Binyamin Moskowitz, an 18-year-old yeshiva student from Ashkelon, won the annual international youth bible quiz here yesterday with a perfect score of 100 points. But popular sentiment was with the runner-up, Hillel Novetsky, 14, of New York, who came within four points of becoming the first non-Israeli bible quiz winner in 10 years. There were 21 contestants from 11 countries.
Novetsky had a perfect score in the preliminary written examination, the first diaspora youngster ever to accomplish this. He ran neck-and-neck with Moskowitz during the cliff-hanger contest until he was stumped by the final question put by Premier Yitzhak Shamir.
The question was: Identify the Biblical sources for the descriptions of Jerusalem as “the city of truth”, “the gate of my people”, “the city of our God”, and “the Mount of his holiness.” Novetsky named some, but not all of the sources. “There is a sense of disappointment, but I will take it,” he said afterwards.
Novetsky has the consolation of being “diaspora champion.” Moskowitz, asked the secret of his brilliant showing, replied, “There’s no secret. I believe in God.”
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