A Jew's Survival Guide to Christmas Quiz

Answer: Hanukkah

Hanukkah begins on the 25th of Kislev, according to the Hebrew calendar, and ends at the beginning of the next month of Tevet. The Hebrew calendar's origins date back to the Torah, and it is based on the phases of the moon as well as a regular solar year.

However, 12 lunar months don't add up to 365 days, so the Hebrew calendar adds an extra month every two or three years to keep the lunar and solar years somewhat on track. The years on the Hebrew calendar are approximately 3760 more than those of the Gregorian; therefore, December 25, 2009, would be in the Hebrew year 5770, and so would January 1, 2010.

The Hebrew New Year occurs on Rosh Hashanah, which is in September or October.

Answer: January 1

The bris (Brit Milah in Hebrew), or circumcision, is a Jewish custom that occurs on the eighth day after birth, so the eighth day from December 25 is January 1 (the day of birth does count). The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ on that same day each year is celebrated most often by the Anglican and Lutheran Churches. January 1 also would have been the day that Jesus was named.

The Jewish tradition of the circumcision arises from Genesis, with Abraham's covenant with God to circumcise his children (Isaac and Ishmael) as well as any future descendants of his.

Answer: Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur, or The Day of Atonement, occurs ten days after the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah, and the days in between, called the High Holy Days, are traditionally given as a time of remembrance, atonement, and repentance. As a custom, Jews neither eat nor drink from sunset the night before Yom Kippur until the holiday ends with a sunset shofar call.

Other traditions on Yom Kippur include wearing completely white clothing, five prayer services during the day (which often have much higher attendances than on other holidays), and a prohibition on wearing leather shoes.

Answer: The Christmas tree

Tu B'Shvat is a fairly minor holiday during the Jewish year and celebrates trees; customarily, trees and other vegetation are planted on the holiday, which generally occurs in January or February. It is also tradition to eat foods that come from trees, such as dates, oranges, figs, apricots, almonds, and dried fruits or nuts.

Hebrew numbering is done using the letters of the alphabet; an "aleph" represents one, a "beit" represents two, and so on. "Tu" is spelled "tet vav" in Hebrew, which represents the numbers for 9 and 6 respectively; Tu B'Shvat occurs on the 15th day of Hebrew month Shevat. Interestingly, the Hebrew characters for 10 and 5 are never used together to represent a number, because they spell out the "unspeakable" name of God (Yud He).

Answer: Chocolate wrapped up like a coin

The origins of gelt are debatable: some say that the Jews minted coins after the Maccabees miraculously defeated the Greeks, while other sources say that it arose with a 17th-century Polish Jewish custom. Either way, gelt is now a symbol of the holiday of Hanukkah, whose commercialism today belies its relative religious unimportance during the Jewish year. Chocolate coins are wrapped up in believable-looking metallic sheaths, and are especially useful as markers when playing dreidel.

Other than its religious insignificance, another myth about Hanukkah is that a menorah is used to represent the burning of oil for eight days. Menorahs only have seven candles; Jews traditionally use a chanukiyah during the holiday, which has nine separate candle-holders. A Hanukkah menorah is tacitly understood to be a chanukiyah.

Answer: Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie's second wife, Marjorie Mazia, was Jewish, and, in collaboration, they wrote several Hanukkah songs. Much of Guthrie's Jewish music was rediscovered by the Jewish Klezmer band The Klezmatics in 2007; it is assumed that he identified with the prejudice against Jews in mid-20th century New York and therefore wrote several Hanukkah songs with his wife.

However, the amount of Christmas music written by Jewish composers is startling. Irving Berlin is fairly well-known for his Judaism, but the following Christmas songs were also written by Jews:
"The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)"
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
"Do They Know It's Christmas?"
"Santa Baby"
"Holly Jolly Christmas"
"Santa Claus is Coming to Town"
"I'll Be Home for Christmas"
"Silver Bells"
"Sleigh Ride"
"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"
"Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!"
"There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays"
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"
"White Christmas"
These songs represent 12 out of 25 of ASCAP's most popular holiday Christmas songs of 2006.

Answer: Purim

The March/April festival of Purim is based upon the Book of Esther, a queen of Persia who, with the help of her uncle Mordecai, succeeds in saving the Jews of the city of Shushan (Susa) from the nefarious plots of the king's advisor Haman. During the holiday, the Megillah (Book of Esther) is read as the audience shakes "groggers" and shouts whenever Haman's name comes up. Wearing costumes is traditional on this festive holiday, and the Talmud actually instructs Jews to get inebriated on Purim, although this ruling has been interpreted in many fashions and certainly is not followed by all.

A traditional food of Purim is the "hamantaschen", a triangular pastry filled with jam that represents Haman's "three-cornered hat."

Answer: Ham

According to Jewish dietary laws, or Kashrut, it's not acceptable to eat mammals that don't chew their cud (ruminate), so pigs are not allowed to be eaten. The other three choices are fine to eat, but another restriction limits the consumption of dairy and meat (milchig and fleishig, respectively), so make sure that you're not eating macaroni-and-cheese with that turkey. Also, stay away from shrimp and scallops: only fish with fins and scales are kosher, so shellfish are not allowed.

Answer: Simchat Torah

The holiday of Simchat Torah occurs at the conclusion of Sukkot, the Festival of Booths, and it is a particularly happy festival. Reading from the book of Deuteronomy is completed, and the Torah scroll is returned to its beginning. After the Torah is finished, it is taken out of the ark and unwound all around the synagogue, as joyous singing and dancing ensues. Simchat Torah became an especially important holiday for Jews in the Soviet Union, where celebrating it became a symbol of one's faith.

Answer: Chinese

Because Chinese restaurants are generally the only type of cuisine open on the holiday (indeed, it's one of their busiest nights of the year), it's become a tradition for many Jews, Reform or Orthodox, to eat it on the Christian holiday. The video, which is entertaining to Jews and Gentiles alike, is available on YouTube.

Other Jewish traditions on Christmas include going to a movie or going to Matzoh Balls, dances sponsored by Jewish organizations for Christmas and New Year's.