On November 7th, the Pavlodar (Kazakhstan) House of Friendship hosted the final round of the international “From the Depths of the Ages” trivia competition on Jewish tradition. The competition, which became international this year, was held with the support of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, which provided prizes for the winners.

The 292 participants of the first two rounds included youths from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzia, and Russia, of whom 40 made it to the final round. The final round consisted of two parts: an answer to a question received during the final round and the presentation of a previously-prepared essay.

One of the members of the jury was the President of the Mitzvah Association of Jewish Organizations of Kazakhstan, EAJC Presidium member Alexander Baron. In his introductory speech he stressed that “knowledge of Jewish studies is an important part creating a Jewish community.”

The winners of the competition in the junior, intermediate, and senior groups were, repectively: Alexander Chernov (3rd place), Sophia Revenko (2nd place), Elizaveta Shkoda (1st place); Elizaveta Dayerbayeva (3rd place), Inga Hvitiya (2nd place), Maria Arepyeva (1st place); Lazar Berh (3rd place), Ksenia Feldman (2nd place) and Rayana Shtrafun (1st place).

Alexander Baron noted during his congratulatory speech to the winners, “All those who made it to the third and final round have already won, as their knowledge will remain with them. The 'From the Depths of the Ages' competition has gone international, as we had participants from three countries. We hope to meet again next year, perhaps with a wider geography of participation and with new participants. The Jewish tradition lives through being transmitted from generation to generation over thousands of years. And what has come 'from the depths of the ages' becomes our present – thanks to those who have organized this competition.”