Pupils from Scotland and Gibraltar fly in to join 1,000 children at Etgar challenge 2026

And Sonya’s mother, Daniella Benamor, said she wanted to show her daughter “the Jewish spirit” by introducing her to “a competition full of Jewish children like her”.

The two girls joined a team from Naima Preparatory School. They spent the morning beforehand meeting their new teammates, and Tamar spoke to the school’s Year 6 cohort, who are visiting Gibraltar on a school trip next month, about her home.

Meanwhile, one of their Naima teammates, Olivia, was excited for the event having been encouraged by her older siblings. “My sister and my brother came here [a few years ago] and they told me that it was going to be fun,” she said, “and it is really fun!”

Left to right: Joshua, Daniel, and Ariella from Naima (photo: Ben Conway)[Missing Credit]

Those with the next longest journey were the students and staff from Calderwood Lodge in Glasgow, who woke up at 3am to fly down to London for the event.

Rabbi Moshe Rubin, the school’s chaplain, told the JC: “It’s extremely important the kids realise they aren’t the only Jewish kids in the UK, and that there are kids all over living lives exactly like theirs with pride.”

Also among the more than 25 schools competing were North Cheshire Jewish Primary School, King David Primary School (Manchester), Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School, King David Primary School (Birmingham), and Brodetsky Primary School (Leeds).

And teachers from as far as Italy, France, Sweden, Bulgaria, Norway, and Finland visited to observe the event.

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, who attends the Etgar challenge every year, referenced the iconic Wembley Stadium in his speech to the children, who greeted him with raucous cheers.

“Wembley is famous for the cup final,” he began. “At the end of every cup final, half the stadium is happy, and half the stadium is sad.”

“But this is a Wembley occasion with a difference because right here every single person is a winner,” Rabbi Mirvis continued. “That’s because, right now, we have the privilege of being part of the Jewish people and that is a winning experience.”

“We stand tall, proud of our Jewish families, our Torah, and of everything that gives us a meaningful and happy life. I know looking around this hall that, please G-d, the Jewish people will have a great and wonderful future.”

The two top trophies at the end of the day were scooped up by Menorah Foundation School and North West London Jewish Day School.

Menorah’s table D was the highest performing table overall – out of 97 – and North West had the highest average school of any with more than three tables.

Rabbi Zach Ford, who oversees Etgar preparation at North West, said he was “in awe” of his students.

“The Etgar curriculum empowers young Jewish children to speak a global language of facts, history, and Jewish customs,” he said. “Wherever a Jew wanders, this is how we connect with each other.”

North West with their trophy and the Chief Rabbi (photo: Ben Conway)[Missing Credit]

Spectating the event was Dov Forman, the social media political commentator and New York Times bestselling author who is speaking at a JC event later this month.

He remembered attending the event as a student in its early years more than a decade ago.

“It is incredible to see so many Jewish people being proud of their Judaism,” Forman said. “We need young people to be confident in who they are, and to know what it means to be a proud Jew and Zionist and counter the lies they hear about what those mean from other parts of society.”

Jo Rosenfelder and Adam Taub founded the challenge in 2013 and have orchestrated its expansion to what it is now – an event which has reached many corners of the UK, and beyond.

They thanked the CST and other security presence at the national stadium, as well as their small team, comprising Atarah Ruback, Miki Shaw, and Sarah Martin.

After the event, Adam reiterated how special – and loud – it was to see 1,000 Jewish children in a room engaging with Jewish education and music.

“You can’t appreciate it until you see it firsthand,” he said. “When you hear that there’s 1,000 children at Wembley Stadium, it sounds lovely, but when you see them for yourself, singing and dancing and working really hard on the questions, it’s a completely different experience.

“I think it’s a formative experience for lots of young Jews. When we ask for volunteers, the older kids remember their Etgar experiences and make sure it’s really fun for the next generation.”

Indeed, as well as nearly 1,000 students, there were around 200 teachers and 100 madrichim, mostly students from Jewish schools in London.

Eitan and Leo, Year 10 students at Yavneh, volunteered to help at the event and said that “it’s brilliant to unite kids from all different schools to sing, dance, and do the quiz”.

MC for the event was Rabbi Mark Levene, who ensured that the children were suitably energised for the challenge – so much so that their cacophonous noise could be heard from three floors below.

He was joined frequently in song by Rabbi Luis Herszaft, including for a half-hour concert of Israeli and Jewish music after the quiz, and the pair were accompanied by Yuval Havkin on the keyboard throughout.

A handful of parents were in attendance, too. Jo Moscow, whose child attends Etz Chaim, said that it was “lovely to see the kids so excited to see their friends from other schools”, as they went around signing each others’ T-shirts while eating their lunch of pizza, vegetables, and popcorn.

Nicole Manson, also an Etz Chaim parent, said that events like this are “the future of the fight against antisemitism”.

“It’s not just about looking toward the outside world but also about looking inwards and engaging kids to love and appreciate their Judaism,” she said.

The tasks this year were varied. As well as 100 multiple choice questions spread between the two half-hour time slots, the children had to dream up an invention to solve a problem in Israel, design Jewish Top Trumps, and stack cups in a pyramid with food and drink items on them so each row had cups corresponding to the same blessing.

The challenge occurs annually. Etgar also runs a challenge for Year 8 and 9 students, which is centred around Israel. City of London School won this year’s challenge last month.

To learn more about Etgar, click here.

Results in full

JNF creative round tech challenge – 3rd: King David Birmingham; 2nd: Nancy Rubin (team A); 1st: Wohl Ilford (team C).

Top trumps challenge – 3rd: Sinai (team G); 2nd: Calderwood Lodge; 1st: Brodetsky (team A).

Overall winner – 3rd: North West (team B); 2nd: Beit Shvidler (team A); 1st: Menorah Foundation (team D).

Best performing school – North West