Etgar’s second Israel Challenge has attracted a full house for Yom Ha’atzmaut next Thursday.
Over 200 Jewish secondary school students will be tested on their knowledge of Israeli culture, politics, history and geography — more than double the attendance at last year’s pilot event.
Late-applying teams had to be turned away because of lack of space.
The Israel competition is a follow-up to Etgar’s general Jewish knowledge quiz for primary schools, which was launched six years ago.
Manchester’s King David High School and JCoSS will be entering for the first time this year, joining teams from JFS, Immanuel College and City of London Boys’ School.
Jo Rosenfelder, Etgar co-founder, said the programme ensures “students are familiar both with the achievements and the challenges of Israel”. It aimed to give students the “foundational knowledge” that would help them prepare for the kind of discussions surrounding Israel they might encounter later on campus.
Etgar’s Israel handbook is based around a timeline of 100 key dates in the history of Zionism and Israel.
Ms Rosenfelder said Etgar was already looking for a bigger venue “to ensure we can accommodate the predicted growth for next year”.
Simon Rinkoff, head of faculty of Jewish education at JFS, said “the amazing learning programme should be adopted by as many schools as possible.”
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