The winners of the 7th annual nationwide Mishna Quiz, held in Efrat on Wednesday, have been named: Alon Simon of Jerusalem and Yair Shmuel Cohen from Elkanah.
The quiz is held yearly for contestants from religious and not-religious schools around the country, sponsored by the Education Ministry’s Torah Culture Department. Hundreds of students from Modiin, Maccabim-Reut, Ramle, Jerusalem and nearby communities, as well as towns in Judea and Samaria took part.
The students were quizzed on hundreds of Mishnayot – passages in the nearly-2,000-year-old codex of Jewish law that comprise the basis for the discussions, debates and rulings of the succeeding generations of rabbis. In addition, they studied about the Tannaim (the scholars mentioned in the Mishna), the Oral Law, the Sanhedrin (Supreme Torah Court), and related topics.
“The public [non-religious] schools take this project very seriously,” said Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Aviad, Jerusalem District supervisor for the Torah Culture Department, “and sometimes they do better than the students in the public-religious schools.”
Upon their arrival in Efrat on Wednesday, the hundreds of young participants toured the city, known as the capital of Gush Etzion, and environs. They learned of the battles that took place in the area just before the 1948 War of Independence, when Gush Etzion was captured by Jordan, and observed Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem from afar.
This year’s quiz was dedicated to the memory of Maj. Eliraz Peretz, who was killed in battle with terrorists in Gaza two months ago. His mother Miriam was present for the contest.