OWN CORRESPONDENT
“I shed a few tears when it was announced that I had qualified for the Diaspora Quiz (Chidon Hatfutzot),” Krawitz said, “mainly because of the terrifying thought of having to compete against friends who knew the Bible by heart.
The quiz is an annual event that brings Jewish youth aged 14 to 18 from around the world together in Israel. Prior to the final quiz, contestants meet in Israel for a two-and-a-half-week Bible camp that focuses on the importance of the Bible within their Jewish identity. They also learn about Israel’s history, and meet several government officials including the prime minister. The event peaks on Israel’s Independence Day, when the quiz is broadcast on state television.
“The day of the quiz itself is extremely exciting. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends. Education Minister Naphtali Bennet and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein were also there. I was amazed at how highly Israel values the event,” she said.
“I was happy to get through to the final eight. Unfortunately, the marks from the written test were carried over, and I couldn’t quite make up the deficit to get into the final four.”
Qualification for the event is equally onerous. Each country sends only two to four participants who have to learn 180 chapters and take tests throughout the year to qualify.
“When I signed up, I never dreamed that I would eventually need to cover a total of 400 chapters of the Tanach in preparation for the international quiz. Four hundred chapters – with each chapter averaging at least two pages – makes that about 800 pages of pure facts! I was horrified to discover that many of my fellow participants knew it off by heart.”
On her experience of camp, she said, “Imagine landing in a foreign country and being sent to a camp with more than 70 teenagers from foreign countries, all speaking foreign languages. We were all a little wary of one another. Suddenly, in the bus on the way from the airport, one of the participants says to another, ‘How many times does the word ‘seraphim’ appear in Chapter 8 of Yerimiyahu?’
The participant closes his eyes, and starts to recite Chapter 8 of Yerimiyahu off by heart. ‘Three,’ he answers. Silence. He was correct! It was then I thought that I was completely out of my depth…”
Krawitz said her fellow contestants “came from amazing places. Uruguay, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Netherlands, Mexico, Panama, to name a few. Many had truly remarkable stories to tell about their home countries. Some impressive and some very sad. My friend from Venezuela, for example, was not convinced she’d be allowed back into her country due to the airport being closed because of the unrest in that country.”
