Fifteen-year-old Yishai Eisenberg of Passaic, N.J., and a Beit Shemesh high school student were the first-ever co-champions in the International Bible Quiz held in Israel on Yom Ha’atzmaut, Independence Day.
Eisenberg and Elior Babian of Beit Shemesh, located west of, stunned the judges by their perfect knowledge of the Bible. When it became clear that neither could top the other without a marathon event, the judges gave up and declared both of them the champions.
Both contestants were asked to complete verses from the Bible. When challenged with the verse, “The king establishes the land by justice,” Eisenberg immediately responded correctly, “But he who receives bribes overthrows it.”
Babian completed the proverb “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint” with “But happy is he who keeps the law.”
Eisenberg is a student at the YeshivaUniversity’s Yeshivat Beit Hillel of Passaic-Hillel.
The influence of American-born Knesset Member Shai Piron was felt at the quiz, which at his insistence featured simultaneous sign language translation for the first time.