Two Israeli teenagers never expected to come to America as international athletes.
However, 15-year-olds Oran Barkai from Hof Ashkelon and Nir Ben Hamou of Kiryat Mal’akhi, came to the Bay Area as reinforcements for the local brigade competing in the Maccabi Youth Games this week.
“I’m very excited,” said Barkai before leaving for Detroit to compete.
He trained by running a half-hour every day. “I hope it will be good competition. I don’t know if the other kids are my level or much better. I hope I will be good.”
Ben Hamou was also elated to be here. “It’s a surprise” to be competing in America, he said. “I like this idea. We will meet Jewish people from all the countries in the world.”
The two athletes come from the sister-city region of the Jewish Federation of Greater San Jose. While other U.S. teams hosted athletes from their sister cities last year, this is the first time the Bay Area delegation has had visiting athletes.
Barkai’s mother told him about the program. He then mentioned it to Ben Hamou, since the two attend the same school and often play soccer together.
They’re competing in track and field: Barkai as a 3,200-meter distance runner and Ben Hamou as a 100-meter sprinter.
But they also took time to get a taste of life in the Bay Area. The two visited San Francisco’s Coit Tower, strolled through Sausalito and toured Alcatraz. They both said Alcatraz was the highlight.
“Alcatraz was the most interesting,” Barkai said. “It’s a prison in the middle of the sea. I saw a lot of movies about it.”
Ben Hamou agreed. “I like the place. I like the island, the trees, the old buildings.”
The Maccabi Games began Sunday and continue until this coming Sunday. More than 3,400 teens are competing in these largest-ever games.
The Bay Area sent 111 athletes. In April, teens between the ages of 13 to 16 tried out for spots on the various teams.
Though there is usually a day of community service for all athletes, this year the teens had to come up with projects to contribute in their own communities. The soccer team brought canned foods to practice, the softball team visited a residential home and the volleyball team worked at a food bank.
All visiting athletes stay with host families in Detroit. One evening, the athletes were entertained during an “Israel night” at the arena where the games took place. Some of the teens visited the Holocaust museum in the Detroit Jewish Community Center.
“For most of our kids who go to school with only a handful of Jewish kids, to be around all Jewish kids is special,” said Sherri Smith, Maccabi program director in the Bay Area since 1994.
“Also, many come from blended families. For a lot of them, this is the only Jewish experience they have.”
For Ben Hamou, it was important to be among other Jews on his first visit to the United States. Staying with a family for four days in San Francisco and then with a family in Los Gatos helped him adjust.
But Barkai, on his third visit to America, still has not adjusted to people here, who, he said, just keep getting weirder. “People here are really different than in Israel. The way they behave is pretty strange. I notice this every time I’m here.”