14
Friday, August 24, 1984
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Let the Games begin
A colorful and emotion-charged ceremony
kicked off the 1984 United States Maccabi
Youth Games in Detroit last weekend.
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BY 'FEUD S('HNE11)1.:11
Stull Writer
David Wolper would have been
proud.
A slice of Hollywood-tinged
pomp and pageantry came to the De-
troit area Sunday night with the
opening ceremonies f o r the 1984
United States Maccabi Youth Games
at West Bloomfield High School. And
for the 5,000 spectators and part ici-
pants on hand, the festivities more
than matched tht emotion and pride
generated during t he Wolper-
produced opening and closing cere-
monies earlier this month at the
GUM'S in Los Angeles.
Fro m the Olympic-style parade
of athletes which opened the show at
7:30 p.m., to the singing ofilatikvah
shortly after dark, the crowd, which
included a number of delegates from
last weekend's Zionist Organization
of America (ZOA) gathering in
Southfield, was enthusiastic and
Vocal. The biggest cheers during the
parade of 12 to 16-year-old Jewish
athletes were reserved not for the
120-member hometown team (al-
though they were greeted warmly),
but for the small, six-member delega-
tion from Flint, demonstrating the
seemingly Jewish tradition of em-
bracing the underdog.
Of the five foreign countries
sending contingents to Detroit for the
week-long competition, Canada and
Australia were among the most visu-
ally striking as they marched past
the capacity-filled grandstand. The
Canadian teenagers sported uni-
forms with a red and white maple leaf
motif, while the Australians wore
black and gold warm-up suits and
white cowboy hats.
Following the presentation of
the colors by the Jewish War Vete-
rans, the singing of the American na-
tional anthem by Avra Weiss and an
invocation by Rabbi Harold Loss of
Temple Israel, the•crowd heard brief
speeches by U.S. Sen. Donald Riegle
(D-Mich.); Detroit Jewish Welfare
Federation President Joel Tauber;
Esther Leah Ritz, national president
of JWB; Michael Hechtman,
president of the Detroit chapter,
Sports for Israel; ZOA President Al-
leek Resnick; and U.S. Sen. Carl
Levin (D-Mich.).
"We are gathered here both to
celebrate our peoplehood and to com-
pete, so as to maximize our strengths
and our wits," Sen. Levin said, citing
the festival's dual objective. "The
Games are a reminder of the physical
courage, the Maccabi courage, that at
times is required to be free."
Perched atop ladders, Erica Wolff; left, and Joshua Gruskin light the 1984 United Slates
Maccabi Youth Games torch.
A specially constructed can-
delabrum, forged in the shape of a
double, interlocking Magen David,
was lighted to commemorate the 11
Israel athletes slain by Palestinian
terrorists at the Munich Olympic
Games in 1972. Detroit team
member Michael Goldberg joined Is-
rael Peled, chairman of the Maccabi
World Union, in lighting the memo-
rial display despite the presence of a
stiff breeze.
Tamarack Dance Village, a local
group of teenage and pre-teen girls
led by choreographer Harriet Berg,
performed Uuah Jerusalem and Not
by Might, Not by Power — Shalom,
Lire in Peace. They were followed by
the Bells of Peace, a ten-member Is-
raeli dance troupe that has per-
formed all over the world, including
the first Maccabi Youth Games, held
in Memphis two summers ago.
"It's such a thrill to see all the
kids from around the world," said
Mimi Goldstein, of Flint, as she
watched her son Adam take part in
the festivities as a member of the
Flint team. "The hospitality of the
Detroiters is very much ap-
preciated," added her husband, Ron.
There were some spectators who
felt the event was also a signal of
progress for West Bloomfield, site of
most of the Maccabi Youth Games
activities. "Ten years ago, this
couldn't have happened in West
Bloomfield," according to Eliot Char-
lip. "This community wasn't ready to
accept this kind of large, Jewish
event," the West Bloomfield resident
said.
The Hatikuah, along with the
lighting of the 1984 U.S. Maccabi
Youth Games torch by Detroit team
members Joshua Gruskin and Erica
Wolff and the release of hundreds of
blue and white balloons marked the
conclusion of the evening's fes-
tivities.
The athletic competition, which
has been taking place at the Centaur
Racquet Club, various schools in the
area and the Jewish Community
Center (co-sponsor of the Games,
along with the Detroit chapter,
Sports for Israel) this week, will end
with finals in basketball, tennis, vol-
leyball and racquetball Sunday
morning. The closing ceremonies are
slated to begin at 11 a.m. Sunday on
the Stuart Sachse Field at the Cen-
ter.