A message of hope from speech winner
The competition consists of three rounds: a school round, a state semi-final and the international grand final.
Mount Scopus College year 10 student Noa Gomberg has jointly won the Mikolot public speaking competitionv with Milla Wolman, held recently in Sydney, and with it $4500 towards an Israel trip.
Mikolot is an international public speaking competition for Jewish students in years 10-12, that aims to foster the expression of Jewish voices in the modern world.
The finalists were NSW students Milla Wolman (Moriah College), Temima Suttner (Kesser Torah College) and Elias Davis (Emanuel School); Victorians Raphael Conyer (Bialik College), Noa Gomberg (Mount Scopus College); Perth’s Hannah Schwarz (Carmel School); and South African Joshua Woolf (King David High School Linksfield).
Winners receive a major contribution towards an approved Israel program.
The competition consists of three rounds: a school round, a state semi-final and the international grand final.
Each round has two components.
Firstly, an impromptu speech of less than two minutes with topics received on the day and five minutes’ preparation time, and next a prepared speech of four minutes on a Jewish/Israel topic.
Scopus students secured three of the five places in the state semi-final, with Gomberg going on to represent Scopus and Victoria in the grand final at Moriah College, Sydney.
The grand final prepared topic for this year was: “Never again is now! is an expression that has been used repeatedly since October 7. Unpack this statement and its personal significance to you.”
Gomberg spoke about how Jews are survivors and how they will thrive again, and they will dance again.
With a message of hope, she emphasised that they will come back from the current situation, stating “…but knowing how to survive isn’t what makes us special. It’s knowing how to thrive”.
“While Never Again is Now ensures we survive, we will dance again reminds us what we live for; the Jewish spirit.
“Our hope will never be lost. Because we refuse to lose it.”
Having emigrated from Brazil as a nine-year-old, barely able to speak any English, winning this public speaking competition was a huge thrill for Gomberg, whose dream is to become a Jewish leader in Australia and continue to serve her community.
Five adjudicators, including former senator and Olympian Nova Peris, helped decide the winners, awarding Gomberg and Mila Wolman from Moriah College as 2024 joint winners.
Mount Scopus College principal Dan Stzajt said, “We are incredibly proud of Noa and applaud her effort, her Jewish ambition and her outstanding public speaking accomplishment.”
This is the first time Scopus students have entered this international competition and follows their students’ success in the Great Zionist Debate competition in 2023.
The competition provided Scopus students more public speaking opportunities to develop their communication and advocacy skills while sharing their unique perspectives on topics related to Jewish life.
Gomberg plans to put her prize money towards the Scopus Ulpan program.
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