I Metro
Yeshivat Akiva teacher and Bible contest mentor Rabbi Pinchas Amior is flanked by super-students Dovi Nadel and Elizabeth Goldmeier.
Making History!
A pair of Yeshivat Akiva Bible scholars take Israel by storm.
Pessie Buse! Novick
Special to the Jewish News
T
he eight finalists include ...
Elizabeth Goldmeier, Yeshivat
Akiva, Southfield, Michigan;
Dovi Nadel, Yeshivat Akiva, Southfield,
Michigan ..."
Never before have two students from
the same school finished among the eight
finalists in the annual International Hidon
HaTanach, an academic decathlon featur-
ing young men and women from every
part of the world demonstrating their
mastery of the Bible.
To reach this point, Elizabeth, 18, won
the upper school division and Dovi, 15,
won the middle school division nation-
ally. On May 10, Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel's
Independence Day, after countless hours
of study, they were in Jerusalem for the
contest. The next two rounds would decide
who would win the coveted title "World
A18
June 5 • 2008
Master of the Bible" as well as the runner-
up awardees.
Historically, these top places have been
captured by Israeli students who, admit-
tedly, enjoy "home-court advantage."
After Israel's Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert delivered the final round of ques-
tions, the awards were presented before a
packed house — not to mention hundreds
of thousands of Israeli citizens watching
the live broadcast in their homes.
"And this year's second runner-up
is Dovi Nadel from Yeshivat Akiva in
Southfield, Michigan."
Dovi walked to center stage and
accepted his award, shyly acknowledging
the applause that thundered in the room
and totally oblivious to the cheers of his
friends and classmates an ocean away who
watched the proceedings, bleary-eyed, at 4
o'clock that morning.
Elizabeth finished eighth among the
eight finalists. Together they had made
history, and their friends could not be
prouder.
Living History
The International Hidon HaTaNaKh has,
over the past 40 or so years, become an
integral part of Israel's Yom HaAtzmaut
celebration.
Picture a stage filled with teen-aged
representatives from 37 countries. Add to
this a glittering half-time show, a bit of
American Idol-type fanfare and a gener-
ous helping of Israel's leading political fig-
ures, and you will have a sense of this sin-
gular event, held annually in the Jerusalem
Theater, on the 60th anniversary of Israel's
independence as the Jewish state.
The contest is administered jointly by
the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli
Ministry of Education. The Hidon attracts
fans from the secular and religious
worlds.
The Israeli TV moderator reminded the
audience that when David Ben-Gurion,
speaking before the Peel Commission in
1929, was asked to validate the claim of
the Jewish people to the Land of Israel,
he drew from his pocket a worn copy of
the Tanach [Jewish Bible] — a book that
he had practically committed to memory
— and announced, "Right here is our
deed to this land!"
Israel's first prime minister, a secular
Jew, Ben-Gurion understood that more
than a shared history, more than a com-
mon language, it is the Bible that defines
and unites the Jewish people.
This was clearly evident as Jewish youth
from across the world and from every
point of the religious spectrum, shared a
platform and forged friendships that could
otherwise never have come about.
"The most exciting part for me
Elizabeth said, "was meeting kids from all
over who loved Tanach as much as I do.
Boys and girls my age who spoke languag-