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Tivo young athletes helped tennis champion ShlOmo Glickstein light the
Maccabiah torch in 1981.
BY SIMON GRIVER
Special to The Jewish News
Jerusalem — The countdown is
on for the 12th Maccabiah Games
which will be held in Israel from
July 15-25, 1985. More than 4,000
competitors are expected to repre-
sent the Jewish communities of 35
countries in 30 different sports.
This Jewish sporting extravan-
ganza will open at Ramat Gan's
Kfar Maccabiah stadium, where
several million dollars have been
invested in renovations for the oc-
casion, with a spectacular show of
lasers. The sporting events them-
selves are scheduled to take place
in stadia in all parts of Israel. The
closing ceremony in Jerusalem's
Sultan's Pool will include a sound
and light show.
Innovations for the 12th Mac-
cabiah include a youth tourna-
ment in which some 300 young
sportsmen will participate in six
events. And thousands of Mac-
cabiah veterans will also be in Is-
rael for an international confer-
ence of those who took part in the
first six Maccabiah games. The
first Maccabiah was held in 1932,
with 309 athletes from 17 coun-
tries. The games were such a
striking success that the second
Maccabiah in 1935 attracted
1,700 competitors. These became
known as the aliyah games be-
cause many of the participants
stayed on in Palestine, preferring
not to return to a Europe
threatened by Hitler.
The next Maccabiah was not
until 1949, the first to be held in
the independent State of Israel.
But the halving of entries to 800
reflected the tragedy that had be-
fallen the Jewish people in the
Holocaust. The number of com-
petitors has steadily climbed
since then — 2,700 in 1977, 3,500
in 1981 and the 4,000 mark will be
topped next year.
For the first time, a team from
Zaire will attend the Maccabiah.
A Soviet team has been invited
but the offer will certainly be de-
clined in the current political cli-
mate. It is hoped that Romania
will send a team for the first time
since 1935 and an invitation was
sent personally to President
Ceausescu.
pean representatives are present,
Yet, even if no Eastern Euro-
the games will be a tribute to in-
ternational Jewish unity. Indeed
some pundits feel it is a contradic-
tiOn in identity for Jews to come to
Israel from the world over to corn-
pete under the various flags of
their countries. However, partici-
pants are housed together with-
out reference to countries of origin
and no sense of national rivalry is
felt in the Maccabiah.
Dr. Israel Peled, chairman of
the Maccabiah World Union, de-
scribes the organization as one of
the most important Jewish groups
in the world. "Through it, 300,000
members maintain close ties to
their Jewishness and Israel," he
says. "In some communities,
Jewish life revolves around the
Maccabi sports club. In Perth, Au-
stralia, all 300 members of the
community belong to the club.
Buenos Aires has five big clubs
boasting 20,000 members."
Over the years, many stars
have been Maccabiah athletes.
They include names like Dutch
tennis ace Tom Okker and the
greatest Olympic sportsman of all
time, Mark Spitz. Many, like Is-
rael's American born former bas-
ketball captain Tal Brody, have
decided to make their home in Is-
rael after experiencing the coun-
try during the Maccabiah. Israel
President Chaim Herzog was once
the Maccabi boxing champion of
Ireland.
o Boxing is no longer a Mac-
cabiah event. A new sport in next
year's games will be hockey, while
other events include rugby,
softball, yachting, karate, judo
and wrestling, as well as track
and field, swimming, basketball
and tennis. For the less physical
minded there are bridge and chess
competitions.
Rivalry at the Maccabiah is
keen but not hostile and the Mac-
cabiah really has no winners or
losers. Sportsmanship thrives and
Jewish youth has an unforgetta-
ble experience in Israel, on and off
the sports field. For both partici-
pants and spectators the Mac-
cabiah is a sporting event which
succeeds in generating a spirit
characterized by competition and
solidarity alike for Jews all over
the world.
World Zionist Press Service.