AUGUST 25 • 2022 | 37

RUTHI WARBURG

SPORTS

T

here were a couple of surprises for 
the Detroit delegation at the JCC 
Maccabi Games earlier this month 
in San Diego.
One bad surprise and one good surprise. 
Here are the details.

TRAVEL BALLET
Karen Gordon was at the Maccabi Games 
closing party at the Lawrence Family JCC 
on Aug. 4 when she got some unsettling 
news.
The Delta Airlines flight that was sup-
posed to take the Detroit delegation — 18 
teen athletes, two chaperones and Gordon 
— back to the Motor City the next day had 
been canceled and rescheduled for a later 
time.
“I got the text about our flight at 6:22 
p.m. Pacific time (Aug. 4). We were sup-
posed to take off at 6:45 Pacific time the 
next morning, Friday morning, (and land 
in Detroit at 2:16 p.m. Eastern time),
” said 
Gordon, the Detroit delegation head.
“I couldn’t believe it. I had been checking 
and checking and checking on our flights 
there and back for weeks to make sure they 
were still on.
”
Four of the Detroit athletes had to get 
home in time for Shabbat. It looked like it 
would take a miracle for that to happen.
A miracle happened. And quickly.
“By 8 o’
clock (Pacific time) that night 
(Aug. 4), we had everything squared away,
” 
Gordon said.
“This is why I love the Maccabi Games. 
Nobody lost their cool. Everybody did what 
they could to help us.
”
Three of the four Detroit athletes who 
needed to be home for Shabbat left San 
Diego the night of the closing party with 
the Atlanta delegation, flew to that Georgia 
city and then to Detroit, getting into 
Metropolitan Airport at about 9:30 a.m. 
Aug. 5.
The fourth Detroit athlete couldn’t go 
with the other three, Gordon said, because 
the athlete was an unaccompanied minor.
But the athlete has relatives in Los 
Angeles. So the athlete bused there with the 
Los Angeles delegation Aug. 5 and spent 
Shabbat with family.

The rest of the Detroit delegation left San 
Diego the afternoon of Aug. 5 and got to 
Metro at about 8 p.m. Detroit time.
But not without some drama.
Gordon was booked by Delta on an earli-
er flight home.
“I couldn’t take that flight. I was in 
charge of our kids. I had to get on their 
flight,
” she said.
The list of heroes who helped solve the 
Detroit delegation’s logistical puzzle is long.
Lauren Leudke and Dana Koenig from 
the Maccabi Games staff allowed Gordon 
to enter the Lawrence Family JCC during 
the closing party, get on a computer and 
“choreograph the travel ballet,
” Gordon 
said.
Lisa Stein, Maccabi Games chair of trans-
portation, who was in charge of arrivals 
and departures, helped out with logistics.
Back home in Detroit, parent Shana 
Schottenstein, mother of Detroit U16 boys 
basketball player Shmuel Schottenstein, got 
on a Delta app and booked Gideon Lopatin 
(16U boys basketball), Grace Kleinfelt (16U 

girls basketball) and her son on the San 
Diego-to-Atlanta-to-Detroit flights. They 
flew first class. That’s all that was available.
“My son is a laid-back kid, so he was 
nonchalant about the whole travel thing,
” 
Schottenstein said. “He’s 6-foot tall so 
he liked the extra leg room in first class, 
but other than that, he said he wasn’t 
impressed.
”
Gordon said Bloomfield Hills travel 
agent Julie Keown made sure the rest of the 
Detroit delegation flew home together.
Heidi Budaj, assistant executive director 
of the JCC of Metropolitan Detroit, told 
Gordon to “do what you need to do” to 
solve the travel challenges.
Atlanta delegation head Art Seiden 
accompanied the three Detroit athletes on 
their flight from San Diego to Atlanta.
Los Angeles delegation head Ari Cohen 
was there to assist Detroit athlete Ari 
Gottlieb (14U baseball) on the bus ride to 
Los Angeles.
Detroit delegation chaperones Sloan 
Lemberg and Donna Sklar also played star-

Flight cancellation and an unexpected reunion 
add to the JCC Maccabi Games experience for 
the Detroit delegation.

San Diego Surprises

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Detroit delegation 
gets ready to enter the 
opening ceremony for 
the JCC Maccabi Games.

continued on page 38

