Another dozen Michiganders 
joined Gerdov, Wooten and 
Fishman on the 1,300-member 
Maccabi USA delegation. 

 • Jeremy Modell of 
Bloomfield Hills, an 
attorney in Birming-
ham, was part of 
Team USA’s Gold 
Medal in Masters 
Golf. 

• Mikaela Schulz of 
West Bloomfield, a 
University of 
Michigan senior, was 
part of Team USA’s 
Gold Medal in Open 
Golf (female). 

• Ryan Berke of Farmington 
Hills was part of Team USA’s Ice 
Hockey (Men’s) Gold Medal.

• Celia Gold, formerly 
of Ann Arbor and 
now a legal policy 
specialist at Google 
in Boulder, Colo., 
achieved two Gold 
Medals and one Silver Medal in 
Weightlifting.

• Abigail Binder of Ann Arbor, 
a University of Michigan senior, 
was part of Team USA’s Gold 
Medal for Volleyball (Women’s). 
She was joined in the Maccabiah 
by her father, Jeffrey, in tennis, 
and brother, Zachary, in fencing, 
as the first multigenerational 
family participating. 

Leo 
Wilensky

• Micah Jacobson 
and Leo Wilensky 
from Ann Arbor 
Greenhills School 
and Pioneer High 
School were part of 
Team USA’s Silver in 
Soccer (Juniors 
Soccer-Boys).

• Sydney Bierwirth, a 
native of Walled Lake 
who now practices 
law in Colorado 
Springs, was part of 
Team USA’s Silver 
Medal in Ice Hockey (Women’s).

• Alex Engel of Commerce 
Township was part of Team 
USA’s Silver Medal in Juniors 
Track and Field 4x400 and 
Bronze Medal in the 4x100. 

• Rotem Andegeko of 
East Grand Rapids, 
and Benjamin 
Rosenthal of Franklin, 
a sophomore at 
Vanderbilt University, 
competed in Open 
Swimming. 

• Mina Fedderly, IACT 
and director of 
engagement at 
Lester & Jewell 
Morris Hillel Jewish 
Student Center at 
Michigan State University in East 
Lansing, attended as the 
Maccabi Educator Fellow.

around 20 miles outside of Nashville, is 
returning to Ann Arbor for his senior 
year and will be competing this year. He 
was recruited in part by Gerdov, whom he 
respects as an athlete. “It was real from the 
jump,” Wooten said.
Wooten was awarded a partial scholarship 
for men’s gymnastics.
Last year in the National Collegiate Athletic 
Association, Wooten placed seventh on the 
high bar and participated in the NCAA 
team bronze, which the Wolverines repeated 
this year. He also was named NCAA All-
American high bar in 2021 and 2022. Named 
Michigan team captain for 2023, he received 
the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award this year, 
as well.
Gerdov’s swan song for his college career 
was attending the “Jewish Olympics” in 
Jerusalem, which has occurred every four 
years in Israel since 1932 as the Maccabi 
World Union’s largest and most famous enter-
prise.
“The games have only been interrupted 
twice in its 90-year history, the first time by 
the Second World War and, more recently, 
due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” explained 
Sheryl Raskin, founder and CEO of Out 
There Creative Media, who handles Maccabi 
USA’s community relations.
“The competition’s principal mission is 
to facilitate a worldwide gathering of young 
Jewish athletes in Israel, staging the highest 

Michigan Athletes

Abigail Binder 
was joined 
at the 21st 
Maccabiah 
last month by 
her brother, 
Zachary, and 
father, Jeffrey.

Adam Wooten 
and Alan Gerdov

continued on page 38