The 42nd Annual International Bible Contest for Jewish Youth
A report on the 2005 Chidon HaTanakh. The Diaspora round, contested by 60 students from 34 countries, was held at Kibbutz Dorot near Sderot as a show of support for a town under rocket fire, with the mayor and 200 local pupils present. Haim Kandel of St. Louis won it and placed fourth in the main contest, which went to Shmuel Alpert of Jerusalem.
One of the key celebrations of Israel’s Independence Day is the live televised Annual Bible Contest for Jewish Youth held in Jerusalem with the participation of the Prime Minister (who asks the final question), the Speaker of the Knesset, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Minister of Education, Army Chief Rabbi, and other dignitaries. This year, 60 high school students from 34 countries who had won their country’s Jewish Agency sponsored regional Bible contest participated in the preliminary special contest for Diaspora youth held in Kibbutz Dorot, a few kilometers from Sderot in the presence of its mayor and over 200 pupils from the Sderot high school. Sderot has been one of the major targets of the Palestinian terrorist groups and this was one way to show support for its suffering the past few years. The winner of the Diaspora Contest was Haim Kandel of St. Louis. He and thirteen others who scored the highest points at the Diaspora contest participated in the main contest on Independence Day along with three Israeli high school students who had scored highest in the local Bible contest for Israeli youth. Prior to the contest, the group visited the Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Knesset.
This year’s winner was Israeli high school student Shmuel Alpert of Jerusalem with two Israelis coming in 2nd and 3rd place. Haim Kandel came in 4th place. The contest is supported by the Army’s Education Corps, the Ministry of Education, the Jewish Agency and the Jewish National Fund Keren Kayemet. Jewish schools in the Diaspora are encouraged to have their students participate in their country’s regional bible contests. Schools receive a list of biblical books or chapters on which the contest is based and students may study and take exams in their own languages both in their home countries and when they arrive here.
For further information about the Contest, contact your local Jewish Agency representative through http://www.jafi.org.il
Cite this article
Joshua J. Adler. "The 42nd Annual International Bible Contest for Jewish Youth." Jewish Bible Quarterly 33, no. 4 (October – December 2005).
Joshua J. Adler. "The 42nd Annual International Bible Contest for Jewish Youth." Jewish Bible Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 4, 2005.