"I think I can speak on behalf of everyone when I say that חידון תנך was truly an amazing educational experience. Everyone can agree that they made a friend or learned something new. Also, no one ever got hungry. All in all, at the end of the day, it wasn’t about the competition but the fun time had."
- Samuel Rappaport, Grade 6 participant (Montreal)
"This past year was my daughter’s first time participating in the Chidon Hatanach. She enjoyed it enormously and continues talking about it, months later. During our Shabbat dinner discussion, my daughter would often exclaim 'we learned this in Chidon Hatanach' and would take out her Chidon notes to share her knowledge with us. My daughter is looking forward to participating in next year’s Chidon Hatanach competition and determined to make it to top 5 in national competition this time. As a parent, it makes me very proud to see my child being so knowledgeable and excited when it comes to studying Jewish texts, thanks to Chidon Hatanach.”
- I. G., Parent of a Grade 5 participant (Montreal)
"We have had the privilege of participating in Chidon Hatanach with my son between grade 6 to 10 and wish to convey our gratitude to this wonderful initiative. It has allowed our family to broaden our bible knowledge as we supported our son during the different learning phases and competitions rotating between Toronto and Montreal.
The climax for us was in 2018 when our son reached the finals and was awarded with the wonderful honor of representing Canada in the International Bible Contest in Israel on Yom Haatzmauth 2019. This afforded our son a once-in-a-lifetime experience. He spent two weeks with 70 teens from 40 countries touring Israel, meeting dignitaries, learning about Judaism and the Bible, and forming wonderful friendships. My wife and I attended the 61st international competition, in Jerusalem, on Yom Haatzmauth and were filled with pride and joy when our son finished in second place in the diaspora contest. We are delighted to see him continue coaching his high school Chidon club and volunteering as a judge in the National Bible contest.
The team at the National Bible Contest is professional and filled with positive energy and we would highly recommend this extra curricular activity for kids who have the curiosity and interest in the bible."
- Gilad & Karmit Epstein, Parents of a past participant (Montreal)
"My first Bible Contest class was at the beginning of Grade 5, 27 years ago. When I first registered, I almost quit, but my mom told me to give it a chance. I followed her advice and was shocked when I passed the Regionals.
It was during the Nationals that I fell in love with the Bible Contest. It was so much fun - between the activities, meeting new people, and the fact that 3 of my friends actually made the top 10. Although I didn't make it past the first round, I was hooked, and the rest, shall we say, is history.
I continued participating every year, never dipping below 5th place, until it came to Grade 10 when I won and represented Canada at the International Bible Contest the following year. Graduating high school didn’t end my participation in the Bible Contest. I continued to participate as a judge at the Nationals, as a test writer and now as the proud parent of a new competitor!
In all, the Bible Contest has had a huge impact on my life - besides getting me a free trip to Israel, it also helped me to make new friends, gain self-confidence, manage my time, have a strong work ethic, and develop a sense of responsibility to keep learning. At the competitions, the participants are all told, "you are all winners, because you are learning Torah Lishma, for its own sake." I read the entire Tanach the year AFTER the Internationals, and have tried to keep up at least some degree of learning ever since. It was a wonderful experience, and I hope to stay involved in some way for many years to come!"
- Carolyn Gehr, Past participant (Montreal)