On the eighth night of Chanukah, Jan. 1, at the Jerusalem Theater, hundreds cheered as the three top winners of the 2024 International Chidon HaTanach for Adults were announced. First prize went to Shimshon Jacob, mechanech at Talmud Torah Moriah in Beit Shemesh, who brought great pride to his community and its educational system. Second place was awarded to Shlomo Mondshine, a Jerusalem-based researcher, writer and Bible scholar. Proudly following up as the third winner was Bergenfield resident Barry Saffern, a product owner at Bank of New York Mellon.
Truthfully, Saffern gets our top billing as he was the only non-native Israeli among the top winners and also is not professionally involved in the field of Torah study and education. The exuberant cheering squad in the audience included Saffern’s wife, his brother and family and several cousins.
Saffern’s journey to this momentous moment began many years ago when he was an elementary school student at Yeshiva Dov Revel in Forest Hills (my alma mater). At the urging and encouragement of his mother, Saffern participated in the Youth Chidon HaTanach when in sixth, seventh and eighth grade, when he placed eighth in the Yeshiva Elementary School Division.
During his high school years at Rabbi Riskin’s Ohr Torah, he placed fifth as a 10th grader and third as an 11th grader in the high school divisions. However, during his gap year at Gush, years at YU majoring in computer science and eventual marriage and move to Bergenfield close to 30 years ago, life was busy with other pursuits. Wife Chani teaches math at Ma’ayanot and Naaleh high schools. Daughter Miriam is studying toward a Ph.D. in immunology and daughter Devorah is pursuing data analysis.
A bit of history. Chidon HaTanach claims a long and proud history. Initiated in 1958 by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, it was intended to add a spiritual dimension to the 10th anniversary of Israel’s independence. The first iteration of the contest was as a National Chidon for Adults. Amos Chacham, z”l, a legendary national hero of Israel and the Torah world, was the first winner.
Born in Jerusalem in 1921, Chacham suffered a brain injury as a youth which left him with cerebral palsy and a speech impairment. Homeschooled by his parents, he was left orphaned at 29 and supported himself as a clerk. At night in his tiny apartment, he studied Tanach voraciously. In 1958, his life changed and he was lifted into the limelight as Israel’s first National Chatan HaTanach on Aug. 4. Later that month he placed first in the International Chidon HaTanach, outsmarting competitors from around the world. His life improved and he went on to become a biblical commentator for the famous Da’at Hamikra Series and a world-renowned biblical authority until his passing in 2012 at age 91.
The Youth Chidon HaTanach, established in 1963, has been held every Yom Ha’Atzmaut since. However, the Adult Chidon went on hiatus for 30 years, from 1981-2010, when it was reestablished by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former president Yitchak Navon, z”l, and former education minister Gideon Sa’ar. Since then, the Adult Chidon has taken place annually during Chanukah in a two-year cycle.
Saffern’s spark for learning Tanach was reignited when the Adult Chidon was reinstated in 2010 when he restarted his Tanach studies seriously. In 2021, Saffern placed third in the U.S. Chidon but was not one of the two candidates for the Israeli International Chidon. Focusing on the 2023 competition, Saffern studied hard but was devastated as we all were by the necessary postponement of the Adult Chidon by the tragic events of Oct. 7. Having qualified to compete in the International Chidon based upon the two written rounds in July and August 2023, and four more oral rounds in April 2024, Saffern waited anxiously to hear about the rescheduling of the Adult Chidon in Israel.
Finally confirmed for Chanukah 2024, Saffern joined his co-USA contestant Nathan Dweck, a teacher at the Barkai School in Brooklyn, on their way to the Adult Chidon in Yerushalayim. There they were joined by eight other contestants including two Israelis, one who made aliyah from Peru; two women Tanach educators from Argentina; two non-Torah professionals from France; a 73-year-old Canadian woman; and one retired Canadian engineer who had made aliyah and fought valiantly in the 1967 and 1973 wars. Thus, an international cohort of 10 competitors was created.
Upon arrival, the group was housed in Jerusalem’s Dan Panorama where they were wined, dined and toured by Hananel Malka, coordinator of the Bible quizzes at the Ministry of Education, and Orit Avital, project manager at the World Zionist Organization, co-sponsor of the Chidon.
On Wednesday evening, the eighth night of Chanukah, the moment had arrived. After three nerve-racking hours of preparation, the stage was set. In the presence of Israel’s Minister of Education, Yoav Kisch, the contestants were seated on the stage. Media personality Ofer Hadad served as master of ceremonies. The panel of judges included Liron Ben Moshe, previous Chidon champion and composer of the questions, whose brother was lost in the battle for Re’im on Oct. 7. Joining him was Lali Deri, a Torah educator who lost her son, Staff Sgt. Yaakov Deri, z”l while fighting in Gaza. Yaakov Hagoal, chairman of the World Zionist Organization, and Carmit Harush, director of the Jerusalem District at the education ministry, also sat on the panel of judges. Violinist Mordechai Shenwald, injured during the war, offered musical renditions during the program. Several films related to the war were aired during the program, one including a message by the bereaved mother of a fallen soldier, U.S. native Hadas Lowenstein.
After several grueling written and oral rounds, including the Prime Minister’s Lightning Round consisting of 16 questions in 10 minutes, the results were in. Placing first was Israeli Shimon Jacob, Tanach educator from Beit Shemesh, followed by second place winner Israeli Shlomo Mondshine, Bible researcher from Jerusalem, and in third place American computer specialist Barry Saffern from Bergenfield, New Jersey!
Saffren shared, “I spent three years of intensive Bible learning. On the bus on my way to and from work, in the evenings, on Shabbat and Yomim Tovim and at any free time I could grab, I studied Tanach. I attribute my success to the urging of my mother and as a tribute to her family ancestry dating from the 1400s when the Horowitz-Margareten line originated in Spain and later settled in the town of Horowitz in Czechoslovakia.”
He also attributed his success “to the encouragement of my father, whose family line came through Poland, Vienna, Germany and eventually the U.S. The Chidon, in which Bible champions from countries around the globe participate, truly represents the unique connection between Jewish communities in Israel and the Diaspora. The central message during this particularly challenging year is one of hope and faith in the power of the Jewish people to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges and build a shared and bright future. We are witnesses to Bible being the unifying bridge between generations and cultures past, present and future.”
Former U.S. winners include Teaneck’s Rabbi Dr. Ezra Frazer, second place, International Adult Chidon Winner in 2012, and director of International Youth Chidon from 2008-2016. Brooklyn-born YU Professor Yair Shahak took home first prize in the 2016
International Adult Chidon.
