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Enjoying the bouncer at Shaarey Zedek are David
Rottenberg, 14, of New Jersey, Emery Weiss, 12, of West
David Braan, 15, and Geri Stulberg, 16, both of Ottawa, enjoy
the food while members of their West Bloomfield host family
Bloomfield and Edan Zitelny, 13, of New York City.
look on: Gordon Berris, wife, Randi, and 3-year-old Rachel.
Burning
Off Their
Dinner
Even during an evening
off, Maccabi athletes
keep on moving.
Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Senior Writer
t an Aug. 18 barbecue for
Maccabi athletes and their host
families at Congregation Shaarey
Zedek in Southfield, Jonah Geller reflected
on how he felt the evening before, at the
Games' opening ceremonies.
"It made me think of the first time I
was at the opening ceremonies in Detroit:'
said Geller of Farmington Hills. "It was
exactly 18 years earlier — to the day. I was
part of the Pittsburgh delegation, staying
with a Detroit family. This time part of the
Pittsburgh delegation was staying with a
Detroit family — that was my family"
The day before, Geller had shown his
guests the pins he collected as a Maccabi
participant in 1987-1990.
"It was a great way to break the ice,' said
Gali Blumenthal, 14, who along with bas-
ketball teammate Anna Bezner, 14, go to the
same high school in Pittsburgh that Geller
attended. The Gellers also are hosting Sarah
Greenberg, 14, and Erin Kuntz, 13, who won
silver medals in duet dancing earlier in the
New Members
The size of our family
doubles to eight.
Gabriella Ring
Teen2Teen Intern
T
he last time Detroit hosted the
JCC Maccabi Games in 1998,
I was 5 years old. My parents
hadn't even heard of the Games, and,
therefore, did not volunteer to host. Now,
in 2008, we found it appropriate to host
because I, 15, and my brother Phillip, 12,
lie within the age range of athletes.
At first, we took in two athletes. But when
word spread that hundreds of beds were
still needed, we decided to take more. About
two weeks ago, our athlete information
came in the mail with four athletes listed.
Daniel Persson, 14, Zachary Cohn, 14,
Jeffrey Alper, 14, all of Youngstown, Ohio,
and Yarden Goldwasser, 16, of Western
Galilee, Israel, arrived at the JCC in West
Bloomfield at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Daniel
and Jeff are participating in U-14 soccer,
Yarden in U-16 soccer, and Zach in U-14
baseball.
Sunday's afternoon activity included a
backyard barbecue with hot dogs, tortilla
chips, a party dish with vegetables, and
swimming in the above-ground pool (fea-
tured game: monkey in the middle with
an aquatic football). The boys settled into
their rooms and presented us with gifts
before heading out to the opening ceremo-
nies at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
The boys complained about the hour
they had to wait outside because the del-
egations were announced in alphabetical
order (Youngstown came in second to last).
Daniel's favorite part was seeing himself on
the Jumbotron — he was the sign bearer
— and Zach's favorite moment was watch-
ing the Harley Davidson motorcycles cir-
Teeing off on the ball is Garret Segall, 14 of
Oakland, Calif.
day and are two of his niece's best friends
from Baltimore.
"I love basketball:' said Blumenthal as
she shot — and made — a basket in one
of the inflatable hoops set up for the event.
The barbecue was attended by more than
300 participants. A few more joined the
meal when a group of parents waiting for
a much-delayed Camp Ramah luggage bus
were invited to share the meal.
"It is so, so, so cool that the Maccabi
Games coincide exactly with the Olympics
this year," said Shaarey Zedek Rabbi Joseph
Krakoff. "Maccabi athletes are winning
medals on the same days as Olympic ath-
letes are winning medals."
After the Games are over, the Krakoffs
will be hosting a New York delegation head,
who will stay in town for a few extra days.
He's Rabbi Krakoff's brother, Josh.
"He called me a while back and said,
`Guess what? I'm coming to Detroit:" Rabbi
Krakoff said.
Added his brother, "Then I said, And I'm
bringing 19 kids with me; I hope you have
room:" The delegation actually is staying
with other Detroit-area families.
In addition to the barbecue, the area
behind the synagogue provided plenty of
space for the group to keep active with a
variety of physical activities. "And Jonah
Geller brought flag football and Frisbees
and was playing with the kids:' said CSZ
program director Tobye Bello, whose family
is hosting three boys from Baltimore.
Bello's sister, Paula Birnholtz of West
Bloomfield, and her family also are host-
ing athletes from Baltimore who play table
tennis, as does her son, Eric, 12. Eric's 17-
year-old brother Jordan won gold medals in
the sport during the last two JCC Maccabi
Games. Eric got off to a great start, winning
two matches earlier Monday.
Surrounded by athletes, Geller said, "Just
being here brings back great memories. I
can't get enough of Maccabi. I plan to spend
my time this week going from event to
event."
cling the arena to introduce Detroit.
With the ending of the ceremony, host
parents struggled to find their athletes
on the Palace floor. We headed home for
a classic evening snack of milk and cook-
ies. I was proud of my mom for acting so
hospitably; it is our first time hosting for
anything.
By 11 p.m., everybody was in bed, rest-
ing for the next day's competitions.
bus at 6:30 p.m. The boys decided to wait
for him so we could all walk home togeth-
er for dinner.
By 8 p.m., we were ready to head down-
town as our part of Host Family Night.
We showed our athletes around down-
town Detroit, including Comerica Park, the
Spirit of Detroit statue, Joe Louis' fist, the
Renaissance Center, the fountains along
the Riverwalk and the People Mover.
Daniel and Jeff were so hyper while rid-
ing the People Mover, they came up with a
game to burn even more energy. At every
station, they would exit the car to touch
the wall and then race back inside before
the doors closed. After six or seven times,
a couple from the car next joined them.
"Do people ever call you guys hyperac-
tive?" I asked. "What's that?" they said.
"Never mind:"
Awake now for 17 hours, the boys show-
ered when they came home, had an eve-
ning snack and went straight to bed.
The First Day
To make the 6:15 a.m. bus, my mother
woke the boys at 5:15 a.m. That would give
them enough time in the bathroom, for
breakfast and to finish packing the bags
they needed for the day. We walked to the
Oak Park JCC.
I asked them what they did on the bus;
Jeff replied, we just "sat there'
Jeff and Daniel's first game was at 8 a.m.
(a win), and second at 2 p.m. (a loss).
The scheduled time of bus arrival back
at the Oak Park JCC was 5:30 p.m. After six
busses, there was still no sign of the boys.
Finally, the seventh bus pulled in with
Daniel, Jeff and Yarden.
Jeff said Zach was just getting on his
❑
Summing Up
Zach: "It's amazing, looking around at
everyone saying, 'Wow, you're Jewish." ❑