NEW YORK (Press Release) – For over 50 years, the American Bible Contest has tested the Biblical knowledge of students from Jewish schools and institutions across the United States. Sponsored by the Jewish Agency which sponsors similar Bible contests, known in Hebrew as Chidon Tanach, throughout the Diaspora, the American Bible Contest began this year with over 300 junior high and high school students from 40 Jewish schools taking preliminary exams during the school year.
About 125 of those students will take part in the national finals to be held in Manhattan, at Ramaz Middle School, on Sunday, May 15, closely coinciding with Israel’s Independence Day celebrated this week.
The contestants are students in grades six to eleven. Those who study in Jewish day schools take exams in Hebrew while those who learn in supplemental schools or have no formal Jewish education, take the exams in English. The exams are of a multiple choice format allowing for quick grading and the ability to announce the winner soon after the contest. The questions that are asked require the students to know the text with an awareness of the details and to recognize precise quotes and phrases.
Each year, the American Bible Contest focuses on a small sample of the larger portion of the Bible covered in the international contest held in Israel on Israeli Independence Day (Yom Haazmaut) . This year, the curriculum focused on the books of Exodus, Samuel II, Minor Prophets and Esther. The top four scorers in the American Bible Contest will be flown to Israel by the Jewish Agency to represent the United States in the international contest that will be televised on Israel Independence Day 2012.
“It is always inspiring to see so many students from all over the country and from different age groups and denominations come together for an event that highlights their shared passion for the Bible, their Jewish heritage and connection to Israel,” said Rabbi Ezra Frazer, Coordinator of the National Bible Contest. Rabbi Frazer himself won the American contest in 1994 and went on to place fifth in the international competition in 1995.
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Preceding provided by the Jewish Agency for Israel