be seen printed on the inside. According to Rabbi Eliyahu Aryeh Kiddin of the Sanhedrin, “The skullcap that the Pope wore was clearly stolen from a synagogue, as evidenced by the fact that the inside of the yarmulke read ‘Bar Mitzvah of Jacob Bienenfeld, Yaacov ben Moishe, May 16, 2015, 27 Iyyar 5775’.”
A lawsuit has been filed in California against a number of synagogues, including Young Israel of Beverly Hills, alleging a violation related to the High Holidays. What is the lawsuit about?
A. On the High Holidays, these synagogues do not open their parking lots as it is a violation of Jewish law for congregants to drive. The suit, brought by residents who live near the synagogues, alleges that congregants are parking their cars illegally on side streets near the synagogues, blocking driveways, fire hydrants, and cross walks.
B. The lawsuit, filed by neighbors of the synagogues, states that shofar blowing in these synagogues during morning minyan and throughout the day on the High Holidays is a violation of noise regulations.
C. The suit, by animal rights activists, aims to prevent the synagogues from participating in the kapparos ritual wherein live chickens are swung overhead between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as a form of atonement for sins.
D. The lawsuit was filed by animal rights activists who allege that the throwing of bread into waters for the pre-High Holidays tradition of tashlich is dangerous for ducks and other wildlife whose digestive systems are negatively affected when they eat the bread products.
E. The lawsuit was filed by congregants of these synagogues who allege that movie stars and other celebrities who are members of these institutions are given better seats at High Holiday services, even when their Kol Nidre appeal donation is lower than that of wealthy, but non-famous, members.
Kim Davis is the Rowan County, Kentucky clerk who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses because of her religious objection to same-sex marriage. What Jewish reference did her attorney, Mathew Staver, make when speaking about this case?
A. “Would the Supreme Court tell a rabbi to marry a Christian and a Jew? Or a Muslim and a Jew? What kind of rabbi would agree to that? None. And that's what we’re talking about here. You’re asking a Christian woman to enable the marriage of two men, or two women. So it’s not a matter of whether you think that’s okay, or that the Supreme Court thinks that’s okay. It’s simply a matter that Mrs. Davis, as a Christian woman, does not think it’s okay.”
B. “Does that mean that if you’re Christian, don’t apply here; if you’re a Jew, you gotta get — what happened in Nazi Germany, what happened there first, they removed the Jews from government public employment, then they stopped patronizing them in their private businesses, then they continued to stigmatize them, then they were the ‘problems,’ then they killed them.”
C. “Mrs. Davis is not the first person to suggest that certain couples just do not go together. Remember Tevye’s words in Fiddler on the Roof, when Chava tells him, ‘Fyedka is not a creature, Papa. Fyedka is a man!’? Tevye replies, ‘Who says he isn’t? It’s just that he’s a different kind of man. As the Good Book says: Each shall seek his own kind. In other words, a bird may love a fish, but where would they build a home together?’ In Rowan County we too are talking about men who are ‘a different kind of man.’ There is no place for them to build a home together in Anatevka, and there is no place for them to build a home together in Kentucky.”
D. “I don’t understand all the hatred that is being spewed toward my client. She did not make up the rules. Those are God’s rules. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In Leviticus in the Old Testament, it says, ‘Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abhorrence’ (Leviticus 18:22) and ‘If a man lies with a male 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’ (Leviticus 20:13). All that Mrs. Davis is doing is refusing to issue marriage licenses. She’s certainly not suggesting anyone be put to death.”
E. “Tu on a khazer a shtrayml, vet er vern rov? If you put a shtreimel on a pig, would it make him a rabbi? I don’t think so. And if you put a bridal gown on a groom, does it make him a bride? That I don’t think so either.”
