Can you identify the biblical book in which the phrase “Tower of David” appears? Do you know where Theodor Herzl’s coffin lay before it was buried on Mount Herzl? Or what happened to the animals at the Biblical Zoo during the War of Independence?
At the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum, middle school students from 33 Jerusalem schools – secular, religious, and mixed – put their knowledge to the test this week at the Jerusalem Quiz in front of their school peers, teachers, family, and friends.
After four months of study, tours, and a deep dive into the city’s 4,000-year history, contestants tackled questions spanning pivotal moments, but also small details, in the city’s unique story, having memorized material on 30 major Jerusalem sites, archaeology, music, history, architecture, culture, and unforgettable Jerusalem trivia.
The quiz, held in honor of Jerusalem Day in the Victor and Esther Achar Amphitheater, was initiated by the Education Center of the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum.
Inbal Sharon, director of the center, worked closely with the Jerusalem Education System (Manhi) director Arik Wurtzburger, as well as Yehuda Neuman, supervisor of Secondary Education, Jerusalem Education System, to bring study material to Jerusalem students throughout the city.
Eilat Lieber, director and chief curator of the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum, noted: “The renewed museum serves as an immersive, and surprising, educational space that encourages independent learning through exploration, inquiry, and discovery, making Jerusalem’s history powerfully relevant to our own times.
“The Jerusalem Quiz reflects that same spirit – bringing together teenagers from vastly different neighborhoods, schools, and communities to discover and connect to their city together. The phrase ‘Jerusalem built as a city joined together – a city that makes all Israel friends’ couldn’t ring more true.”
Sharon was deeply moved watching the students from different schools and backgrounds form genuine bonds with one another during the on-site preparation day at the museum.
“The very act of learning together creates an understanding and breaks down prejudice. It inspires hope for a far more united, compassionate, and tolerant future,” she commented.
The winning students weren’t just quick thinkers – they knew Jerusalem inside out. First place went to ninth-grader Ya’ara Eshkoli from Inbar High School, who admitted: “The questions were hard – you really had to remember exact details.” Second place went to David Chiret from Netiv Meir Bnei Akiva Yeshiva High School. Third place went to Omer Eylon from Keshet High School.
Last year, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion pledged that the Jerusalem Quiz would become an annual tradition. This week, the second Jerusalem Quiz took place – another step in building what is quickly becoming a new Jerusalem tradition.
“We hope that next year the Jerusalem Quiz becomes not just a national quiz open to schools across the country but international – in honor of the 60th Anniversary of the Reunification of the city,” said Lieber.
“Visit the museum where Jerusalem’s story comes alive,” Lieber suggested, smiling, “and you may just be ready for next year’s Jerusalem Quiz!”
And now the challenge is yours: How many questions can YOU answer?
The Jerusalem Quiz
1. Twice a year, the notes are cleared from the Western Wall to make room for new ones. What happens to the old notes?
(a) They are kept in a special vault in the State Archives
(b) They are kept in the archives of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation
(c) They are transferred to genizah (religious burial)
(d) They are thrown away
2. Which of the following rulers built or restored the walls of Jerusalem?
(a) King Hezekiah, Nehemiah, and the Hasmoneans
(b) King Hezekiah, Suleiman the Magnificent, and General Allenby
(c) King Herod, Saladin, and Baybars
(d) King David, the Hasmoneans, and Suleiman the Magnificent
3. Who said to whom: ‘The Hurva has been destroyed’?
(a) Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Tzoref to his grandson Yoel Moshe Salomon
(b) The fighters of the Jewish Quarter by radio in 1948
(c) Abdullah el-Tell to the soldiers of the Jordanian Legion
(d) Rabbi Yehuda HaHasid to members of his community
4. Who of the following are buried on Mount Herzl?
(a) David Ben-Gurion, Yitzhak Rabin, and Eliezer Kaplan
(b) Teddy Kollek, Zalman Shazar, and Levi Eshkol
(c) Herzl, Golda Meir, and Menachem Begin
(d) Menachem Ussishkin, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, and Shimon Peres
5. In the verse added to Naomi Shemer’s song ‘Jerusalem of Gold,’ which places are mentioned?
(a) The wall, the Old City, the market, and the square
(b) The Temple Mount, the Western Wall, the cisterns
(c) The cisterns, the Temple Mount, Jericho Road
(d) The Dead Sea, the market, the Jewish Quarter
6. What valley separates the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives?
(a) The Citadel Valley
(b) The Tyropoeon Valley
(c) The Kidron Valley
(d) The Valley of Hinnom
7. Who built the Second Temple in Jerusalem?
(a) King Herod
(b) The Returnees to Zion (Shavei Zion)
(c) The Maccabees (The Hasmoneans)
(d) King Cyrus
8. In the Jewish Quarter, there are many historical sites each connected to a different period in Jerusalem’s history. Arrange the sites according to the historical timeline:
(a) The Cardo, the Hurva, the “Galed,” Batei Mahase Square
(b) The “Galed,” the Cardo, the Broad Wall, the Hurva
(c) The Broad Wall, Tiferet Israel, the “Galed,” the Cardo
(d) The Broad Wall, the Cardo, Tiferet Israel, the “Galed”
9. What is the ‘Ezrat Yisrael’ in modern Jerusalem?
(a) The hassidic synagogue in the Jewish Quarter
(b) The egalitarian prayer plaza at the Western Wall
(c) The Hebrew-learning association founded by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda
(d) The Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem
10. During the Crusader period, the Aqsa Mosque served as:
(a) The church of the Hospitaller Order
(b) The monastery of the Teutonic Order
(c) Headquarters of the Templar Order
(d) A hospital of the Lazarist Order
11. Who scored the first goal scored at Teddy Stadium during the stadium’s inaugural soccer match?
(a) Moshe Sinai
(b) Yossi Benayoun
(c) Haim Revivo
(d) Eli Ohana
12. In which book of the Bible does the phrase ‘Tower of David’ appear?
(a) Kings I
(b) Kings II
(c) Psalms
(d) Song of Songs