Bible quiz winner gets engaged to runner-up
Azriel Shilat, who narrowly beat Oriah Cohen in last year’s contest, pops the question to her
The winner and runner-up of the 2018 International Bible Quiz for Youth announced Wednesday that they were engaged to one another, a year and a half after they competed against each other.
Azriel Shilat and Oriah Cohen went head to head in last year’s final — held every year on Independence Day — with both tied for first during most of the contest with the maximal score. In an eventual tiebreaker round, Shilat managed to correctly answer one question more than Cohen to win the top title.
Shilat and Cohen, both aged 17 at the time, were then together on the stage to be awarded their respective honors from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
It turns out they have remained together ever since.
Shilat, a resident of Hatzor Haglilit in Israel’s north, now studies at Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva in Jerusalem’s Old City. On Tuesday night he proposed to Cohen, a resident of the northern city of Haifa who studied at Ulpanat Segula in Kiryat Motzkin.
The Bible Quiz’s longtime host, Avshalom Kor, congratulated the couple in his signature flowery style, saying: “There is nothing as great as the Nation of Israel’s love for the Book of Books and the love of a bride and groom who love both the book and each other.”
“Thank you very much for the blessings, to all the blessers,” Shilat said.
The Times of Israel Community.