The International Bible Contest (; ''Hidon HaTanakh'' also spelled ''Chidon HaTanach'' or ''Jidon Hatanaj'' mong Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Jews is a worldwide competition on the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. ''

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, on

Yom Ha'atzmaut Yom Ha'atzmaut (, , ) is Israel's national day, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948. It is marked by a variety of official and unofficial ceremonies and observances. Because Israel declared independence on 14 ...

. Because the event is officially sponsored by the Israeli government and the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

, it is attended by the

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel (, Hebrew abbreviations, Hebrew abbreviation: ; , ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief executive of the Israel, State of Israel. Israel is a parliamentary republic with a President of Isra ...

, the

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

and the Chairman of the Jewish Agency.

History

The international contest was founded by

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...

. Originally, a Chidon Hatanach for adults was the main contest, and the contest for high school students was a relatively minor part. The Chidon for adults returned again in 2010. From 1988, Avshalom Kor hosted the International Bible Contest. In 2016, Sivan Rahav-Meir won the tender to host the contest, but gave it up. Kor received the notification of his loss in the tender by text message. Ultimately,

Guy Zu-Aretz Guy Yaakov Zu-Aretz (or Zoaretz, ; ) is an Israeli television host, actor, musician, and director. Early life Zu-Aretz was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to a Judaeo-Spanish, Ladino-speaking family of Sephardic Jewish of Libyan Jews, Libyan-Jewish, T ...

moderated the contest that year. Between 2017-2021, Kor returned to host the contest. In 2022, Ofer Hadad was chosen to become the new host for that year. In 2023, Guy Zu-Aretz returned to host the contest. In 2024,

Oded Menashe Oded Menashe (; born 29 September 1969) is an Israeli actor and television presenter. Biography Menashe was born in Tel Aviv, to Zion and Orna Menashe. He stood out as an actor while still studying at the "Alliance" high school in Tel Aviv, an ...

and Edan Harel were selected as the co-hosts of the contest.

Questions

One of the formats of the questions is completing a Bible verse. For example: ; “The king establishes the land by justice.” :“But he who receives bribes overthrows it”, (2013 contestAmerican and Israeli Teens Share Victory at International Bible Contest (VIDEO)
April 18. 2013,

The Algemeiner The ''Algemeiner Journal'', known informally as ''The Algemeiner'', is a newspaper based in New York City that covers American and international Jewish and Israel-related news. It is widely read by Hasidic Jews. History Gershon Jacobson, a ...

). ;“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint.” :“But happy is he who keeps the law.”, (2013 contest).

Winners

Regional contests

Mexico

Participants of each school are given a list of chapters to study from October to February, when the first round takes place in the Universidad Hebraica, everyone can participate from his or her school, but after the 50 question exam, only around 16 people will survive for the next round, this one takes place a few days later, in this case, the 16 winners go to the school of the person who won the last year, where the points of the first round are not erased and where they are given a Passuk with 2 questions (8 points each), and after that a page with 10 questions (8 out of 10 worth 2 points each, and the other 2 worth 4 points), at the end the 3 people with the highest score go to Israel.

Canada

Participants are given a list of chapters to study in May or June, and in the following February or March a preliminary regional test is taken. This consists of 100 multiple-choice questions for high school students (75 for grades 7 and 8, 50 for grades 5 and 6). A number of participants to continue are selected - e.g., 50. In this case, the top 50 scores will continue to the national competition. The national competition is held in April or May. It consists of 100 multiple-choice questions, followed by three rounds of short-answer questions (first a round for all participants, then a two-part top ten Semifinal round, then the top five Final round). The top 10 people are selected. Of these, first and second place will go to Israel the next year to represent Canada. If the top two are from the same region of Canada, then the highest-ranking participant from another region (i.e.

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

) will also go, provided that contestant ranked in the top ten. If there are Israelis in Canada who are participating, they are not allowed to win, but the top Israeli in the top 10 goes to Israel as the Chatan Yisrael of Canada. Thus, a total of 5 people at the most could theoretically go to Israel the next year. In reality, it is usually only 3 or 4.

United States

Participants are also given a set of chapters to study. There is one book of

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

, one in Early

Prophets In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the ...

, and one in

Writings Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

. The high school division also has one book of Later

. Selected chapters are chosen from each, for a total of 70-100 chapters. During December, February, and March, there are 3 regional tests. Every school, along with several other schools, are assigned a region. The student who scores the highest score in his/her region is crowned "Regional Champion". The Regional Champion along with those who score a certain cumulative percentage (e.g. 85%) on the regionals go on to the nationals. There are 3 divisions in the nationals, the Hebrew High School, Hebrew Middle School, and English Grades 6-11. The US Chidon sends 4 contestants to Israel, with the Jewish Agency paying for the contestants' plane tickets. Three spots go to the first-place winner from every division to Israel. If there is a tie for first place in any one division, then all four spots go to the four first-place winners. Otherwise, the judges calculate which division's second-place winner answered the highest percentage of correct answers on his/her written test. After tallying the scores of the written exam and video rounds, the 2nd-place winner of that division wins the final spot in Israel. The 2012 and 2013 finals were held at

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

. The 2014 and 2015 finals were held at

Manhattan Day School Manhattan Day School, often referred to as MDS, is a co-educational Modern Orthodox Jewish yeshiva elementary school located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It was founded in 1943 as Yeshivat Ohr Torah Community School, the first Jewish all ...

. The National Finals' written test is divided into two sections. First there is a test similar to the regional test, which asks questions such as "Who said this to whom", "Who is this talking about" and understanding the text. After this test, there is a second test called the cross-referencing test. Similar phrases in Tanach are given and contestants must be able to match up one side to the other. Family trees and finishing the phrases are also on this part of the test. Following the written test, contestants eat lunch while judges grade the written exams. After lunch, approximately 10 to 15 top scorers from the written exams are called to the front of the auditorium to answer several more written questions which are presented in video format. After the judges combine each contestant's written score with his/her score from the video round, the winners are announced. In a typical year, between 350 and 400 students take the preliminary exams. Of these, approximately 185 students travel to New York to compete in the national finals.

Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, there are three competitions leading up to the International Bible Contest; the school test( top 3 go through, the state test (top 2 go through) and the federal test (top 2 in Australia go to the Israeli test). Competitors usually come from

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, though in recent years participants from

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

have taken part. A national round consisting of the participants of each state (usually between 4-8 participants) sit a 1-hour written test and then a 2-hour public oral quiz, where participants sit on a stage and project their answers after hearing questions. Identical quizzes are sat by the participants in each state. The national syllabus usually consists of 100-150 chapters of Torah, Neviim and Later Prophets. The top three participants of the national quiz of each state are then selected to go through to the federal round, held either in Sydney or Melbourne. A further 50-70 chapters are then added to the initial national syllabus. The Federal round of the competition is identical to the National only there is more content, thus the questions are seemingly harder. The winner and the 2nd highest scorer are then given places at the International Bible Quiz camp. Only the winner's ticket is paid for by the Zionist Federation of Australia. The 2nd-place winner must pay for his or her ticket to come to the camp. The author of the Australian Bible Quiz is the 1999 Diaspora Winner, Dr Shira Wenig.

United Kingdom

The British contest varies from year to year. The international final is held at LSJS in London. In some schools, the top scorers go through to the final but most schools let all teams compete. The topics are given approximately 6 months in advance, however the topics for 2014 were given to pupils at the beginning of September allowing the contestants 2 months to learn. The syllabus contains all of the Torah and some of Neviim and Ketuvim. The winning team (of 3-4) all go to Israel.{{citation needed, date=February 2014

References

External links

International Bible Quiz - Official SiteAmerican Chidon HaTanach Website
International competitions Hebrew Bible in popular culture Religious organizations based in Israel Youth organizations based in Israel Annual events in Israel Channel 1 (Israel) original programming