Russian Jewish History
This is the language that Jews of the Russian Empire spoke before they were allowed to assimilate. It uses Hebrew letters, but sounds like German.
What is Yiddish?
This is the Hebrew word for giving charity.
What is Tzedekah?
The airport and the first Prime Minister of Israel is named after this person.
Who is David Ben-Gurion?
This scientist was born in Germany and created the theory of relativity. He received the Nobel prize in physics in 1921.
Who is Albert Einstein?
A classic New York baked good. It is most commonly eaten on breakfast with lots of different shmears.
What is a bagel?
Many Jews who fled from the Russian Empire ended up living and working in this neighborhood of Manhattan. We will get to do a tour of this area as part of our B'nai Mitzvah Journey.
What is the Lower East Side?
There are as many seeds in a pomegranate as there are mitzvot. How many are there?
What is 613 commandments?
This is the year the state of Israel was established in.
What is 1948?
This Israeli played "Wonder Woman" in the DC Comics 2017 film. She was also Miss Israel in 2004.
Who is Gal Gadot?
A traditional fish dish eaten on Passover. Hint: it can come from a can...
What is Gefilte Fish?
As Jews of the Russian Empire faced persecution in the 18th and 19th centuries, this movement began to grow. This ideology sought a solution, where Jews would be free in their own national homeland.
What is Zionism?
This is the commandment of rest and happens every single Friday. In fact, it is happening right now!
What is Shabbat?
This is the year that Israel was attacked on the holiest day of the year. It led to a month long war and eventually brought to an Egyptian-Israel Peace accord.
What is the 1973 Yom Kippur War?
This American comedian started his career on Saturday Night Live before staring in a string of successful Hollywood films. He now works with Netflix and is known for many of his iconic characters.
This is a common street food in Israel. It is completely vegetarian and usually very cheap.
What is Falafel?
This is the name of the area where Jews were allowed to live in during the Russian Empire. This "settlement" lasted from 1791 to 1917.
What is the Pale of Settlement?
These include a citron fruit, a palm frond, willow leaves and myrtle leaves. We shake them together on Sukkot.
What are the four species?
This was a covert Israeli "operation" that saved over 8,000 Ethiopian Jews in 1991. Non-stop flight of 35 Israeli aircrafts were used in this mission.
What is Operation Solomon?
This woman is the only female prime minister of Israel. She was born in Kiev and spent part of her childhood in Denver, Colorado. She served as the fourth prime minister of the state of Israel.
Who is Golda Meir?
This is an Israeli street food that came to Israel from the Iraqi Jewish community. It is commonly served with a boiled egg, fried eggplant and comes in a pita.
What is sabich?
The only thing this Jewish subgroup has in common is the Russian language. It includes Jews who can be Ashkenazi, Bukharian, and Gorski. Many of these Jews lived in the Russian Empire and then in the Soviet Union as well.
Who are Russian-speaking Jews?
We do this Mitzvah on the night of Passover.
What is have a seder, read the Haggadah, tell the story of us being slaves and redeeming ourselves from Egypt?
This subgroup of Islam is a close-knit community that lives in Israel. This group has shown solidarity with Israel and commonly serves in the IDF.
Who are the Druze?
This woman served as a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was the second female and the first Jewish woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Who is Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
This is a green rice dish that is commonly eaten on Shabbat by Bukharian Jews. It is made with cilantro, dill, and parsley.
What is Bakhsh?