Modern History Quiz

Questions of national identity and Jewish identity were central to the experience of modernity for Jews everywhere. How much do you know about Jewish history since 1650?

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Question 1. The first aliyah movement to Palestine started in what year?
 1820
 1775
 1881
 1925

 

Question 2. In December of 1862 General Ulysses Grant expelled all Jews from Kentucky, Tennesse and Mississippi.
 True
 False

 

Question 3. Who was the first Prime Minister of Israel?
 Chaim Weizmann
 David Ben Gurion
 Theodor Herzl
 Golda Meir

 

Question 4. True or False: The 1990 National Jewish Population Survey indicated that more Jews in America identified themselves as "cultural" Jews than as "religious" Jews.
 True
 False

 

Question 5. Jacob Frank was
 An activist for civil rights for Jews in the 19th century
 A French writer known for his Yiddish inflected poetry
 The progenitor of the Reform movement
 A false prophet who was a disciple of Shabbetai Tzvi

 

Question 6. Moses Mendelssohn was a Jewish scholar who
 Learned to play the piano and later became a famous composer
 Fell in love with and eventually married the Queen of Germany
 First suggested that the shofar should be blown on Rosh HaShanah
 Broke the traditional mold of the Jewish scholar by pursuing subjects beyond Judaism

 

Question 7. Solomon Schechter was
 A theologian of Conservative Judaism
 A historian who brought the Cairo genizah to prominence
 A Professor of Hebrew at University College, London
 All of the above

 

Question 8. There are no Jews living in Iran today.
 True
 False

 

Question 9. Approximately how many Jews fought for the German Army in WWI?
 10,000
 25,000
 50,000
 100,000

 

Question 10. The theory that helped to allow Jews to leave ghettos and shift from peddling to retail was
 Imperialism
 Colonialism
 Mercantilism
 Nazism

 

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