BC members of Team Canada U16 Junior Girls Volleyball sell donuts to raise funds to travel to Israel next summer. (photo from Maccabi Canada)
Young volleyball players and their families are calling on the community for assistance to send their team to Israel for the 2025 Maccabiah Games next July.
Team Canada U16 Junior Girls Volleyball includes 10 athletes, including four from Vancouver, five from Toronto and one from Winnipeg. The team is fundraising to cover the expenses, which amount to almost $10,000 per participant.
“These girls are devoting themselves to bringing their best game to the Maccabiah Games next summer,” said Roman Pereyaslavsky, the team manager. “It is not only a powerful goal for them, but the celebration of international athletic competition in Israel next year is also a huge message of solidarity with the people of Israel at this time of unprecedented challenge.”
The girls and their parents do not underestimate the hurdles they face in raising the funds to make the trip to Israel possible.
“Traveling to Israel and competing as Canadian representatives with Jewish girls from around the world is a massive dream,” said Liel Lichtmann, a Richmond Grade 10 student and member of the national volleyball team. “We are fundraising every way we know how and we are confident we can make this happen. We hope our community will make our dream a reality.”
Team Canada’s 600-strong contingent marched into the opening ceremonies of the quadrennial Maccabiah Games July 14 at Jerusalem’s Teddy Coliseum. They were led by a trio of flagbearers – Toronto’s Molly Tissenbaum, a hockey goalie who has overcome serious health challenges to return to the ice, and Calgary twins Conaire and Nick Taub, volleyball players who are slated to enrol at the University of British Columbia in the fall. Canada sent the fourth largest team to the 21st “Jewish Olympics,” after Israel, the United States and Argentina.
The flag-bearing trio, their 600 teammates and about 10,000 others streamed into the stadium at the start of the largest-ever Maccabiah Games. Also on hand was an American visitor, President Joe Biden, who was the first U.S. leader to attend the event, flanked by Israel’s President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
The trio of leaders appeared jubilant, and no doubt there is a natural bond between Biden and Lapid that neither shares with either the former U.S. president Donald Trump or the once and possibly future Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who had a legendary bromance together.
While athletes began their friendly skirmishing for medals, the politicians began skirmishing themselves, around issues more existential than soccer scores.
Whatever personal affinity Biden and Lapid might share is at least partly restrained by reality. Lapid took over from Naftali Bennett as a sort of caretaker during the election campaign. Whether he remains leader after the votes are counted in November looks, at this point, less than likely.
Far more importantly, the two leaders disagree on the approach to Iran’s nuclear threat.
“Words will not stop them, Mr. President,” Lapid told Biden in their joint public remarks. “Diplomacy will not stop them. The only thing that will stop Iran is knowing that … if they continue to develop their nuclear program, the free world will use force. The only way to stop them is to put a credible military threat on the table.”
Biden has returned the United States to the Obama administration’s approach, aiming to revive the 2015 agreement between Iran and the West, which was supposed to slow that country’s march to nuclear capability. Trump withdrew the United States from the deal.
After Biden left Israel and headed to Saudi Arabia, words heated up dramatically Sunday. A top aide to the Iranian leader asserted that Iran already has the capability of creating a nuclear bomb but has chosen not to do so. In response, Aviv Kochavi, head of the Israel Defence Forces, responded with uninhibited forewarning.
“The IDF continues to prepare vigorously for an attack on Iran and must prepare for every development and every scenario,” Kochavi said, adding that, “preparing a military option against the Iranian nuclear program is a moral obligation and a national security order.” At the centre of the IDF’s preparations, he added, are “a variety of operational plans, the allocation of many resources, the acquisition of appropriate weapons, intelligence and training.”
Meanwhile, the inevitable moving pieces of Middle East politics continued shifting.
Biden walked a fine line, visually demonstrated by his choice to fist-bump rather than embrace the Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman, who has on his hands the blood of dismembered journalist, author and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, whose grisly murder at a Saudi consulate in Turkey shocked the world. Rumours of warming relations between Saudia Arabia and Israel – the rumours go from the opening of Saudi airspace to Israeli planes, to the full-on recognition of Israel – remain mostly that. Saudis reiterated the old orthodoxy that relations would never develop until there is a Palestinian state.
The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, is openly mooting returning to diplomatic relations with Iran after six years. The UAE has sided with the Saudis against Iran in the ongoing proxy war in Yemen, but the Emiratis are making noises about “deescalating” tensions.
Back in Israel, meanwhile, divergent approaches to issues foreign and domestic are very much on the front burner. With the diplomatic niceties of welcoming the leader of Israel’s most important ally now in the past, parties are holding their primaries to select their leaders and lists for the Nov. 1 vote – the fifth since April 2019 – and forming new partnerships that reshape the landscape in advance of the nitty-gritty campaigning to come.
Much closer in time, the Maccabiah Games close Tuesday, with final results expected to be more definitive than the national election, which will almost inevitably end up with weeks of negotiations leading to a tenuous coalition government.
On May 25, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs honoured Chief Dr. Robert Joseph (holding the sculpture) with the Victor Goldbloom Award for Outstanding Interfaith Leadership. (photo from CIJA)
On May 25, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs honoured Chief Dr. Robert Joseph with the Victor Goldbloom Award for Outstanding Interfaith Leadership.
In memory of the late Dr. Victor Goldbloom, the Victor Goldbloom Award recognizes the contributions of leaders from various faith communities in advancing interfaith relations.
Joseph is a hereditary chief of the Gwawaenuk First Nation and the founder and current ambassador for Reconciliation Canada, an Indigenous organization dedicated to dialogue with multifaith and multicultural communities. He is also the former executive director of the Indian Residential School Survivors Society and a member of the National Assembly of First Nation Elders Council. As a result of his work, he has received numerous awards and recognition for bringing people of different faiths together.
Joseph is a dear friend to the Jewish community who has worked with Robbie Waisman, a Holocaust survivor, to make connections between survivors of the Holocaust and the residential schools.
On May 26, representatives from the Sikh, Roman Catholic, Evangelical, Ismaili, Muslim, Ahmadiyya, Ukrainian Catholic, Anglican, Baha’i and Black-Canadian communities, as well as Indigenous leaders, joined to celebrate Chief Joseph’s lifetime of work serving British Columbia, urging people of all faiths toward truth and reconciliation, and renewing relationships between Indigenous people and all Canadians.
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Left to right: Emmett Simkin, Max Koenigbaur, Zachary Bordan, Joseph Gabay, Ezra Heayie, Sierra Brosgall and Ziv David. (photo from KDHS)
The Maccabiah Games take place every four years in Israel, and the 21st Maccabiah will take place July 12-26, with some 10,000 athletes from 80 countries competing in more than 40 sports. Seven King David High School students were selected to play in a variety of sports and faculty member Matt Dichter is the coach for a basketball team. KDHS is so proud and wishes them all a successful time in Israel!
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On May 31, Birthright Israel Excel selected 60 college students worldwide for its fellowship in business and technology, which began on June 7 and runs in Israel for 10 weeks. Forty participants are from the United States, while 20 come from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, France, Mexico, South Africa, Spain and the United Kingdom. Thirteen of them will be visiting Israel for the first time.
Zac Abelson (photo from Birthright Israel)
One of the participants is University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business student Zac Abelson, 21, who is majoring in commerce, with a double minor in operations and logistics, and entrepreneurship. He will be doing his internship with Deloitte.
Since 2011, the Birthright Israel Excel Fellowship has selected top students from hundreds of applicants for summer internships with leading business and tech companies in Tel Aviv. This year’s cohort features an equal number of women and men and the most first-time visitors to Israel. Their internships will be in such areas as environmental sustainability, software development, consulting, finance, venture capital, engineering, marketing, cybertech, biotech, business development and startup development. Students will intern each Israeli workweek, Sunday through Thursday, and attend an evening series of speakers from across Israeli society.
A core component is the one-on-one pairing between each Excel fellow and an Israeli, enabling the foreigners to acclimate quickly to the local culture and see the country through a more authentic lens than as typical tourists. Many peer-to-peer relationships grow into long-term friendships. Some have invested in each other’s business ventures.
Birthright Israel Excel fellows enjoy free time to explore Israel with their peers, and three weekend trips as a group bring them throughout the country: the north, typically including the Golan Heights, a winery tour and a rafting trip down the Jordan River; Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and the Machane Yehuda outdoor market; and the south, for a desert trek, a mud bath in the Dead Sea and a sunrise hike on Masada.
After their return home, the Excel fellows enter a network that provides resources for professional and personal development, Israel engagement and encouraging them as philanthropists.
Birthright Israel Excel fellows have gone on to positions at companies such as J.P. Morgan Chase, Bain & Company and Google. Others have developed strategic partnerships with Israeli companies and started their own companies, often hiring other fellows.
נבחרת קנדה למשחקי המכביה העשרים תגיע עם למעלה משש מאות ספורטים ותשתתף בשמונה ענפים שונים. והם: כדורגל, טניס, שחייה, כדורעף חופים, טריאלתון, סופטבול, כדור בסיס ורכיבה על אופניים. נבחרות הנוער והצעירים של קנדה למכביה יתחרו בשלושה ענפים: כדורסל, כדורגל והוקי.
כוכב נבחרת הבוגרים הקנדית הוא ג’וש בינשטוק (בן השלושים ושש) שנחשב לשחקן כדורעף החופים מהטובים בעולם, ומיקומו הוא תשע בטבלה העולמית. הוא השתתף כבר בשתי מכביות ונשא את הדגל הקנדי בטקס פתיחת המכביה הקודמת. בינשטוק זכה פעמיים באליפות של קנדה למשחקי כדורעף חופים. יש סיכוי שגם ברון נוסבאום (בן העשרים וארבע) שנחשב לכוכב חדש בכדורעף החופים של קנדה, יגיע אף הוא למכביה בישראל. נוסבאום הגיע למקום השלישי באליפות העולם עד לגיל 19.
בין הספורטאים מוונקובר ניתן למנות את כריסטופר קייפ (בן הארבעים וארבע) שישתתף בריצת חצי מרתון במכביה. קייפ שהחלים מניתוח קשה לפני כחצי שנה מקווה להשיג תוצאה מכובדת בריצה של שעה ו-45 דקות.
ספורטאי בולט נוסף בנבחרת הקנדית הוא המתאבק משה קליימן. הוא הספורטאי הקנדי הראשון שגדל והתחנך בישיבה. קליימן שגר באינגלווד שבניו ג’רסי משמש מאמן כושר במקצועו. הוא נעזר בתרומות מהציבור למימון נסיעתו לישראל.
המכביה העשרים תתקיים בין הארבעה בחודש יולי ל-18 ביולי, ומרבית המשחקים מטבע הדברים יערכו בירושלים. מדובר במכביה הגדולה ביותר שנערכה אי פעם וישתתפו בה למעלה מעשרת אלפים ספורטאים וכעשרים ושתיים אלף מלווים (בהם חברי משפחה וחברים, חברי משלחות של שמונים מדינות מרחבי העולם. בסך הכל יתקיימו כשלושת אלפים תחרויות בארבעים ושבעה ענפי ספורט שונים (בהם: כדורגל, כדורסל, טניס, אתלטיקה, כדור בסיס, רכיבה על אופניים, הוקי, שחייה, ג’ודו, קט-רגל, קארטה, גולף, טריאלתון, סופטבול וכדורעף). במכביה יוענקו אלפיים ומאה מדליות מזהב, כסף וברונזה לספורטאים המצטיינים.
טקס פתיחת משחקי המכביה יערך באצטדיון טדי בירושלים בשישה ביולי, וכן טקס הסיום יתקיים בו ב-17 בחודש. תחרויות המכביה יערכו בכל רחבי הארץ אך מרביתם יתקיימו כאמור בירושלים, בסימן חמישים שנה לאיחוד העיר (לאור החלטת ממשלת ישראל). משחקי הנוער והצעירים של המכביה בהשתתפות כשלושת אלפים בני נוער יערכו כולם במתחם הספורטן בחיפה.
ממשלת ישראל העבירה עשרים ושישה מליון ש”ח למימון משחקי המכביה העשרים, כאשר תקציב השיווק של האירוע יעמוד על 5.5 מיליון שקל. יו”ר מכבי התנועה העולמית הוא יאיר המבורגר, מנכ”ל מכבי התנועה העולמית הוא אייל טיברגר, יו”ר המכביה העשרים הוא עו”ד אמיר פלד, יו”ר הטקסים והאירועים של המכביה הוא נעם סמל ומנהל הקריאייטיב של המכביה הוא איתי בלאיש.
את לפיד משחקי המכביה העשרים זכה להזניק הג’ודאי הישראלי אורי ששון (שזכה במדליית ארד במשחקים האולימפיים שנערכו בריו דה ז’ניירו אשתקד). הוא העניק את הלפיד לנשיא ראובן ריבלין ב-26 בחודש דצמבר. אחרי האירוע בבית הנשיא בירושלים יצא הלפיד למסע בן שישה חודשים שיסתיים בטקס הפתיחה של המשחקים, כאמור באצטדיון טדי בשישה ביולי.
מכבי התנועה העולמית מקיימת את המכביה מדי ארבע שנים מאז שנת 1932. מדובר במפעל הציוני-יהודי בתחום הספורט הגדול ביותר בעולם. בתנועה העולמית חברים כארבע מאות אלפי חברים משישים מדינות שונות.
יצויין כי שלושת הקריטריונים המהותיים המאפשרים לספורטאים להשתתף במכביה הם: לפחות אחד מההורים הביולוגים של הספורטאי הוא יהודי. המשתתף לא פעיל בשום דת אחרת מלבד היהדות. אם המשתתף התגייר התהליך נעשה רק על ידי אחד מהמוסדות המוכרים.
