Mark D. Zimmerman

President Trump will be hosting an in-person Chanukah party at the White House this coming Wednesday. Many of the Jewish leaders who were invited have declined to attend because of the COVID risk. Some, however, plan to be there, including ZOA president Mort Klein, who explained the motivation of those attending, “They want to see important people and they want to be seen.” At the 2015 White House Chanukah party, President Barack Obama addressed the attendees, including Israeli president Reuven Rivlin, and compared the Chanukkah story to what movie? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the Israeli West Bank settlement of Psagot. This is the first time that a high ranking American diplomat visited one of the West Bank settlements, which opponents say are illegal under international law. What did a Jewish leader once decide to do regarding Secretary Pompeo, explaining “if we would have passed up the opportunity…after everything he’s done for the Jewish people and Israel, I believe he would have been offended in some place.” [Mark D. Zimmerman]

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth of Great Britain and renowned spiritual leader, philosopher, and author, died last week. Sacks was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005 and awarded a life peerage in the House of Lords in 2009, taking the title Baron Sacks, of Aldgate in the City of London. He was the winner of numerous awards, including the Templeton Prize, American National Jewish Book Award (4 times), The Norman Lamm Prize at Yeshiva University and the Jerusalem Prize. Rabbi Sacks wrote and spoke eloquently on many subjects, including interfaith dialogue, Torah vehokhmah (Torah and Wisdom), materialism, secularism, anti-Semitism and more. Which of the following are among Rabbi Sacks’s writings? [Mark D. Zimmerman]
 

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, was reelected in a landslide victory last week. New Zealand voted in favor of the 1947 United Nations partition plan for Palestine and officially recognized Israel in 1950. The countries have numerous trade agreements covering products including fertilizers, milk and cream, circuit boards, medications, and more, and a visitor visa waiver program makes it easy for citizens of each to visit the other country. New Zealand and Israel also increased cooperation in one area which had to do with “Atomic Falafel.” What was that? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

One of the traditions on the first day of Rosh Hashanah is tashlich, when Jews symbolically cast away their sins by tossing breadcrumbs into a body of water (though the ceremony can take place at any time during the High Holidays until Hoshana Rabah, the 7th day of Sukkot). The ceremony arose from a verse from the prophet Micah (7:19), which states, “He will take us back in love; He will cover up our iniquities, You will hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Last year, Hillel at Stanford University partnered with another student organization to celebrate Tashlich in a non-traditional way. What did they do? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

A drone suddenly appeared over Rabin Square in Tel Aviv last week and dropped hundreds of small packets on the unsuspecting crowd of pedestrians below. What did the drone drop? [Mark D. Zimmerman]