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Madam Minister of Education, Prof. Yuli Tamir,
Head Youth Education Officer in the IDF, Brig. Gen. Eli Sharmeister,
Honorable Mayor of Jerusalem, my friend Uri Lupolianski,
Distinguished Judges, headed by the 5th President of the State of Israel, my friend Yitzhak Navon,
Distinguished Participants, who amazed us with their incredible knowledge, and especially to Shai Gispin, winner of the International Bible Quiz for Youth, well done,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
My friend, Mr. Yitzhak Navon, 5th President, since you made the request and I do not enjoy shaking my head, the minute you made it, I consulted with the Minister of Education, Prof. Yuli Tamir, and on her recommendation, we will advance a resolution in the Government to approve, in the 60th year, an International Bible Quiz for Youth and Adults.
Now, allow me a few short words of welcome.
You have been granted a rare privilege, we all have, in that we can sit here, in Jerusalem, and become addicted to Bible stories. You see, this is the same Jerusalem in which King David walked, the same city in which Solomon hosted Queen Sheba, the exact same place in which the prophets and visionaries, the priests and the Levis, walked.
And here we are today, on the State of Israel’s Independence Day, strengthening the connection which cannot be unraveled between the modern country, with its hi-tech industries, which we established, and its ancient history, that same connection between a people and its past.
This year, the theme of the Quiz is Jerusalem, and the verse “Judah will exist forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation”.
As in the words of the prophet, Joel, which, thanks to the Zionist enterprise, transformed from words of far-off prophecy into the reality of life, so is that which is written in Psalms – “The built-up Jerusalem is like a city that is united together” – became, 40 years ago, an existing fact with the renewed unification of the city during the Six Day War. To this audience, who knows nearly as well as the participants in the Quiz, it goes without saying that, according to our tradition, to our Sages, the phrase, “a city that is united together” means a city which makes all of Israel friends. And that is why there is no doubt – to the entire Jewish people, Jerusalem is the capital of the people of Israel, as well as its heart and soul.
In some cultures, the past is just pieces of far-off memory, shards of broken rock, shreds of unclear words. The people of Israel have a clear advantage over all of them: for us, our national heritage is something which lives and breathes. We are the only people in the world who can read their ancient texts, in the language in which they were written nearly 2,000 years ago. We are among one of the few peoples for whom one book, one text, one language, connects us all – residents of Israel and those who live in the Diaspora, previous generations with those to come.
Dear Participants,
In this competition, the true prize is not in the various titles. The true prize is in your joining together – through the Bible – with Jewish history and with the Land of Israel.
At different stages of the Quiz, you demonstrated incredible knowledge of the Bible. However, my advice is this, do not be content with reading and memorizing. “Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth”. Go to the mountains of the North, where kings fought in ancient times; visit the beaches on which boats loaded with all the best goods landed; search out the path of the prophet Deborah among the mountains of Naftali; walk in the footsteps of Saul on the Gilboa; and turn south after David in the caves of the Negev. This is how you will connect not only to the words, but also to the people – to our forefathers who lived here then and to those who live here now.
May you be blessed – and happy Independence Day to you and to all the people of Israel.
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