Maccabiah athletes found Jewish pride, not just sport, at Games.

Israeli Scouts carried the Rags of
nations into Ramat Gan Stadium on'July 13,

at the Maccabiah opening ceremonies.

Dina Kraft
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Tel Av iv

S

ingrig"Shalom Aleichem:' the
group of ,ciaccabiah athletes
ushered in Shabbat together at a
brightly lit hotel dining hall, their Hungarian,
Spanish, Finnish and British accents
momentarily melting into a unified chorus
of Hebrew.
Leading them was an energetic young
rabbi who came to provide spiritual context
to their first Shabbat together in Israel at
the Maccabiah Games, the so-called Jewish
Olympics. The games began July 12.
"It's exciting to be here getting to know
Jews from other countries:' said Maxim
Poliakov, 23, a member of the Finnish indoor
soccer (filtsal) team."It's a much stronger
feeling of our Jewish identity being here than
we have in our everyday life in Finla_nd:'
The Maccabiah Games, which began in
1932, are intended not only to encourage
athletic excellence, but also to foster a sense
of Jewish belonging and pride among the
participants.
So alongside running hurdles, swim-
ming relays and cycling in the Negev, the

A20

8,000 athletes who gathered in Israel for the
18th Games from nearly 60 countries also
toured the country and visited historically
meaningful sites such as the Yad Vashem
Holocaust Memorial and Masada. They even
took part in mass b'nai mitvz_ah ceremonies
— some have never had one; others simply
want to join along.
"It's much more than a sports event':
said Ron Ca_rner, the general chairman of
Maccabi USA."If it was only a sports event, it
would have run once or maybe twice. I see it
as a way to help perpetuate our culture."
For Daran Bern, 22, an indoor soccer
player for the English team, the time in Israel
— his second trip after joining a Birthright
Israel group — was a revelation. Bern grew
up in a home with a Jewish father and non-
Jewish mother just outside London that was
largely disconnected from the local Jewish
community.
"I love learni.ng;' he said, smiling as he
discussed Jewish culture and heritage with
his teammates. "The Maccabiah is a fantastic
y; ay of getting people to do what they love to
do — sport — together with the reli L0ous
aspect that someone like me knows little
about:' Bern said."There is always some-
thing in you that wants to know more
Ahead of the Games' opening, the U.S.

Maccabiah team of about 900 members
spent several days exploring Israel. They
gathered around campfires in the evening
to share their experiences. One highlight:
a group bar mitzvah ceremony under a
full moon overlooking the Judean Desert
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
amphitheater.
Olympic swimmer Jason Lezak. 33, who
chose to participate in the Maccabiah
Games over the World Championships, was
among those who took to the stage and
joined in even though he had a bar mitzvah
20 years ago.
"To do it with so many other people at the
same time was an experience," Lezak said.
Visiting the Western Wall, the holiest site
in Judaism, was especially powerful even
though he had to fend off a camera crew
Lezak said. Praying, he tucked a note in a
crevice between its ancient stones.
"It's hard to hard to put in words," he said,
trying to explain the experience."It's some-
thing I've never really felt before."
Lezak said his Jewish identity was
enhanced in his first trip to Israel and by
being around his Jewish teammates.
"I think things sill be a little different
when I go home;' he said.
Sitting in a cafeteria at the Maccabiah

Village, a group of athletes from the U.S.
team exchanged moments that moved them
— from simply knowing that they were
among hundreds of other young Jews who
take athletics seriously to specific experienc-
es, like floating in the Dead Sea or walking
along the southern steps near the Western
Wall, where they imagined their ancestors
ascending to the Second Temple more than
2,000 years ago.
Bradley Williams, a lanky 20-year-old
was heart-
marathoner from Santa Fe,
ened to meet other serious Jewish runners.
He said it's hard to gather a minyan at his
Santa Fe synagogue, let alone find other Jews
who run marathons.
Williams was impressed, too, by his
encounter with the range of Jews who live
in Israel. He and the other long-distance
runners on the team trained with an
Ethiopian Israeli and met others who are
not Ashkenazi, like most of them, but are
from families that come from all over the
Middle East and North Africa.
"The Jewish people now seem so much
more diverse to me and it makes me feel
like I'm part of a people that has so much
to offer," Williams said. "Judaism now
feels much more interesting and much
more alive."

P ho to by Ur l Lon x / FLAS 1190/JTA

Athletic Glow

