(Note from Jewish Link Contributing Editor Nina Glick: Daniel Stroock is my nephew, a very devoted son and father and an all around great guy. He loves teaching American history to his students in HAFTR and Mesivta Ateres Yaakov. He is also the director of HALB’s Avnet Country Day School. In his free time, he produces trivia-based game shows for parties and special events.)

If you were to take a piece of paper and write out every number in English, beginning with “o-n-e,” “t-w-o,” “t-h-r-e-e,” and so on, at what point would you get to a number whose letters appear in alphabetical order? I shot a video of myself asking this and that was the first “Question of the Day.” I posted it on my linked Facebook and Instagram accounts. The reaction was positive and immediate.

I had actually been thinking about doing this for some time. But like many of us, before jumping into a creative endeavor and “putting myself out there,” I had to deal with some trepidation. OK, maybe more than ‘some.’

Much of my time is spent as a teacher of American history, in two of our local schools. And in addition to relishing the opportunity to share the important story of our great nation’s founding and its first 250 years, I love to find and share interesting facts of all sorts. I guess those two things go together.

And there is no shortage of fascinating factoids. In the first month, I have posted approximately 25 videos. They are generally less than 60 seconds in length and they invite the viewer to think about something from an angle they have never noticed. Or, to simply learn something unbelievable and amazing.

For example, there’s the story of the two brothers who built a fast food empire that today is worth billions of dollars. They began with a loan of $400 from their mother. At the start, while money was in super-short supply, to advertise their establishment, they were forced to use the free Coca Cola-sponsored sign, which only had room for eight letters. And thus, one of the world’s most well-known franchises was branded, and today still uses that same eight-letter name.

Since beginning this new journey, I’ve been stopped in shuls, local supermarkets, eateries and once even by someone who was crossing Cedarhurst’s Central Avenue as I drove by, to comment on the Question of the Day. I have been thanked and encouraged by fellow teachers who have introduced the “Q of D” into their classrooms.

The most common feedback I get is about the answers. That is where our “community” is most divided. Some requested that I include the answers with the question; I acquiesced and tried that once. It didn’t go well. After asking the question, I waited to the count of three before stating the answer. A number of people reached out and told me they were frustrated because the nature of Instagram is such that the “reel” will replay again and again, until it is stopped. That gives viewers an opportunity to automatically hear the question several times by simply leaving their phones untouched. When the answer was given, they were frustrated at having lost the opportunity to think about it on their own.

And sometimes people like to argue. I asked a question one day about a body part that every human has, but no other creature in the animal kingdom can boast. I even included in the video a gratuitously cute picture of my dog Oakley, from the neck up. I pointed out that if Oakley had this particular body part, it would have been visible in the photo. When the answer was shared in the comments, a number of people told me why I was wrong. But I can live with that.

So far, our questions have covered math, animals, astronomy, geography, business, politics, history and sometimes, things that are just downright wacky. Take this question about the FBI for example. When the FBI surreptitiously enters a suspected criminal’s home with the intent of planting a hidden eavesdropping device, they bring with them a vial of this particular substance to make sure they can cover their tracks. I pointed out that my mom would be horrified to hear about this since she has spent much of her life trying to obliterate every last vestige of this from her home. Can you guess what it is?

One of the joys of the process has been discussing it with my 11th-grade classes. They in particular encouraged me to begin, and have even helped by “staying quiet” at the very beginning of our period so we can quickly film the questions before moving back to our history topic at hand. And as a matter of routine, their daily greeting to me has generally become, “Hi, did you make a ‘Q of D’ video yet?” They have suggested that I aim to go viral by including topics and therefore hashtags that include Taylor Swift. So far, I have declined to do so. They did, however, inspire the following question: What incredible distinction does the song “O Holy Night” enjoy in the annals of musical history?

While I am not quite ready to piggyback on Taylor Swift’s fame, I sure would appreciate your support! So if inclined, please feel free to follow StreetSmartGameShows on Instagram or YouTube. As for the answers, you can generally find someone intelligent (or proficient at Googling) who has written them in the comments. (I will usually ‘pin’ the correct answer. But until then) … Forty, Pizza Hut, a vial of dust and it was the first song EVER played on radio!

For more information, please reach out to Stroock at [email protected].