Sacks Morasha children proved hotshots at Hebrew, winning two out of the three categories at this year’s Ivrit spelling bee.

Contestants had a minute to translate as many words as they could from English to Hebrew and spell them in Ivrit.

The annual competition attracted 55 participants from seven primary schools, including a number of Israelis who took refuge here after the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7.

The year-5 non-Ivrit speakers’ award went to Tamara Aaron of Sacks Morasha with Leah Dhoosche, Lilia Sherr and Sally Freudenthal, all from Nancy Reuben, in second, third and fourth.

Micah Gershon of Sacks Morasha won the contest for year-6 non-Ivrit speakers, followed by Ava Falk (Nancy Reuben), Toby Jesner (Sacks Morasha) and Salomé Mizrahi (Kerem).

The Ivrit speakers’ contest went to Hannah Mantzur of Kerem, with Shachar Aviishai (Kerem), Ofri Avishai (Kerem) and Avigail McWhir (Nancy Reuben) in succeeding places.

Alma, Eden, Etz Chaim and Naima JPS also took part in the event, run by PaJES in partnership with Routes Into Languages East and the Leo and Betty Gruss Charitable Trust.

Dalia Wittenberg, primary Ivrit adviser at PaJeS, said, “High motivation is a key factor in successful learning, and the PaJeS Spelling Bee competition has shown that competing motivates and inspires students to learn and excel. We are very proud of the contestants and their Ivrit teachers, who have shown commitment, dedication, and determination. Kol Hakavod [Well done]! ”