When people think of Jews, sports are not one of the first things that come to mind. Or the second. And probably not the third.
And that is exactly the point of the Maccabiah.
Named after the Maccabees, the Jewish fighters who led the revolt that ultimately restored Jewish sovereignty in Israel from the Seleucid Empire in the second century BCE, the Maccabiah, or the “Jewish Olympics,” is the largest Jewish sporting competition in the world and the second-largest sports event globally. Every four years, more than 10,000 athletes from over 80 countries gather in Israel to compete in more than 45 sports.
Here, athletic excellence meets history, spanning personal sovereignty and tribal identity, bridging language and culture gaps to unite Jews from around the world in the idea that Jewish excellence lies in our warrior spirit, the legacy of the Maccabees.
The idea of the weak, pale Jew is a construct of the exile. Of heads bowed down in the struggle to survive as strangers in hostile lands. The Maccabiah, held in Israel, was founded in 1932 – when Jews were beginning to understand that we could make the dream of returning to Zion a reality.
The first Maccabi Jewish sports club was founded in 1895 in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey), after a group of Jewish gymnasts was denied membership in a local sports club because of antisemitic discrimination. Rather than giving up, they established their own Jewish sports club, which quickly flourished and inspired the creation of similar clubs across Europe, including Hakoah Vienna, Bar Kochba Berlin, Hagibor Prague, and many others.
The movement later expanded to Latin America, North America, Australia, South Africa, and, of course, Israel. In 1921, Maccabi World Union was officially founded during the 12th Zionist Congress in Czechoslovakia.
This year, we were invited to attend the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah, titled “More Than Ever.”
It was supposed to have been held last year but was postponed due to the war.
The ceremony reflected the reality of the times we live in. Released hostages took the stage to speak and even sing alongside Israeli singers with decades-long careers. Athletes slain in the war and in previous terror attacks, murdered for being Jews, were remembered and honored.
Joy, freedom, grief, and resilience, all rolled together. Because that is the Jewish experience.
We are stronger and live more fully because we know the depths of pain and horror.
It was extraordinary to see athletes from across the globe enter the stadium and take their seats. Hundreds of athletes came from countries that love Israel and from countries that are hostile.
Handfuls of athletes came from countries you wouldn’t imagine had Jewish communities.
Jews, overjoyed to be home. To be together. To compete.
People on the stage and in the audience jumping for joy and screaming their heads off.
But of all the delegations, it was the Israeli athletes who were the most moving. Among them were war heroes, para athletes, and athletes from the northern communities that suffered the most from Hezbollah bombardment.
Maccabees. All of them.
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