The 2009 JCC Maccabi Games in San Francisco got off to a rocking start Aug. 2, with Israeli Scouts providing pre–opening ceremonies entertainment and Israeli hip-hop group Coolooloosh prompting the more than 1,500 athletes in attendance to rush the stage for a celebration-ending dance party.
In between, delegations paraded through the Cow Palace and videos celebrating the history of the Maccabi Games played on the two big screens. Richard Goldman, the honorary chair of the games, and his granddaughter, Jennifer Goldman, a past Maccabiah gold-medal winner in tennis, lit the torch.
Upward of 2,000 parents, hosts and spectators showed up at the Daly City venue to welcome the athletes to San Francisco. Mascots from the San Jose Earthquakes, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco 49ers and San Francisco Giants entertained the crowd, throwing out T-shirts and taking pictures. CheerSF then came on to greet the athletes during the parade of nations.
Roxy Bernstein, the voice of the Cal men’s basketball team and alumnus of the Maccabi Games, introduced the 44 delegations, including cohorts from the United Kingdom, Guatemala, Mexico and Israel. The biggest cheers were saved for the San Francisco delegation.
“I feel like we’re all connected by tradition,” said tennis player Aria Berluti, 12, of San Francisco. “Getting to run out and be the last ones was really fun. I even danced a little.”
The one somber moment of the night was a tribute to the Munich Eleven, the 11 Israeli athletes taken hostage and killed during the 1972 Summer Olympic Games.
“It was a very respectful ceremony,” said Yuval Zur, who traveled from Israel to watch his grandson, Daniel Zur, play basketball with the Contra Costa delegation. “It was very positive, very impressive and even caused me to get a little emotional.”
With all the hype surrounding the event, the teenagers couldn’t help but feel like they were part of something important — which brought inevitable comparisons to last summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing.
Noted 16-year-old Michael Weinberg of Washington, D.C.: “I want to bring home Michael Phelps–style medals.”