(Courtesy of Yeshivat Frisch) Frisch senior Ilan Romm won second place in the International Chidon HaTanach for Youth in Jerusalem this past Yom Ha’Atzmaut, with Romm named as “S’gan Tanach” alongside Israel’s Elad Yanir (the “Chatan HaTanach”), who came in first.
Romm’s achievement was the culmination of years of study. He started learning for Chidon in sixth grade, and continued with unwavering dedication throughout his high school years. After coming in third place nationally in 2023, Romm clinched first place in the Dr. Shimshon Isseroff Chidon HaTanach USA in 2024, qualifying for the international round.
“Every time I study Tanach, I can learn something new,” said Romm. “Even in stories I have read a myriad of times, I can find something I had never noticed before.” He said his favorite perek in Tanach at the moment is Melachim I perek 20 “for its plethora of amazing one-liners and plays on words.” By and large, he said his study methods have remained the same over time, though he has also learned some new strategies such as the use of mnemonics and recordings. “I loved how Chidon forced me to learn Tanach and make connections between every story and pasuk,” explained Romm. “When you memorize something, you make it your own.”
To be sure, the Chidon HaTanach is a competition with some challenging, technical aspects and some hard “shoot, I know that but can’t remember it!” moments. For most participants, it also involves extensive, and intensive, independent study. Yet, Romm highlighted the role of camaraderie in his Chidon experience.
In Israel, Romm got to meet likeminded students from around the globe. “The best part of Chidon in Israel was the Chidon Camp and the amazing talmidei chachamim I met from around the world,” he said. “They reminded me that neither the test nor the score mattered, rather the Tanach did.”
Romm’s advice for students who are interested in the Chidon? “Pick up a Tanach and find a chavruta,” he advised. “Learning Torah with other people is significantly more motivational and rewarding, and you’ll end up getting much more out of Chidon that way.”
Romm also received encouragement from his friends at Frisch, where the Chidon HaTanach Club has become a mainstay of Frisch’s Torah culture, with passionate students and outstanding faculty support.
Over the past five years, three Frisch Chidon Club leaders – Beni Romm (Ilan’s older brother), Maya Tratt and Ilan – have won first or second place in the national Chidon and represented America on the international Chidon stage. (Another Frisch student, Emanuela Milman, won second place in the Chidon’s middle school division and was one of the U.S. representatives in 2024.) Chidon was always a club at Frisch, but became a concerted group endeavor under Beni’s leadership in 2020-’21. It has thrived ever since.
“The Frisch Chidon Club made learning Torah fun and exciting, as I was surrounded by people who loved learning as much as I,” said Ilan. “I knew when I began studying for internationals I couldn’t, nor did I want to, do it alone. I asked my friends and former Chidon captains to record themselves reciting Neviim Achronim for me so they would accompany me in all of my learning, and so I’d remember that I didn’t gain the knowledge through my own intelligence.”
“One of the most gratifying things to watch and be part of is how the students in this group have worked together, grown together, and are so excited for their friends’ success,” said Rabbi Asher Bush, the Chidon Club’s faculty advisor and chair of Frisch’s Halacha department. “The Torah culture at Frisch is something special, particularly since so much of it is student generated, with the rabbis/teachers playing their roles for a highly motivated group of future talmidei chachamim.”
Ilan also noted the support of his teachers. “Having faculty who encouraged and assisted in learning on such a level made the amount of perakim much easier to swallow,” he said.
Frisch is the sole institution in North America that can boast having the only American to have won first place at the International Chidon HaTanach for Adults serving as its Chidon coach, Rabbi Yair Shahak, who serves primarily as chair of Frisch’s Hebrew and world languages department. Not only does Rabbi Shahak provide study tips, mnemonics, review questions, maps and the like to the Chidon Club, but any Frisch student that places first, second or third in the Nationals (and thereby goes on to represent the USA in Jerusalem at the International Chidon) gets to have a Frisch Chidon experience in which he or she faces Rabbi Shahak in a one-on-one Chidon showdown surrounded by hundreds of peers, which serves as preparation for standing on the actual Chidon stage.
According to Rabbi Shahak, “It’s quite rare for high school students to commit to working on something this long-term, and the Chidon offers people that opportunity, namely, consistent study towards a larger goal. And as I always say: the worst thing that will happen to you as a Chidon competitor is that you will know more Torah and Nach, a worthy and admirable goal for our people.”
Rabbi Shahak served as Ilan’s Chidon coach over the past year. “I was so happy that Ilan was able to reach that level of accomplishment,” said Rabbi Shahak. “This was a classic case of יגעת ומצאת תאמין. Ilan is so creative, intelligent, and such a hard worker that I knew he had a chance to place in the top two, but the Chidon is a difficult and often unexpected competition; anything can happen. I am absolutely thrilled for him that this was the outcome.”
Rabbi Bush agreed. “Ilan has worked so hard on all of his Torah learning, but especially on Tanach,” he said. “He has set an incredible example for his peers, and we are all so proud of him.”
Rabbi Eli Ciner, principal of Yeshivat Frisch, noted the inherent connection between studying Torah and living it. “Ilan is a true ben Torah—not only a budding talmid chacham, but also a young man of exceptional character,” he remarked. “His sterling middot reflect the values he has clearly absorbed from the noble figures in Tanach.”
