Knowing Roland Barthes from Bertolt Brecht won't get you bubkes in the real world.
Knowing nothing, zero, nulla, nada and bubkes about the original "X-Files" is no impediment to enjoying "X-Files: I Want to Believe".
For the rest of the world, Chanukah is a rather minor holiday. But for Jews here, in America, Chanukah is no small bubkes.
His affiliation with the organization counts for bubkes (Yiddish for nada) in the story Chabon tells.