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1. Which of the following are effective in warding against demons like Lilith?

a)      Salt, acorns, and horseshoes
b)      Mountain ash, garlic, and wolf's bane
c)      Iron, spit, and amulets
d)      Four-leaf clover, sapphires, and pearls

2. What is the cure for a horse that can’t urinate?

a)     Give him lots of water
b)    Rub garlic on his teeth
c)     Serve him barley water and licorice
d)    Massage him with a coriander-parsley paste

3. Which colors drive away the Evil Eye?

a)      Red and blue
b)      White and yellow
c)       Pink and purple
d)      Green and Orange

4. Why is the moon more important than the sun, according to the rabbi of Chelm?

a)      It shines at night when we really need it.
b)      It affects the waves and the tide.
c)       It protects the earth from foreign bodies in space.
d)      It is the basis for the Jewish calendar.

5. What “custom” did the Jews observe on Christmas and why?

a)      “Holts hakn” because you were supposed to cut down trees
b)      “Yidish plaplyada” because you were supposed to speak only Yiddish
c)       “Oser lekekh shtekl” because you weren’t supposed to eat candy cane
d)      “Nitl” or “Nit lernen” because you weren’t supposed to study

How do we know that these superstitions were once widely believed? Upon YIVO’s founding in 1925, the YIVO Ethnographic Commission sent zamlers, collectors, on expeditions to the shtetls of Eastern Europe with questions to ask the people living there. Responses poured in from all over. Thanks to these expeditions, we now know things like: What children’s games were popular in the 1920s? How did the story of Alfred Dreyfus get turned into a lullaby? Why do Jews do anything special on Christmas (anyone up for some Chinese food?)

Explore all this and more in our upcoming online course, Folksong, Demons, and the Evil Eye: Folkore of Ashkenaz taught by Professor Itzik Gottesman.

Register now

Watch the course trailer here: