By Jennie Shulkin
What happens when nine thousand Jewish athletes from 54 countries come together to compete in Israel? A life-changing experience that will not be forgotten by anyone involved.
Every four years, Israel hosts the World Maccabiah Games, the third largest international sporting event after the Olympics and the Pan American games. I have listened to stories about this event since my mother went thirty-two years ago to the 10th Maccabiah as a youth participant and had the best trip of her life.
Fortunately for me, I followed in my mothers’ footsteps this summer as one of six girls from across the nation to be part of the first-ever US girls squash team to compete in the 18th Maccabiah. The “squashers” (as we were nicknamed) were Reut Odinak (Seattle), Mina Shakarsky (Atlantic City), Amanda Roberts (Philadelphia), Rachel Scherman (San Diego), Silvi Specter (Philadelphia), and myself (also from Philadelphia). I knew a few of these girls through rivalries in squash tournaments, but we were not exactly friends. While most of my teammates had been competing and training all year, this was to be my first tournament in eighteen months, due to an unsuccessful shoulder surgery the previous summer, and I was apprehensive about going.
Still, I was very excited for the competition and to be in Israel for three weeks. During the first week of our stay, we trained in the morning and discovered the rich history and beauty of the land of our ancestors in the afternoon tours. As we respectfully approached Jerusalem’s holy Western Wall, slipped a note containing a wish to God into a crack (as tradition dictates), and admired the holiness of the entire scene, many of us blinked back tears. Another emotional place was Yad Va’Shem, the Holocaust Museum. Since I was touring with groups of care-free American athletes, it was amazing to see a wave of seriousness and silence sweep over everyone as we listened to stories of concentration camps and memories of survivors. No trip to Israel would be complete without floating in the Dead Sea and visiting Mount Masada, the mountain where the Jewish zealots decided to take their own lives rather than be forced into slavery by the Romans. At the top of the mountain, there was a short service, in which we promised, “Masada will never fall again”.
After the exhilarating and educational week of touring, everyone went to the Opening Ceremonies to march with his respective country. Overwhelmed by the thousands of screaming fans, I was thankful to spend this memorable moment with my new friends and teammates. The ceremony was especially moving because of the presence of the President and the Prime Minister of Israel.
My teammates and I were ready to begin the official squash competition the morning after the Opening Ceremonies. We played at a beautiful club in Herzliya that had eight courts. Good competition was to be found, including an Israeli girl who never dropped a game the entire tournament and a British girl who is ranked #12 in Europe. In total—combining the individual and the team competitions—each girl played fourteen matches in six days.
It was Israel vs. the US for the final in the girls’ team competition. The first match of the final played was close, and my teammates and I cheered loudly to try to squeeze out a win. Unfortunately, though, we lost that first match 3-1 and became very nervous. I played next, and I was pumped. I stepped on the court ready to play as hard as I could and devastated my opponent in the first game 11-0. I kept up the same intensity for the rest of the match, which I finished in a little over ten minutes. With the score in team matches tied now at 1-1 and the momentum favoring team USA from my match, USA went on to win the next two matches 3-0 and 3-0, even though the individual games were close. The last two matches were won by Israel, 3-1, and 3-0, though.
The score in team matches was tied at 3-3 when all matches were completed. Every girl in the club was running around asking, “Who wins gold? Who wins gold?” When the individual games in every match were added up, it was 11-9 USA. My teammates and I cheered and congratulated one another as we realized that we were to be presented a Maccabiah gold medal—which has been a personal goal ever since I was nine and competed in the Jr. Maccabi games for the tri-state area.
In other results, the junior boy’s lost the final to Israel and took home the silver medal. The men’s and women’s open teams also won silver medals.
During the medal ceremony for the girls team competition, even though the US had won, the Israeli national anthem, the Hatikvah (the Hope), was played since every athlete there supports and is connected by Israel.
When we were about to leave, we said our goodbyes to friends from all over the world (Argentina, Australia, South Africa, and more) and our teammates. My teammates, who I had either never met or had only known through squash tournaments, had become my close friends and made my experience so much more meaningful. I immediately wanted to return to Israel as soon as the plane flew into the air. Overall, I am thrilled that I visited Israel, participated in the World Maccabiah Games, and won a gold medal—a dream come true.
