Q 01/05

The shofar, blown about 100 times a day on Rosh Hashanah, is typically made from which animal's horn?

A) Bull

B) Deer

C) Ram

D) Ibex

Answer · why

C) Ram

Ram is the preferred choice, although the horn of almost any animal in the cattle family is allowed, with one pointed exception: the cow.

Q 02/05

On Rosh Hashanah, apple slices are dipped in which food to wish for a sweet new year?

A) Honey

B) Tahini

C) Cream

D) Treacle

Answer · why

A) Honey

Honey and apples only joined the Rosh Hashanah table in medieval times, making the custom far younger than the holiday itself.

Q 03/05

Which Hanukkah toy, marked with four Hebrew letters, do players spin in a traditional betting game?

A) Diabolo

B) Whirligig

C) Yo-yo

D) Dreidel

Answer · why

D) Dreidel

The letters on a dreidel are popularly read as the initials of a Hebrew phrase about a great miracle, though they began as Yiddish instructions for th...

Q 04/05

Which flat, cracker-like bread do Jewish families eat during Passover in place of ordinary loaves?

A) Lavash

B) Matzah

C) Pita

D) Injera

Answer · why

B) Matzah

Matzah recalls the Israelites leaving Egypt in such a hurry that their dough had no time to rise; by rabbinic rule, dough starts to leaven 18 minutes ...

Q 05/05

Which queen, who hid her Jewish identity from King Ahasuerus, is the heroine of the Purim story?

A) Vashti

B) Jezebel

C) Esther

D) Bathsheba

Answer · why

C) Esther

Esther became queen after Vashti was banished for refusing a royal summons, then revealed her own identity to stop a plot to kill the kingdom's Jews.