Mark D. Zimmerman

Bob Dylan just released a new 17-minute song titled Murder Most Foul, which is about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and more broadly about the music and culture of the 1960’s and beyond. Dylan, who has toured almost non-stop for years, recently canceled his current tour because of the coronavirus pandemic. Bob Dylan once offered a promotional blurb that was printed on the back cover of a book by a Jewish author: “Anyone who is either married or thinking of getting married would do well to read this book.” What book did Dylan promote in this way? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

What were the circumstances a number of years ago when Bernie Sanders said the following?–“All in all, it’s not so bad. When it’s good, it’s good. If it doesn’t feel right, just say no. There’s always tomorrow. There’s always tomorrow. It could be worse. Now, let’s just thank God you have your arms, you have your legs, let’s eat.” [Jewish trivia quiz by Mark D. Zimmerman]

South by Southwest (SxSW) is an annual conference and festival held in Austin, Texas since 1987. The 10-day event includes a film festival, concerts, workshops, a trade show, speaker panels, and many other activities, attracting tens of thousands of people. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, SxSW organizers have decided to cancel this year’s event, which was scheduled to begin this week. In the past, there has been a large Jewish presence at SxSW, not only in the number of Jewish attendees, but in terms of the specific activities taking place. Films on Jewish themes, panels on topics of interest to Jews, and Shabbat activities are among the many programs with a Jewish theme. Which of the following was a 2018 Jewish-themed SxSW event? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

Joe Biden’s campaign for the Democratic party presidential nomination received a huge boost with his big win in the South Carolina primary. Biden has a long history of support for Israel. At the 2013 AIPAC conference, Joe Biden spoke of his love for Israel and described the moment years earlier when he first realized that Israel mattered to him. As a child in 1948, he sat at his dinner table listening to his father speak about the debate over the establishment of a Jewish state, and it greatly impacted him. How did he describe what his father told him? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and his Israeli wife (singer and model Daniella Pick) just welcomed their first child. The couple have a home in the affluent Tel Aviv neighborhood of Ramat Aviv Gimel, and Tarantino, who plans to learn Hebrew, says that Israel is now his home. Tarantino recently won the Golden Globe award for Best Screenplay for the film Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, and in his speech, he addressed his wife who was at home awaiting the birth of their child, saying, “todah, geveret,” meaning, “thank you, ma’am.” How did Tarantino and his wife spend Christmas/Chanukkah at their Israeli home this past December? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

Kirk Douglas died recently at the age of 103. Douglas, whose real name was Issur Danielovitch, made his film debut in 1946, and went on to perform and star in dozens of movies, in addition to writing, directing, and producing. He was nominated for and received numerous awards, including Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, Kennedy Center Honors, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award. After Douglas’s bar mitzvah, his synagogue offered to sponsor him to become a rabbi, but he declined, already knowing that he wanted to be an actor. Judaism was only a minimal part of his adult life until he was in a near-fatal helicopter crash, about which he later said “I came to believe that I was spared because I had never come to grips with what it means to be Jewish.” He did, however, make one reference to his religious observance during his acting career. What did he say?[Mark D. Zimmerman]

Lawyer and professor Alan Dershowitz has spent much of his career defending controversial figures, including O. J. Simpson, Claus von Bülow, Patty Hearst, Mike Tyson, Leona Helmsley, Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, and now Donald Trump. He has also been a staunch defender of Israel and advocate for Jewish causes. Professor Dershowitz was scheduled to participate in a mock trial; however, the hosts canceled the event. What were the circumstances? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

Congressman Jerry Nadler is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which drafted the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Nadler is now one of seven Congresspersons who will serve as prosecutors during the Senate trial. Congressman Nadler was born in Brooklyn to Jewish parents, and is the only current member of Congress to have a Yeshiva education. When Congressman Nadler ran for reelection in 2016, he faced primary opposition from Oliver Rosenberg, a gay Yeshiva University graduate who switched his registration from Republican to Democratic in 2012. Rosenberg was particularly critical of Nadler’s vote in favor of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. What famous person placed robocalls to district voters criticizing Nadler, who went on to win that primary and reelection to his 14th term? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

In 1975, Israeli writer Alona Frankel wrote a toilet training book for her child that became universally used in Israel and around the world, and is still in print today. The child finally succeeds at the task, and ends the book by saying “Bye-bye, wee-wee, Bye-bye, poo-poo.” What is the title of that children’s book? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

[A]n Israeli startup named REE has brought its own ingenuity to auto design. What is the unique feature of the automobile they are developing? [humor column by Mark D. Zimmerman]