Torah IQ: The Great Torah Riddle Book, David Woolf and Yitz Woolf (ed.), Tellwell Talent, Victoria, BC, ©2021, ISBN 978-0-2288-5300-8, p. 392, plus an appendix of sources cited, $23.95.
By Fred Reiss, Ed.D.
WINCHESTER, California – If knowledge is power, then knowing the answers to the more than 1000 questions posed in Torah IQ should grant the equivalent of a Ph.D. Woolf, whose dedication to Jewish education goes back more than three decades, divides Torah IQ into numerous sections. The first of the two Torah sections presents twenty questions for each parashah (weekly Torah reading), such as, in parashat Chayei Sarah he asks, “Who in the Torah had 13 children? And in parashat Shoftim, “Which word is an acronym for the four types of leaders in Israel mentioned in parashat Shoftim?” The second of the two Torah sections offers 169 general Torah questions. For example, “Why did Paroh (Hebrew for Pharoah) change Joseph’s name?” and “What is the only birthday party mentioned in the Torah?”
Torah IQ also delves into the realm of extremes, questions related to biggest/smallest and longest/shortest, exemplified by “What is the longest aliyah in the Torah?” and “What is the shortest word in the Torah and where is it found?” (spoiler alert: it’s not two). And there’s more— questions on the Jewish calendar and holidays and fast days; questions about laws, customs and blessings, and concluding with 28 brainteasers.
Every question has a detailed answer, thereby making Torah IQ an ideal book for Jewish day and afternoon Hebrew school teachers, students and their parents, and providing years’ worth of “sermon spice” for rabbis. Its title notwithstanding, Torah IQ is not really a book of Jewish riddles, but a book teaching and testing one’s understanding of Torah facts, seemingly inconsequent details often overlooked while seeking answers to more profound questions.
Some might consider Torah IQ a book of Jewish trivia, but it’s certainly not a trivial book.
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Fred Reiss, Ed.D. is a retired public and Hebrew school teacher and administrator. His newest book is The Jewish Calendar: History and Inner Workings, Fourth Edition. He may be contacted via fred.reiss@sdjewishworld.com.