High-profile panel of judges
Having won the city semi-finals of the 2024 Mikolot ‘Voices of the Future’ public speaking competition in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Johannesburg, seven senior high school students from Jewish schools gave it their all in the final on August 9 at Moriah College.
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 (name of school withheld by request); Perth’s Hannah Schwarz (Carmel School); and South African Joshua Woolf (King David High School Linksfield).
Adding an extra layer of excitement and prestige was the high-profile judging panel.
It comprised Sky News host Chris Kenny, former Australian senator and Olympic gold medallist Nova Peris, Jewish activist Marnie Perlstein, Kehillat Kadimah’s Rabbi Dovy Rapoport and the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council’s NSW president Paul Rubenstein.
The annual competition – which cultivates public speaking skills on Judaism-related topics – was made possible by the Moriah Foundation and sponsor Arnold Bloch Leibler.
This year’s winners – who share in prize money towards Israel programs – were, in joint first place, Wolman and Gomberg, Conyer second and Suttner third.
comments