Third Adult Bible Contest 2013

The Third Adult Bible Contest was held in December 2013 at the Binyanei Ha-Umah convention center in Jerusalem. Twelve Israeli contestants competed for first place in a contest broadcast on Israel television. The contest is sponsored by the Jewish Agency, the Jewish National Fund, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Defense. The master of ceremonies was Dr. Avshalom Kor, a familiar personality from the youth contest, and the questions were compiled by veteran question writer Pinhas Neriah. There must have been over a thousand people in the audience. Speeches were delivered by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister of Education Shai Piron, who mentioned the recent death of Yosef Sha’ar, the man responsible year after year for setting many of the questions at the International Bible Contest for Jewish Youth. The Prime Minister was given the privilege of asking one of the questions, as is customary at the youth contest. This year’s winner was Menahem Shimshi of Elon Moreh in Samaria; Hananel Malkha of Or Yehudah, near Tel Aviv, was a close second, followed by Yoram Gold of Beersheva, who came in third. While not nearly as popular as the youth contest, which has become an Independence Day staple in Israel, this was still a very exciting event and it promises to be held on a grander scale in the future.

The next adult contest, scheduled to take place during Hanukkah 2014, will be open to both Jews and non-Jews from countries all over the world, thus renewing the International Adult Bible Contest after a lapse of about fifty years. I believe that this will arouse greater interest in the adult contest, also focusing worldwide attention on the event. Further information about registering as a contestant is available on the website: www.edu.gov.il/ibc or by calling 02-560-4343 (callers from outside Israel should phone +972-2-560-4343).