Jeopardy Contestants Couldn't Answer the "Cholent" Question

 

The contestants on a Jeopardy episode that aired this week were stumped by a photo of cholent, JTA reported.

The photo was a clue in the “Sabbath” category for $400: “Exodus 35:3 bans doing this on the Sabbath, hence the Jewish dish ‘cholent,’ which can go on the stove Friday and cook until Saturday lunch.”

Contestants offered guesses of “What’s cooking?” and “What’s work?” but failed to come up with the specific prohibition the photo was illustrating.

In the end, Mayim Bialik, an Orthodox Jew who is serving as the show’s temporary host, explained the answer: “What is ‘lighting a fire?’ And the word ‘cholent’ is from the French ‘chaud lent,’ [meaning] ‘cooks a long time.’”

The contestants obviously did not brush up on the Lamed Tes Melachos in preparation for the show.