In 2008, at a fundraiser honoring Rahm Emanuel, Hillary Clinton described her relationship with him using a Jewish reference. What did Hillary say?

A. You know, Rahm and I have been through a lot together. Now, there’s a word my family always used when I was growing up to describe the relationship you have with someone who understands where you come from, your roots, your values. That’s the word we used in the Rodham household in Park Ridge, Illinois. The word was…“landsman.” So, Rahm, we’re proud to consider you a landsman, an honorary member of the Rodham clan.

B. You know, Rahm and I have been through a lot together. Now, there’s a word my family always used when I was growing up to describe someone who always did the right thing, who always put others first, who always showed caring and compassion. That’s the word we used in the Rodham household in Park Ridge, Illinois. The word was...“mentsch.” So, Rahm, we’re lucky to have someone as special as you in our world, someone whose very being defines the word mentsch.

C. You know, Rahm and I have been through a lot together. Now, there’s a word my family always used when I was growing up to describe the feeling you have when someone you care deeply about does well in life. That’s the word we used in the Rodham household in Park Ridge, Illinois. The word was…“naches.” So, Rahm, I take great pride, great naches, from your success.

D. You know, Rahm and I have been through a lot together. Now, there’s a word my family always used when I was growing up to describe the relationship you have with someone who has shared triumph and hardship with you. That’s the word we used in the Rodham household in Park Ridge, Illinois. The word was...“mishpucheh.” So, Rahm, we’re lucky to have you as part of our family.

E. You know, I’ve been friends with Rahm’s father Gazzi, for many years. I remember attending Rahm’s bar mitzvah, and how moving it was when I heard the words, “Ya’amod, Rahm ben Gazzi ha-Maftir.” I saw the look of pride in Gazzi’s eyes at that moment as his son was called up. Rahm ben Gazzi. Rahm ben Gazzi. I knew that moment would always stay with me, and even now those words follow me every day. Rahm ben Gazzi. In my dreams (and nightmares) I still keep hearing those words. Ben Gazzi. Ben Gazzi.

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In 1998, despite the fact that Israel was called an “illegal state” and a “parasite” by Iranian president Mohammad Khatami, there was a controversy when it was reported that Israel and Iran were in fact involved in some type of business dealings. What was the controversy?

A. California pistachio growers were unhappy that Israel was importing most of its pistachios from Iran. Israel claimed that it was importing its pistachios from England and Germany, which was suspicious as these countries do not produce pistachios. And as Israeli wholesaler Moshe Mussafi stated, “It’s no secret. The taste [of the Iranian nut] is better.”

B. Israel was reported to have sold antitank guns and shells to Iran for use against the regime of Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Israel denied the claim, but Iraqi newspapers printed pictures of unexploded shells launched from Iran toward Baghdad that had Hebrew writing on them.

C. While Israel had been a major importer of Iranian oil under the regime of the Shah, it was assumed that this trade had ended with the Iranian revolution in 1979. However, the New York Times reported in April 1998 that despite the Ayatollah Khomeini’s reference to Israel as the “Little Satan,” he had allowed Israel to continue purchasing Iranian oil as Israel paid with American dollars, which were very valuable to the Islamic government of Iran.

D. Iran was the world’s largest producer and exporter of pomegranates. However, in 1998, the crop suffered from a disease known as Alternaria Fruit Rot, which decimated the harvest. Concerned that their enemy Iraq, the second largest exporter of pomegranates, would overtake the market, Iran secretly purchased 10,000 kilograms of Israeli pomegranates which they relabeled as Iranian in order to fulfill their outstanding orders.

E. In July 1998, a strike by Mifal Ha-Ashpah, the Israeli waste removal company, left garbage piling up in the streets, causing a serious health problem in the hot summer weather. The rat population proliferated, leading to the threat of epidemic diseases spread by the rats. Benjamin Netanyahu, serving in his first term as Israeli Prime Minister, secretly met with Iranian president Mohammad Khatami in Aqaba, Jordan, to arrange for the purchase of 20,000 Persian cats to use for the control of the rats. The cats were flown into Israel on board an El Al flight dubbed “Operation El Ali Katz.”

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Four Questions is so passé. Add today’s question to your seder for Five Questions. Then, click here to obtain a free copy of RASHI, RAMBAM and HAGGADAH-LAMADINGDONG: A Quiz Haggadah of Jewish Trivia Facts & Fun and you will have another twenty five questions, for a total of Thirty Questions.

Had He led us to the Promised Land and not given us Thirty Questions, it would not have been enough. Only when you add RASHI, RAMBAM and HAGGADAH-LAMADINGDONG to your seder can you say Dayenu.

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The Reverend Theodore Parker, a renowned abolitionist in the 1800's, inspired Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., among others, with his writings and speeches. What statement did Reverend Parker make in reference to the Jews and Passover?

A. Representative James Buffinton of Massachusetts invited Revered Parker to deliver the opening prayer for the House of Representatives in April of 1860, as many southern states were discussing secession. Said Parker to Congress, “As our Jewish brothers and sisters gather together this week to observe Passover and celebrate the freedom of their ancestors, let us all pray today for the freedom of our Negro brothers and sisters in the south. I call on all of you, our Representatives of this great nation, to join with me in the words of the spiritual. Let my people go. Let my people go. Let my people go. Amen.”

B. In an 1860 meeting with President Lincoln to discuss the issue of slavery, Reverend Parker said, “Mr President. I stand with you in working to combat the evils of slavery. In the Old Testament, we read of the plight of the Israelite people and their long march to freedom, crossing the Red Sea, traversing the Sinai Desert, and finally crossing into the Promised Land. I will work with you to help the Negroes of the south on a similar journey. However, I beseech you to provide them loaves of bread for their journey. This matzah is just too constipating.”

C. Reverend Parker was not involved in the anti-slavery movement until he was invited to a Passover seder by Rabbi David Einhorn, a leader of the reform movement in the United States and a staunch abolitionist. On the Sunday following the seder in 1859, Reverend Parker delivered a sermon at his church stating, “Having recently heard the story of the Jewish people bravely crossing the Red Sea to freedom, I recognize that we all must take responsibility for those who are enslaved today. Therefore I am committing myself to a life devoted to the abolition of slavery. I will not rest until every slave is free to cross the Mason-Dixon line, our symbolic Red Sea.”

D. Delivering a sermon to his congregants at the 28th Congregational Society of Boston in 1858, Parker said, “Just as the wrath of the Lord rained down upon the Pharaoh in Egypt to bring freedom to the Israelite people, so shall the Lord in our time bring his wrath upon the slave masters and those who would lead our country to war to protect this evil institution.”

E. In his book, Life and Correspondene of Theod. Parker, Minister of the 28th Congregational Society, Boston, Parker wrote, “I doubt not that they [the Jews] did sometimes kill a Christian baby at the Passover.”

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This week’s question comes from RASHI, RAMBAM and HAGGADAH-LAMADINGDONG: A Quiz Haggadah of Jewish Trivia Facts & Fun. Click here to find out how you can obtain your free copy.

Your seder guests can recite the Four Questions in their sleep. In fact, they probably are sleeping at your seder. With RASHI, RAMBAM and HAGGADAH-LAMADINGDONG, you get 25 more questions and answers guaranteed to keep your guests awake no matter how late your seder drags on.

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Which of the following are all real Haggadot?

A. Sixty-Minute Seder, Reudor's the Doodled Family Haggadah, and Fifty Shades of Haggadah.

B. Sammy Spider's First Haggadah, Haggadah in Another Dimension, and The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County Haggadah.

C. Haggadah Good Feeling About This, So Called Seder: A Hip Hop Haggadah, and Ina Gada Haggadah.

D. Uh! Oh! Passover Haggadah, The Un-Haggadah, and Haggadah Be Me.

E. Haggadah for Jews & Buddhists, Haggadah for the Liberated Lamb, and Haggadah for Stoners.

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RASHI, RAMBAM and RAMALAMADINGDONG welcomes readers of the San Diego Jewish World, which is now publishing our weekly Jewish Trivia quiz. As a shout-out, here’s a question about San Diego Jewish history.

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In San Diego in 1888, Congregation Beth Israel hired its first rabbi, Samuel Freuder. What career move did Rabbi Freuder subsequently make that he later considered a mistake?

A. In 1889, Rabbi Freuder converted to Christianity and became a missionary. Twenty years later, having failed in that calling, he returned to Judaism and wrote, “If ever I preach in any Christian pulpit again, may my right hand forget its cunning and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.”

B. At the start of World War I, Rabbi Freuder joined the military as a chaplain, originally serving at Naval Base San Diego. However, he found that anti-Semitism was so rife in the Navy that even the Christian chaplains would have nothing to do with him. As a result, he resigned his commission and left the Navy after only one year of service.

C. In 1901, Rabbi Freuder left the rabbinate and opened a kosher fish restaurant, the first kosher establishment in southern California. However, he regretted this decision when the Lox and Sable Conservation Society launched a campaign against his restaurant, claiming that his smoking of these species was cruel, inhumane, and too salty.

D. Rabbi Freuder was a friend of Samuel Goldwyn, the movie producer, both having been born in Nemet Keresztur in Hungary. Rabbi Freuder moved to Los Angeles from San Diego and partnered with Goldwyn to create Goldwyn Pictures. Freuder, however, could not adjust to Hollywood culture and sold his partnership back to Goldwyn. Goldwyn Pictures eventually became Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Rabbi Freuder, who returned to the rabbinate, stated that “I don’t regret leaving Hollywood. I’m just sorry I didn’t hold onto my stock for a few more years.”

E. The Panama-California Exposition, a World’s Fair, was hosted by San Diego in 1915-1916. Rabbi Freuder was hired by the Los Angeles Jewish Community Council to coordinate an exhibit on Jewish life in southern California. However, when Exposition organizers learned that this “Goldeneh Medinah California” exhibit would not be open on Friday nights and Saturdays, they canceled the exhibit despite Rabbi Freuder’s efforts to explain to them the importance of Sabbath observance in the Jewish community.

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Many rabbis, most notably Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, participated in the marches and other civil rights movement activities in the 1960’s. The wearing of a yarmulke was adopted by many black marchers, necessitating the special delivery of 1000 yarmulkes for the march from Selma to Montgomery 50 years ago this month. What did the black marchers call their yarmulkes?

A. Afro caps.

B. Freedom caps.

C. The Rab-beret.

D. Heschel Hats.

E. My brother’s kippas.

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A Purim bonus question. Chag Sameach!

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Ashkenzaic Jews remember Haman's evil by making noise with a greggar whenever Haman's name is said at the Megillah reading. How do Moroccan Jews note Haman's wickedness?

A. They make a three cornered pastry similar to a hamantashen, but it is filled with red strawberries, representing the blood of Haman.

B. Whenever Haman's name is read in the Megillah, Moroccan Jews ululate, emitting the high-pitched sound that is common in Arabic cultures as a sign of great emotional intensity.

C. They bake a bread which includes two hard boiled eggs, representing Haman’s eyes, which they proceed to pluck out.

D. They tie closed the top and bottom of a kaftan after filling it with Hamanis, which are traditional triangular Moroccan Purim candies. They hang the kaftan from a pole, and children strike it with small bats, releasing the candies for everyone to enjoy (similar to a Mexican piñata).

E. They dress up as Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour and sing We're Off on the Road to Morocco.

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At one point in his life, Leonard Nimoy scheduled a speaking tour, but a number of synagogues then canceled his scheduled appearances. What was their objection?

A. Nimoy produced and starred in the movie Never Forget, based on the true story of Mel Mermelstein, a Holocaust survivor who confronted a Holocaust-denying organization in court. Nimoy was booked to speak in many synagogues to publicize the movie, but when some Orthodox synagogues learned about the Vulcan hand greeting based on the Priestly Blessing of the Kohanim, they took offense at this secular use of the religious ritual by Nimoy and canceled his appearances.

B. Nimoy, an accomplished photographer, published a book of his photographic work entitled The Shekhina Project, which explored the feminine side of G-d. He was “intrigued with scriptural mythology that tells us that G-d created a divine feminine presence to dwell amongst humanity…” The book featured photographs of women wearing tefillin (phylacteries) and nothing else. A number of synagogues had booked Nimoy for the accompanying book tour, but canceled the appearances when they learned about these photographs, which they considered offensive.

C. Nimoy was a frequent speaker at synagogues, where he shared stories of his early exposure to anti-semitism in Boston, his later embrace of Judaism, and his professional connections to the Jewish people, including playing Golda Meir’s husband in the TV movie A Woman Called Golda, his performances as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, and his portrayal of Holocaust survivor Mel Mermelstein in a film which Nimoy also produced, Never Forget. But in 2014, Nimoy reunited with William Shatner to film a Star Trek-themed Volkswagen commercial, touting the auto company’s electric cars. A number of synagogues canceled speaking engagements they had booked with Nimoy in objection to his participating in the commercial for the German car company.

D. Nimoy was on a book tour for his first autobiography, I Am Not Spock, and was scheduled to speak at a number of synagogues. However, many synagogues canceled his talk when one of the passages in his book was publicized. In the book, Nimoy mentioned that one of his favorite meals was chopped tribble liver, which he first tasted when filming the iconic Star Trek episode The Trouble With Tribbles. Nimoy noted that it was much tastier than the chopped chicken liver his mother used to serve. Some traditional synagogues objected because tribble is not a kosher animal; while it has a cloven hoof, it does not chew its cud.

E. Nimoy was on a book tour in 1995 following the publication of his second autobiography, I Am Spock. When it became known that in the book Nimoy advocated for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, a number of synagogues canceled his appearance in protest of his beliefs on this issue.

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What is Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Patricia Arquette’s Jewish connection?

A. Her paternal grandfather Cliff Arquette (also known as Charley Weaver) was Christian, her father was Muslim, and her mother was Jewish. She and her four siblings (all actors) were raised with no religion. She is the only one who now considers herself Jewish. Her sister Rosanna is Catholic, her brother Richmond is Muslim, her sister Alexis is Protestant, and her brother David is Buddhist.

B. Arquette, who is Jewish, had her first performing role as Queen Esther in a Hebrew School Purim Shpiel at the Chicago Sinai Congregation. Though only 11 years old at the time, she told her parents that she knew acting was what she wanted to do with her life. She even refused her parents’ offer to get her braces because she said that her crooked teeth would help her with character acting.

C. Boyhood, in which Arquette starred, was filmed over 12 years, with the cast and crew working together for a couple of weeks annually. In year thirteen, sad that there was no plan to film again, Arquette (who is Jewish and had never had a bat mitzvah) decided that it would be fun to bring everyone together again, so she invited all involved to a “Boyhood Bat Mitzvah” celebration. She read a haftorah, gave a speech comparing her movie son Mason to the Biblical Isaac (each had issues with his father), and led everyone in the hora.

D. Her father (who was Muslim) and her mother (who was Jewish) sent her to a Catholic school, where a teacher told her she couldn't take communion because “your mother is Jewish and she’s going to hell.” Arquette replied, “I think your Jesus and my Jesus are different.”

E. When Arquette was 6 years old, she appeared on Hollywood Squares, sitting in the lap of her grandfather Charley Weaver (Cliff Arquette), who was the regular occupant of the show’s bottom left square. When host Peter Marshall asked her, “Is this the most exciting event you've ever been to?” Patricia replied, “No, I had more fun at my brother David’s bris.”

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Which of the following Brian Williams stories is true (unless, of course, it turns out not to be)?

A. In 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, Williams was reporting from Gaza when an Israeli airstrike destroyed a house a few hundred yards from where Williams was standing. Said Williams on the Nightly News broadcast, “We were close enough that we could feel the impact of the rocket as it landed, and the resulting smoke and dust from the building collapse caused us to retreat to our vehicle. It was a very frightening moment.”

B. In 2013, Williams appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, where he spoke of reporting from Israel during Operation Desert Shield, the first Gulf War in Iraq, in 1990. “This was my first war assignment for NBC News. I was stationed in Tel Aviv, far from the fighting, with no expectation of trouble (and not looking for any). I was simply interviewing Israelis on the street about the war that was happening ‘down the block.’ Suddenly there was a siren, and everyone ran to the nearest bomb shelter. As Saddam Hussein's scud missiles rained down on Tel Aviv, I thought to myself–and Dave, this is the god’s honest truth–I remember thinking ‘Toto, I’ve a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.’ ”

C. In 2006, Williams was flying in an Israeli military helicopter over northern Israel when, as Williams said, “There were Katyusha rockets passing just underneath the helicopter I was riding in,” leading Williams to say to a general who was on the same helicopter, “It wouldn’t take much for them to adjust the aim and try to do a ring toss right through our open doors, would it?”

D. Williams was the speaker at the UJA-Federation of New York's 2013 Annual Campaign event which raised $45 million. Said Williams, “Growing up in Middletown, New Jersey, my parents taught me that there was nothing more important than helping others, which led to my becoming a volunteer firefighter for the Middletown Fire Department during my high school years. With all that I’ve done in my career, nothing has meant more to me than being a part of that organization, with its brave and dedicated group of men and women. I believe that this is this same feeling which drives the thousands of volunteers and professionals of UJA-Federation and I am proud to stand before you tonight in that spirit.”

E. Speaking at the annual Network Affiliates meeting in 2012, Williams said, “I’ve had many amazing experiences in my life, from inspiring Elvis Presley’s dancing, to meeting President Kennedy (I’m still embarrassed about having to pee). From fighting in Viet Nam and saving Lieutenant Dan’s life, to meeting John Lennon on the Dick Cavett show, to starting the Bubba Williams Shrimp Company. But I’m most proud of the time when I got a felafel with Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin and convinced them to sign that peace deal.”

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