ANSWERS TO TEST YOUR JEWISH IQSM

1. d. Philip Seymour Hoffman, despite his Jewish-sounding name. Dustin Hoffman’s parents had broken from their Jewish roots, but when Dustin Hoffman discovered he was Jewish, he emotionally embraced his heritage in tears, “I’m a Jew! … They all survived for me to be here.”

2. b. Jews customarily eat dairy on Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, because: The Song of Songs compares the Torah to milk and honey; dairy symbolizes the “land flowing with milk and honey”; at Sinai, Jews were considered to be as innocent as newborns, whose food is milk; since the Torah was given on Shabbat, no utensils could be koshered or cattle slaughtered; cheesecake tastes good; and many more reasons.

3. c. Rosh Hashana occurs two weeks before Sukkot, the pilgrimage festival that celebrated the fall harvest.

4. c. Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump were required by the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 to move the embassy. Presidents could avoid relocating the embassy, however, by signing a waiver for “national security” reasons every six months. The embassy was officially relocated to Jerusalem by order of President Trump on May 14, 2018, the 70th anniversary of the Israeli Declaration of Independence.

5. a. Drinking wine and milk together may not be appetizing, but is not prohibited.

6. b. Because Alexander the Great believed he had been mystically helped to victory in many of his battles by Shimon HaTzaddik, the Kohen Gadol (Chief Priest) of Israel, he treated the Jews favorably. For that reason, many Jews since then have been named Alexander in his honor.

7. d. The golem protected the Jews of Prague’s 16th-Century ghetto from the decrees of expulsion or death by Emperor Rudolf II. The remains of the golem are believed still to be stored in the attic genizah of the Altneuschul (Old New Synagogue) in Prague.

8. a. Ehud Barak, one of the most highly decorated soldiers in Israel’s history, was prime minister from 1999 to 2001. Menachem Begin was prime minister during the War in Lebanon in 1982; Golda Meir during the Yom Kippur War in 1973; Levi Eshkol during the Six-Day War in 1967.

9. d. Androgynes possess both male and female sexual characteristics. Tumtums are of indeterminate gender because their genitals are covered or otherwise unrecognizable. In his Mishnah Torah, Maimonides determined from the Talmud how genderspecific commandments should be applied to androgynes and tumtums.

10. c. Reuven is obligated to save his own life. Jews are required to do all they can to save the lives of others up to, but not including, sacrificing their own. That is why Israel is often the first nation to send field hospitals, medical aid, and humanitarian assistance to nations struck by disasters, even to nations hostile to Israel.

0 – 2 Talmid/Talmida (Student)

3 – 5 Melamed/Melamedet (Teacher)

6 – 8 Talmid Chacham/Talmidat Chacham (Scholar)

9 – 10 Gaon/Gaona (Genius)

©2023 Felber, Starmark, Inc., all rights reserved.