Mark D. Zimmerman

By Mark D. Zimmerman   MELVILLE, New York — Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican, just announced that he is endorsing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president in the upcoming election. Colin Powell has some knowledge of Yiddish. Where did he learn to speak this language?   A. Powell grew up in the South Bronx, […]

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York – Bob Dylan recently received the Nobel Prize for Literature, “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition,” as noted by the Swedish Academy which chooses the winners. In 1975, Dylan appeared at a congregational seder at Hollywood’s Temple Israel. What song did he perform at the

By Mark D. Zimmerman NEW YORK — A committee of the United Nation’s World Meteorological Organization chooses the list of names that will be given to hurricanes and cyclones around the world. One name that was selected by this group turned out to be controversial, and eventually was removed from the list. What was that name?

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture opened this weekend in Washington, D. C. The museum, with more than 36,000 artifacts, tells the story of African American life, history, and culture. One display in the museum contains an item or items with a Jewish connection which

By Mark D. Zimmerman NEW YORK — Wells Fargo Bank has just been fined $185 million for fraudulently opening credit card and checking accounts in the names of people who were not aware and did not approve. The original Wells, Fargo & Company provided express delivery and banking services in California. In 1905 the company separated

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — In her acceptance speech at last week’s Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton made reference to HIPPY. What is HIPPY? A. HIPPY stands for Health Insurance Program for Parents and Youth, an Israeli program designed to provide health insurance coverage for low income families, and it was the basis for the CHIP program (Children’s Health Insurance

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — At this week’s Democratic Convention in Philadelphia, Hillary Clinton will officially become the first female candidate to head a major party ticket for president of the United States, despite controversy over her use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State. Among the thousands of emails written

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Leading up to this week’s Republican Convention in Cleveland, the Republican Platform Committee under RNC Chair Reince Priebus has been finalizing details of the official party platform, covering such issues as reforming government, women in combat, coal as a clean energy source, and religious liberty. According to Michele Bachmann,

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — A Spanish matador was fatally gored this week in Spain, the first time this has happened since 1985. Though not widely known, there was a gay Jewish man who was born in Park Slope, Brooklyn in 1903 who went on to become a matador. He fought in

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — What argument did British Prime Minister David Cameron make to the Jewish community of Great Britain in an attempt to gain their support for staying in the European Union?   A. Referring to the growing support throughout the European Union for an independent Palestinian state, Cameron said, “Do you want