My who’s a Jew quiz

November 24, 2000

IN my subconscious, Al Gore is dripping with blood and George Bush is peering out of the shrubbery.

Bill Clinton has Dirty Harry perched on his shoulders and Tony Blair is shouting through a megaphone.

Memory games, you see. I play them automatically, creating visual images to remember names.

Blood = Gore. Shrub = Bush. Clint-on, Blare . . . childish, you might say. Effective, I answer.

I meet hundreds of people at parties, conferences, signings and studios. They usually remember my name, because ‘Uri Geller’ is a byword for what I do — mystery, spoon-bending, mind-reading.

I am a walking brandname. And because they remember me, I am expected to remember their names.

They would be hurt if I didn’t. So I have to make a conscious effort to stimulate my subconscious. It’s easy, and anyone can learn the techniques quickly. It is, literally, child’s play.

So I was shocked to discover that most people forget almost all the information that bombards them daily.

According to a Microsoft poll, fewer than half of British children could point out London on a map.

Two out of three children questioned by Country Life magazine didn’t know where acorns came from.

And 24 per cent of Britons, according to American Airlines, think Mexico is a state of the USA.

This amazes me, because most children I know are eager to show off their knowledge of history and current affairs, and often put adults to shame.

Perhaps the children of my friends are uncommonly intelligent. And perhaps that is because most of them are Jewish.

Jewish homes still put a strong emphasis on learning.

Our children are expect to confront the information that flows at them, instead of sitting passively and allowing it to wash around them.

That rule applies to everything we teach them — languages, social customs, work practices, religious rites.

A boy preparing for his barmitzvah is very different to a lad the same age who is trying to master his PlayStation.

Jewish culture has always been in earnest about learning.

To test this politically incorrect theory, I’ve put together a quick quiz on Jewish names in the news and well-known facts from recent history.

At least, I think they’re well known.

The answers are multiple choice — only one of the three choices is correct in each question.

Check your results at the end: you don’t win a million if you get them all right, but I would like to hear from you, whatever your score — please email me.

1 Who is currently Israel’s foreign minister? a. Shlomo Ben-Ami b. David Levy c. Moshe Arens

2 Which British home secretary was Jewish? a. Douglas Hurd b. Michael Howard c. William Whitelaw

3And which British Chancellor was Jewish? a. Nigel Lawson b. Geoffrey Howe? c. John Major?

4Which entertainment heavyweight regards himself as Jewish, even though his mother was not? a. Michael Winner b. Michael Grade c. Michael Caine

5Who was the first president of Israel? a. David Ben-Gurion b. Chaim Weizman c. Itzhak Ben-Zvi

6Which Jewish scientist was invited to be the first president of Israel? a. Albert Einstein b. Sigmund Freud c. Paul Erdos

7What’s the first name of Senator Lieberman, Al Gore’s running mate? a. Jack b. Jerry c. Joe

8Who is currently Chief Rabbi in the UK? a. Lionel Blue b. Shmuley Boteach c. Jonathan Sacks

9Which man was most recently the Prime Minister of Israel? a. Menachem Begin b. Yitzhak Shamir c. Shimon Peres

10 Which man converted from Judaism to Christianity to further his career in politics? a. Benjamin D’Israeli b. William Gladstone c. Winston Churchill

11Which superstar is Jewish? a. Barbra Streisand b. Marilyn Monroe c. Madonna

Answers: 1a; 2b; 3a; 4b; 5b; 6a; 7c; 8c; 9b; 10a; 11a

Uri Geller’s ParaScience Pack is published by Van Der Meer at £30. To hear an inspirational message from Uri, call 0906 601 0171. Call costs 60p per minute.
Visit him at www.uri-geller.com and e-mail him at [email protected]