True/False 1
True/False: Rosh Hashanah is sometimes referred to as the “Jewish Labor Day.”
False. Rosh Hashanah is compared to New Year’s Day or the birth of the new year because it is seen as the anniversary of God’s creation of the world.
True/False: Rosh Hashanah is a boisterous and celebratory holiday
False. Although Rosh Hashanah is considered a time for celebration, the mood is muted, as it is also a time for contemplation and reviewing the past year.
The Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah. One of the traditions is the blowing of the shofar. The shofar is traditionally made out of the horn of what animal?
Ram
The shofar is traditionally made from a ram's horn although other animal horns are allowed. According to the biblical story of Abraham, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a test of faith. At the last minute God told Abraham to stay his hand and provided a ram nearby for Abraham to use as a sacrifice.
What is the most widely cultivated apple variety?
Granny Smith
Can you eat the pomegranate fruit seeds?
Yes! You can eat the seeds, they are a bit hard but cooking them slightly will make them softer. The pomegranate fruit is part of the berry family.
What is the most commonly used name in Judaism for God?
Hashem
Hashem comes from the Hebrew word "HaShaim", meaning, "the name".
True/False: Most Rosh Hashanah traditions take place in a temple or synagogue, unlike some Jewish holidays that are based in the home
True. Although there are special ceremonies in homes, Rosh Hashanah is traditionally a day spent in a temple or synagogue.
True/False: Women are forbidden from lighting the Rosh Hashanah candles.
False. Women light the Rosh Hashanah candles unless a household is made up of only males.
The most important holiday in Judaism is Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. What do Jews give up for a day to atone for their sins?
Food
Yom Kippur is a day of fasting. It actually starts at sundown one day and ends at sundown the next. Thus by eating just before sundown before it starts and then again just after it ends, only two meals (breakfast and lunch) are actually missed.
Apples are composed of how much water on average? (%)
90%
How can you tell if a pomegranate fruit is ripe?
It is a deep red
The pomegranate fruit is noted for being red. The fruit grows on a deciduous shrub that is native to Iran.
What is the meaning of the Hebrew word "bracha"?
blessing
True/False: In the 1920s, people often sent telegrams to wish family and friends a happy Rosh Hashanah
True. In 1925, Western Union Telegraph Company handled so many Rosh Hashanah greetings that they instituted a special service for the holiday.
True/False: Apples are traditionally eaten on Rosh Hashanah as a reminder of Adam and Eve’s fall from grace
False. Sweet fruits like apples are eaten on Rosh Hashanah because they are tasty and in season. The King James Bible never mentions Adam and Eve eating an apple. That detail was written into Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost.
The holiday of Hanukkah is also known as the festival of what?
Lights
Hanukkah celebrates a miracle that happened after the Jews recaptured the temple in Jerusalem from the Syrians. Tradition has it that after the Syrians had looted the temple, there was only enough oil to light the temple for one day but that it would take eight days to create more. However, the single day's supply lasted the full eight days which constituted the miracle.
Apple seeds contain a small amount of which poison?
Cyanide
What health risk factor is the pomegranate said to decrease?
Heart Disease
That is because pomegranates are high in antioxidants. They can also help reduce systolic blood pressure by inhibiting serum.
At what age does an Orthodox Jewish girl have her Bat Mitzvah?
12
Even though some other forms of Judaism celebrate the coming of age of women to be at 13, Orthodox Jews consider that to be really for men. At the age of 12 Jewish women are considered adults. In olden days Jewish girls were often married at the time of their Bat Mitzvah, because that was considered the age of maturity.
True/False: People are encouraged to eat game meats rather than traditional store-bought meats during Rosh Hashanah
False. People are encouraged to try new or exotic varieties of fruit in honor of Rosh Hashanah
True/False: The story of creation or Genesis is usually read on Rosh Hashanah.
False. The story most commonly read on Rosh Hashanah is that of Abraham and Sarah who, at the ages of 99 and 90, give birth to a son who God later asks Abraham to sacrifice as a test of his faith.
The holiday of Simchat Torah celebrates the beginning of the new cycle of reading from the Torah, the part of the bible that Jews consider most important. How many books are in the Torah?
5
The Torah consists of the first five books of the bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). These are considered especially holy in the Jewish religion as they start at the creation of the world and end with the death of Moses just before the Jews enter the promised land.
Which ancient civilization was the first to cultivate apples?
Babylonians
Which colors do the seeds vary?
White and red. They are called arils
What is the Hebrew word for "commandment"?
mitzvah
The word "mitzvah" means "commandment", thus a "bat mitzvah" is a "daughter of a commandment", and a "bar mitzvah" is a "son of a commandment".
True/False: It is traditional to fast on the second night of Rosh Hashanah.
False. It is traditional to eat a fruit you haven’t tried before or have not eaten in a long time on the second night of Rosh Hashanah.
True/False: When God told Sarah and Abraham they would be having a son, Sarah’s faith led her to believe God immediately
False. Sarah believed in God but is said to have laughed skeptically at the notion of giving birth at age 90.
Less than a week after Yom Kippur, another holiday begins, the week long festival of Sukkot. What annual event does Sukkot celebrate?
Harvest
Sukkot, which is celebrated at the end of summer or early in the fall, commemorates the harvest season. It is also known as the feast of booths and is celebrated by building small wooden buildings with a roof made of plant leaves or other vegetation. Meals are eaten inside these booths and it corresponds with the end of the annual reading of the Torah when the Jews were about to leave the desert after forty years of wandering.
The apple blossom is the state flower of which U.S. state?
New York
How many seeds does the average pomegranate hold?
300
According to Jewish belief, how many commandments are found in the Torah?
613
Most people are familiar with the Ten Commandments which Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai, but the Torah actually contains 613 commandments. According to Jewish tradition, a pomegranate contains 613 seeds - therefore people pray on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), that our good deeds may be "as numerous as the seeds of the pomegranate".