The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, which conclude this weekend, will be remembered by Jewish sports enthusiasts for many things. First, for taking place in 2021 after being delayed a year due to Covid, and for the mostly empty facilities where the events were held.

Second, they will be remembered for the powerful moment of silence during the opening ceremony in honor of the 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team (six coaches and five athletes) murdered at the 1972 Summer Games in Munich. For years, the International Olympic Committee rebuffed calls to pay tribute to the victims during an opening or closing ceremony, insinuating that it would detract from the pomp and circumstance. It seems to have taken a global pandemic, and an already subdued atmosphere in Tokyo, to change their minds. (Sadly, it was hard not to think about antisemitism during these Games, especially after the opening ceremony’s creative director, a Japanese comedian, was fired after it was revealed he made a Holocaust joke in the 1990s.)

Perhaps less memorable — though no less inspiring — were the accomplishments of Israeli and Jewish athletes from around the world. Israel won its second-ever gold medal, courtesy of men’s gymnast Artem Dolgopyat in the floor exercise competition. Meanwhile, Avishag Semberg, 19, won Israel’s first-ever medal in taekwondo (a bronze), and though Israel’s fearsome judokas stumbled in the individual judo competition, they showed their mettle in the team competition, taking bronze.

Jewish athletes from outside of Israel also medaled in kayak slalom and canoe slalom (Australian Jessica Fox) and gymnastics (Russian Lilia Akhaimova). And while the Israeli baseball team’s Cinderella story failed to end with the players standing on the podium — they were tabbed to possibly win a bronze but lost four of their five games — the team, including Bay Area products Joey Wagman and DJ Sharabi, still made us proud.

One of the best parts of the Olympics is the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood that it brings out in the competitors. A wonderful example was when the Iranian-born judoka Saeid Mollaei won a silver medal and dedicated it to Israel. The backstory: Mollaei fled Iran after his coaches forced him to throw a match to avoid facing Israel’s Sagi Muki in the final of the 2019 World Championships. Mollaei subsequently became friends with Muki, and he is now competing for Mongolia. “Thank you to Israel for the good energy,” he said after taking the silver. “I hope the Israelis are happy with this win.”

Despite those positive vibes, politics weren’t entirely absent from the judo competition, notably when Algerian Fethi Nourine withdrew from the Olympics rather than face Israeli judoka Tohar Butbul. He and his coach, who supported Nourine’s decision, should be barred from international competition. 

The Games also inadvertently highlighted internal Israeli social issues. After the Ukrainian-born Dolgopyat won his gold medal, his mother spoke out about how he is unable to marry his fiancée in Israel because only his father’s side of the family is Jewish. (Marriages in Israel are controlled by the Chief Rabbinate, which enforces strict Jewish law.) Hopefully his newfound fame will focus public attention — yet again — on this disastrous policy.

We hope, however, that the spirit of inclusion and fraternity that was on display overall in Tokyo pervades other aspects of life and reminds us how nations — people, really — can come together.