Five Jewish Olympians in the same room at the same time?
That’s what Maccabi USA has pulled off for its inaugural national fundraiser, to be held Oct. 25 at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco.
The Legends of Maccabiah Gala will honor 13 people who have contributed to Maccabi USA, the organization that sends hundreds of U.S. Jewish athletes to Israel every four years for the World Maccabiah Games.
The honorees are volunteers and supporters of the organization, and all have competed in at least one Maccabiah. Six of the 13 achieved even higher international glory by competing in the Summer Olympics, and five of those Olympians are scheduled to attend.
“We are very pleased with the fact that we’ll have so many highly accomplished athletes in the same room at the same time,” said Leland Faust of San Francisco, a vice president of Maccabi USA, a four-time Maccabiah Games participant and one of the 13 honorees.
“The idea driving this event,” Faust added, “has been to help bring focus and awareness to the Maccabi USA program, and the benefits it has provided over the years for Israel and for American youth and athletes.”
The five former Olympians slated to attend are swimmers Mark Spitz (1968 and 1972 Olympics), Jason Lezak (2000, 2004, 2008) and Lenny Krayzelburg (2000, 2004), hammer thrower Ken Flax (1988, 1992) and gymnast Mitch Gaylord (1984). The sixth Olympian being honored, tennis star Brad Gilbert (1988), can’t attend but his recorded comments will be played.
The gala, to be emceed by basketball hall of famer Rick Barry, is open to the public, with tickets priced at $250. Sponsorships start at $5,000, and tables are available. All proceeds will help send a nearly thousand-member Team USA to Israel for the 19th World Maccabiah Games in 2013, which will cost about $9 million, according to Sara Feinstein, Maccabi USA’s marketing director.
The nonprofit is planning to make the gala an annual event, and Philadelphia is being targeted for next year, Faust said.
This year’s gala will
include the presentation of the first Maccabi Spirit Award to Dr. Peter Pollat of San Francisco. A big supporter of Maccabi USA, Pollat also has volunteered for 25 years as a coach and leader for local youth teams competing in the domestic JCC Maccabi Games.
Among the 13 legends being honored, Faust is in rare company. He and Spitz are the only two who competed in a Maccabiah as early as 1965, and he and golfer Gary Shemano top the list with four Maccabiah appearances each. Faust played on gold-medal winning water polo teams in 1965 and 1973, suited up but didn’t play for a 2001 team that needed players (because of dropouts due to the second intifada), and then went back in 2005 to compete in a triathlon for older adults.
“I have a lot of different memories wrapped up in my Maccabiah experiences,” said Faust, founder and president of CSI Capital in San Francisco. “First is going to Israel for the first time, seeing the country and how it was starting to grow in 1965, and how it was by U.S. standards a dusty Middle Eastern country. Then you go back and see it years later and how it looks so developed and high-tech.”
A 1968 graduate of U.C. Berkeley who went on to get a Harvard Law degree, Faust said just taking part in “the Jewish Olympics” was even more special than winning medals.
“The spirit among all the countries is amazing,” Faust said. “For most of the athletes there, it’s one of the highlights of their athletic careers: walking into a stadium with 60,000 people for the opening ceremonies, wearing a USA sweatshirt and walking with your team. Most of us don’t get to experience that except in the Maccabiah.”
The other honorees Oct. 25 are Dana Gilbert (tennis), Paul Klapper (golf), Wendy Paskin-Jordan (swimming), the late Max Sheldon (tennis), Shemano (golf) and Bob Sockolov (tennis).
Legends of the Maccabiah Gala, 6 to 9:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Four Seasons Hotel, S.F. (215) 561-6900 ext. 119 or [email protected].