North West and Menorah Foundation claim top honours at Etgar 2026

Some had boarded flights before sunrise. Others had travelled for hours by coach from Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. By lunchtime on Tuesday, more than 1,000 Jewish primary school pupils had filled Wembley Stadium’s Great Hall for Etgar 2026 – a celebration of Jewish learning that has become one of the largest educational events of its kind in Europe.

When the scores were finally announced, North West London Jewish Day School was named Best Overall School, while Menorah Foundation School produced the highest-scoring individual team.

A teacher from Menorah Foundation School said: “We feel like it’s an amazing opportunity to be with lots of other schools, to consolidate our knowledge. The children are very excited. It motivates their learning, and it’s an incredible experience. We feel privileged to come.”

But for much of the day, the focus was not on winning.

Instead, the Great Hall echoed with Hebrew songs, cheers and countdowns as pupils tested the Jewish knowledge they had spent months building in classrooms across the country. Teams huddled together over questions, debated answers and raced against the clock through a series of challenges designed to reward teamwork, creativity and learning.

Now in its 15th year, Etgar brought together pupils from 28 schools across Britain, from Glasgow and Gibraltar to Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Hertfordshire and London. Teachers and educational leaders from France, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Bulgaria, Italy and Finland were also in attendance, as communities across Europe look to introduce the programme in their own schools.

The challenge itself was far removed from a traditional exam.

Teams worked through multiple-choice questions covering Jewish history, festivals, Israel, Torah and Jewish life before tackling a series of creative challenges. One task asked pupils to create a newspaper front page covering the splitting of the Red Sea, while another used a Top Trumps-style game to test their knowledge of key Jewish figures, events and concepts. Perhaps the most frenetic challenge saw pupils racing against the clock to stack cups into pyramids by correctly matching foods with their brachot.

For many schools, simply being there was part of the experience.

Among those making the journey were pupils from Calderwood Lodge Primary School in Glasgow, attending the event for the first time.

Suzanne Rosenberg, a Kodesh teacher at the school, said preparation for the challenge had become a regular part of the school year.

“We’ve been having sessions weekly,” she said. “They’ve been revising and learning, and most importantly, having fun.”

Rosenberg added that pupils had boarded a flight at 7am to attend the challenge and were “so excited” to take part.

The event also gave children from smaller Jewish communities the opportunity to experience aspects of Jewish life they do not encounter every day.

Rachel Jacobs, head of Jewish studies at King David Primary School in Birmingham, said her pupils combined the competition with a visit to north-west London.

“We left at 7.30 in the morning,” she said. “We also went to Edgware to see the kosher shop and kosher restaurant. We don’t have any of that in Birmingham, so it’s really good for us to see.”

Teachers repeatedly stressed that Etgar was about much more than trophies and rankings.

A teacher from Broughton Jewish Cassel Fox Primary School in Salford said: “The energy in this room is something that will last with them forever.”

She added that her school had invested heavily in bringing pupils because “Jewish education is paramount to every part of our survival and existence.”

For Meir Gittleson, who has taught at Broughton for 38 years, Etgar’s appeal lies in the way it transforms learning into celebration.

“It brings out the value of learning and celebrating Jewish knowledge,” he said.

Between rounds, the competition floor regularly transformed into something closer to a festival. Pupils jumped from their seats to sing, dance and wave school banners as Rabbi Marc Levene led the hall through songs and audience participation.

Addressing the gathering, the Chief Rabbi drew a comparison with football matches normally associated with Wembley.

“Here is the stadium that is famous for the cup final,” he told the pupils.

“Half of the stadium is happy, and half of the stadium is sad. Half are celebrating victory, and the other half are sad because they have lost.

“But this is a Wembley occasion with a difference, because right here, every single person is a winner.”

He added: “If we have the privilege of being part of the Jewish people, it is a winning experience. We are proud to be Jewish. We stand tall, proud of our Jewish values, proud of our Torah, proud of everything which gives us a meaningful and happy life.”

The event also highlighted how far Etgar has travelled since it was founded by Jo Rosenfelder and Adam Taub to address gaps in Jewish knowledge among primary school pupils.

Today, more than 10,000 children in the UK and over 15,000 worldwide have taken part.

Rosenfelder said: “As Etgar enters its 15th year, its impact is clear: the results show a significant step change in participants’ Jewish knowledge, confidence and engagement with Jewish life.

“That impact is now extending globally with Etgar established in France, South Africa and Israel. And later this year, we’ll also be expanding into Sweden, Norway, Finland, Bulgaria and Israel, with further communities in development.

“The Etgar Challenge at Wembley remains a powerful culmination – an uplifting, high-energy day that brings that growth to life in ways that continue to surprise and inspire us.”

Among those celebrating afterwards was Rabbi Zach Ford of North West London Jewish Day School, whose pupils secured the Best Overall School title.

“I feel elated because it gets more competitive every year,” he told Jewish News.

“I love the curriculum, so I put a lot of passion and energy into it.

“I think that this competition shows that the facts about Judaism are a universal language. Wherever you are in the world, these facts, the history, make us the glue that we are as a Jewish people.”

Rabbi Marc Levene, who hosted the event, said Etgar’s importance extended far beyond a single afternoon of competition.

“The future of the Jewish community is about exciting young Jewish people about their Torah, about their Judaism, learning about their Jewish heritage,” he said.

“By having this incredible, exciting, passionate event for young people, we’re ensuring our future.”

As pupils filed out carrying trophies, medals and handbooks, the final standings mattered. But so too did the sight of children from communities hundreds of miles apart singing the same songs, learning the same stories and speaking the same Jewish language.

Fifteen years after Etgar began, that shared sense of Jewish learning and belonging remains at the heart of the challenge – and, organisers hope, at the heart of the community’s future.