In 2011, NBA Superstar Darryl Dawkins, known as Chocolate Thunder, visited Crane Lake Camp, a sleepaway camp in western Massachutsetts run by the Union for Reform Judaism. What type of class did Dawkins, who passed away this week, run for the campers?
A. He taught them how to shoot free throws.
B. He taught them how to shoot layups.
C. He taught them a class on how to apply Jewish precepts to basketball. For example, if one commits an intentional foul, are two free throws a sufficient penalty, or should the offender also be required to bring a sin offering to center court.
D. He taught them how to dunk the ball (though for this class, they lowered the height of the goal to 8 feet).
E. He taught them how to make a healthy fruit salad topped with Chocolate Thunder chocolate syrup.
When Noel Biderman, CEO of the recently hacked adultery dating website Ashley Madison, introduced the site in Israel last year, what did he say?
A. “Before the launch of Ashley Madison in Israel, people had affairs, and when I leave, they’ll have affairs. So why not give them a social network where they can be together.”
B. “I’m not telling anyone to violate the 7th commandment prohibition against adultery. I’m just saying that it takes a Yiddishe kop to figure out how to make money off of people who are violating the commandment.”
C. “The last time I was in Israel was for my bar mitzvah. I gotta say, my bubby was a lot happier that time.”
D. “I am happily married, and I have never cheated on my wife. But many Israelis have, so I hope they’ll use Ashley Madison. And we do offer the option of specifying that you prefer a Jewish hook up.”
E. “I was going to incorporate in Israel as YentaTheNaughtyMatchmaker.com, but the Fiddler on the Roof people threatened to sue, so we’ll just stick with Ashley Madison.”
A. Actress Bebe Neuwirth (known for her role as Frasier Crane’s wife Lilith) grew up in Princeton near Jon Stewart (then known as Jonathan Leibowitz). She is four years older than Stewart, and actually worked as his bar mitzvah tutor at the Princeton Jewish Center.
B. Stewart and his family were not religious and he did not have a bar mitzvah at age 13. When he started doing stand-up in New York in the mid-1980’s, he was taken under the wing of Manny Dworman, owner of the Comedy Cellar where Stewart got his start. When Dworman learned that Stewart had not had a bar mitzvah, he arranged for Jon to do so at the club on Stewart’s 26th birthday, which they billed as Jon Stewart’s Double Bar Mitzvah and Comedy Hootenanny.
C. Jon’s bar mitzvah parsha was Lech Lecha. In his speech, he quoted Chapter 17, verse 5 where God said, “Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham.” Stewart then said that God “called me last night and said ‘Neither shall thy name any more be called Jonathan Leibowitz, but thy name shall be Jon Stewart.’ So please make out the bar mitzvah checks to Jon Stewart. That’s S. T. E. W. A. R. T. Thank you and good Shabbos.”
D. He was on crutches because he learned the hard way that “playing basketball on a skateboard” wasn’t a good idea right before your bar mitzvah.
E. Jon’s parents had divorced when he was 11, and his mother struggled financially. Jon had a bar mitzvah at the Princeton Jewish Center, but there was no party. After the ceremony, his mother took Jon and his three brothers to lunch at Jon’s favorite restaurant, Arby’s, or as Jon called it, “Arby’s. The fast food restaurant that makes a Jew long for kosher meat.”
In 1985, while Jonathan Pollard was working as a civilian analyst for the Navy, he removed classified material from his workplace. Recognizing that he might be caught, Pollard had set up a secret code with his wife Anne to signal her to remove the classified information from their home if necessary. When the FBI was alerted to the fact that Pollard had taken documents, they set up an interview with him. During the meeting, Pollard got permission to call his wife, and he used the secret code in the conversation, leading her to remove the stolen documents. What was the secret code that fooled the FBI?
Shark attacks are on the rise around the world, with numerous attacks off the Carolina coast this summer and a recent fatal attack off the Australian coast. What was unusual about a shark attack in the Middle East in 2010?
A. The Israeli navy was engaged in anti-terror training near Eilat on the Red Sea coast. The Israelis launched a small dinghy with two sailors on board, to mimic the situation where terrorists might try to land on the beach in a small craft. The dinghy, however, was overturned by a shark that proceeded to attack the sailors. Thankfully other sailors on a nearby Israeli warship were able to shoot the shark before the two men were severely injured.
B. Following a number of shark attacks in the Red Sea waters near Sharm el-Sheikh, including the fatal mauling of a 70-year-old German woman, an Egyptian authority suggested that the Israeli Mossad was responsible. “What is being said about the Mossad throwing the deadly shark (in the sea) to hit tourism in Egypt is not out of the question,” said South Sinai Governor Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shousha.
C. The Israeli military was participating in war games over the Red Sea. A huge bomb was accidentally dropped very close to the Eilat coast. The explosion was so large that fish, coral, and even a few sharks were blasted out of the water and rained down upon the nearby beach. Thunder Levin, who had previously written such films as Mutant Vampire Zombies from the 'Hood! happened to be vacationing on that beach and used the event as inspiration for the writing of Sharknado, which became a huge cult hit.
D. In what was the world’s first indoor shark attack, an incident occurred at the Underwater Observatory Marine Park in Eilat. The facility, which includes a 1000 square meter shark pool, suffered a failure in a glass wall, enabling some sharks to come crashing through into the viewing area, where a number of tourists were attacked, though none seriously.
E. The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo created an exhibit called “Mysterious Animals of the Bible” featuring animals mentioned in the Old Testament that are either mythical, now extinct, or not able to be identified as modern species. The animals, such as the attacus (a kind of locust), basilisk (believed to be a cobra or viper) and cockatrice (a serpent), were represented in the exhibit by living animals that were reminiscent of the biblical animals in some way. One biblical animal, the Leviathan, or sea monster, was represented by a great white shark. According to the Talmud Baba Bathra 75a, the Leviathan is to be slain and served to the righteous at the Time of Redemption. A mentally deranged person reached into the tank to remove the shark, shouting that he was going to eat the creature to help bring about the coming of the Messiah. The shark bit the man’s arm before he was rescued and apprehended by guards.
Shark attacks are on the rise around the world, with numerous attacks off the Carolina coast this summer and a recent fatal attack off the Australian coast. What was unusual about a shark attack in the Middle East in 2010?
A. The Israeli navy was engaged in anti-terror training near Eilat on the Red Sea coast. The Israelis launched a small dinghy with two sailors on board, to mimic the situation where terrorists might try to land on the beach in a small craft. The dinghy, however, was overturned by a shark that proceeded to attack the sailors. Thankfully other sailors on a nearby Israeli warship were able to shoot the shark before the two men were severely injured.
B. Following a number of shark attacks in the Red Sea waters near Sharm el-Sheikh, including the fatal mauling of a 70-year-old German woman, an Egyptian authority suggested that the Israeli Mossad was responsible. “What is being said about the Mossad throwing the deadly shark (in the sea) to hit tourism in Egypt is not out of the question,” said South Sinai Governor Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shousha.
C. The Israeli military was participating in war games over the Red Sea. A huge bomb was accidentally dropped very close to the Eilat coast. The explosion was so large that fish, coral, and even a few sharks were blasted out of the water and rained down upon the nearby beach. Thunder Levin, who had previously written such films as Mutant Vampire Zombies from the 'Hood! happened to be vacationing on that beach and used the event as inspiration for the writing of Sharknado, which became a huge cult hit.
D. In what was the world’s first indoor shark attack, an incident occurred at the Underwater Observatory Marine Park in Eilat. The facility, which includes a 1000 square meter shark pool, suffered a failure in a glass wall, enabling some sharks to come crashing through into the viewing area, where a number of tourists were attacked, though none seriously.
E. The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo created an exhibit called “Mysterious Animals of the Bible” featuring animals mentioned in the Old Testament that are either mythical, now extinct, or not able to be identified as modern species. The animals, such as the attacus (a kind of locust), basilisk (believed to be a cobra or viper) and cockatrice (a serpent), were represented in the exhibit by living animals that were reminiscent of the biblical animals in some way. One biblical animal, the Leviathan, or sea monster, was represented by a great white shark. According to the Talmud Baba Bathra 75a, the Leviathan is to be slain and served to the righteous at the Time of Redemption. A mentally deranged person reached into the tank to remove the shark, shouting that he was going to eat the creature to help bring about the coming of the Messiah. The shark bit the man’s arm before he was rescued and apprehended by guards.
From 1969 through 1971, Bill Cosby starred in a sitcom entitled The Bill Cosby Show, in which he played Chet Kincaid, a high school physical education teacher. The final episode of the series featured a Jewish character. What was the premise of that episode?
A. A new student, Sarah, entered the high school. As a religious Jew, she would not change to gym clothes to play on the basketball team. The other girls on the team made fun of her for playing in a long skirt, and as a result, Sarah refused to participate. At first Mr. Kincaid thought she was just being difficult and he threatened to kick her off the team. But when he saw how resolute she was, he spoke with her parents and learned about the Jewish laws regarding modesty. He then called a team meeting without Sarah in attendance and explained the situation to the students. At the next practice, Sarah walked into the gym to see that all of the girls were wearing long skirts, and she ran over and joyfully joined in.
B. Danny Rosen was a new student who had transferred into Mr. Kincaid's school. Mr. Kincaid noticed Danny sitting by himself at lunch looking sad and asked him what was wrong. Danny explained that he had no friends, and that his bar mitzvah was in just a few weeks. To convince other students to come to Danny's bar mitzvah, Mr. Kincaid offered to do a comedy routine at the party. As a result, all the kids attended and listened to Mr. Kincaid tell funny stories that were based on the hijinks of the students. This episode became the basis for Cosby's Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids animated television program.
C. A new teacher, Miss Jacobson, joined the faculty of the school as the girls gym teacher. Mr. Kincaid befriended her, showed her around the school, and took her under his wing. As they became more friendly, Mr. Kincaid asked her out on a date. She explained to him that she was touched that he asked, but that she could not go out with him as she had committed herself to only dating Jewish men. At first Mr. Kincaid was insulted, and he started treating her very curtly when he saw her at school. Eventually, however, he recognized that he was wrong, and he apologized to her, saying, “I shouldn’t have treated you badly. I should have respected your wishes as a proud Jewish woman. So now can we just go shoot some baskets?”
D. A new student, Harry, joined the community baseball team which Mr. Kincaid coached on Sundays. Harry, a Chassidic Jew, wore a yarmulke and had payess, and the other kids made fun of him and his “baby curls.” As it turned out, Harry was a great hitter and fielder, and he became the team hero. But he faced a dilemma when the next game was switched from Sunday to Saturday. Harry snuck out of his house on Shabbat and came to the ball field, intending to play. But following words of wisdom from Mr. Kincaid about being true to your beliefs, Harry decided to abide by his faith and headed off to synagogue.
E. Mr. Kincaid’s school hosted a Career Day program which featured parents of some of the students, who addressed a school assembly and discussed their jobs. David Cohen’s father spoke to the students about his job as a criminal defense attorney. After the talk, Mr. Kincaid approached him and said, “Mr. Cohen, can I have your business card? I gotta feeling that I’m gonna need it some day.”
While Greece does not seem to have too many friends left in the world lately, Israel and Greece have maintained very close ties for many years. Speaking of the strong cultural ties between Greece and Israel in 2007, then-Israeli President Shimon Peres said what about the relationship between the two countries?
A. In Israel we love the Greek food. For us Greece is a country but also a flavor.
B. In Israel we love the Greek wine. For us Greece is a country but also a fragrant vineyard.
C. In Israel we love the Greek music. For us Greece is a country but also a melody.
D. In Israel we love the Greek dancing. For us Greece is a country but also a sensuous movement.
E. In Israel we love Greece. For us Greece is a country but also a great lubricant.
While Greece does not seem to have too many friends left in the world lately, Israel and Greece have maintained very close ties for many years. Speaking of the strong cultural ties between Greece and Israel in 2007, then-Israeli President Shimon Peres said what about the relationship between the two countries?
A. In Israel we love the Greek food. For us Greece is a country but also a flavor.
B. In Israel we love the Greek wine. For us Greece is a country but also a fragrant vineyard.
C. In Israel we love the Greek music. For us Greece is a country but also a melody.
D. In Israel we love the Greek dancing. For us Greece is a country but also a sensuous movement.
E. In Israel we love Greece. For us Greece is a country but also a great lubricant.
