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July 13, 2001/Tamuz 22, 5761, Vol. 53, No.40
Maccabiah athletes: Let the games begin!
JESSICA STEINBERG
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - Greg Spector, a strapping, 6-foot-4-inch volleyball player from Los Angeles, tends to be philosophical when discussing why he decided to participate in this year's Maccabiah Games.
"The Maccabiah makes a statement," said Spector, 31, sporting a yellow visor and green satin yarmulke for lunch at Jerusalem's Haas Promenade.
"It's about representing a world of Jews and showing what it is to be Jewish."
During the quadrennial Maccabiah Games - known as the Jewish Olympics - there are usually 5,000 participants competing for 10 days.
But this year, because of ongoing Israeli-Palestinian violence, only some 2,000 athletes from 40 countries are expected to attend the 16th edition of the Games, which have been shortened to seven days and officially begin July 16.
For a while, it wasn't clear whether the U.S. team would attend the Games.
In early June, Maccabi USA's executive committee urged organizers to postpone the Games until next year because of the current security situation.
When the Israeli government asked the committee to reconsider, it met again on June 14. After a series of discussions, members voted to attend.
A recent U.S.-mediated cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian Authority played a major role in getting the players here this year, said Bob Spivack, president of the Philadelphia-based Maccabi USA.
"When we felt more comfortable after the cease-fire, we polled our leadership and felt that we could provide a quality cultural and educational experience," said Spivack, who has been involved with the Maccabiah for 20 years. "And the proof that we made the right decision is that (so many) kids showed up."
About half of the American athletes are first-timers, Spivack said.
The U.S. team arrived July 8. Gathering for the introductory session July 9 at Kfar Maccabiah in Ramat Gan, the group hooted and hollered its way through a video history of the Maccabiah Games.
Josh Henkin, a muscular 30-year-old rugby player from Burlington, Vt., currently working on a doctorate in molecular physiology, decided to attend nine months ago.
A second-time Maccabiah participant, Henkin didn't have any doubts about attending, considering it his duty.
Avi Fogel, a high school basketball player from San Diego, Calif., had some trouble getting the necessary support for making the trip, particularly from his mother.
"My mom was flipping out," said Fogel, a 16-year-old whose father is Israeli. "I always wanted to come, and I was planning on it since last summer. We finally got my family in Israel to convince her."
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