Three U.S. Teenagers Emerge As Winners of National Bible Contest

Two girls and one boy won trips to Israel this summer as winners in the seventh annual National Bible Contest sponsored by the Department of Education and Culture of the Jewish Agency for Israel. The 91 contestants in the finals, held yesterday at the Jewish Agency auditorium, were from 56 United States and Canadian communities.

They were the survivors of two earlier elimination rounds in which over 15, 000 children, between the ages of 13 and 16, competed in the three divisions of the competition — advanced Hebrew, intermediate Hebrew and English. Winners were: Ethel Dolgin, of Los Angeles, a 15-year old student at the Rambam Torah Institute of Yeshiva University, who was the winner among the 33 finalists in the advanced Hebrew competition; Brenda Fleschner, of Far Rockaway, N.Y., a 16-year old student at the South Shore Hebrew High School, who won over 23 other competitors in the intermediate Hebrew competition; and David Bruce Witkin, of Denver, a 14-year old student at the School of the Beth Ha Medrosh Hagodol, who triumphed over 33 other competitors in the comprehensive English competition.

The winners were presented with their prizes by Mrs. Rose L. Balprin, chairman of the American Section of the Jewish Agency for Israel. In making the awards — trips to Israel for the winners, scholarships at summer camps for the runner-ups, and $100 Israel bonds for those who achieved third place — Mrs. Halprin pointed out that the Bible contests were “designed to develop greater interest among American youth in Hebrew culture.” The Jewish Agency, she said, has been encouraged to note that the Bible contests have aroused an ever-growing interest among American Jewish youth. “They have been an effective aspect of our endeavors to combat indifference to Jewish cultural studies, and help stem the tide of assimilation among youth,” she stressed.