Rabbis take act to Maccabiah Games

Dozens of rabbis will descend upon hotels across Israel next month, as part of a plan to instill Jewish values in non-Israeli participants of the 18th Maccabiah, the Jewish Olympics, which open July 13. The 50-odd rabbis, many of them hailing from English-speaking countries, are volunteers for Tzohar, a nonprofit organization working to "bridge the gap between religious and secular Jews."

The chief administrator of Tzohar's Maccabiah project - which is the first of its kind - says the rabbis will come to hotels of Maccabiah participants with a program focusing on younger athletes. "We aim at reinforcing Jewish identity and reaffirming the link to Israel," said Rabbi Ronen Neuwirth, Tzohar's overseas department director.

Tzohar rabbis plan to achieve this goal by holding festive Shabbat dinners in the participants' hotels, with activities and a prayer on Shabbat, he explained. This will be followed by an open discussion about Israel's role in the lives of young Jews. The Maccabiah will bring together some 8,000 participants, of whom 2,000 are under 18.

"According to what Maccabiah organizers are telling us, many participants have no real link to Judaism besides the event, which is less than desirable to us," said Neuwirth, the Israeli-born rabbi of Ra'anana's heavily-Anglo Ohel Ari shul.

Tzohar, an organization of some 600 volunteers which was formed 13 years ago following the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, will also send the wives of rabbis to engage youths. Besides English speakers, there will be rabbis fluent in Russian, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

The biggest question mark hovering over the pilot program, according to Neuwirth, is "whether young, competitive and medal-oriented athletes will make themselves available emotionally or otherwise to the content that Tzohar's rabbis have to offer."

As for the participants, four of them told Anglo File they would like to participate in the activities. "I will make time for this sort of thing," said 14-year-old gymnast Doron Beuns from Holland. Judoka Gili Cohen, 17, from Ra'anana said she was open to it "as long as it didn't clash with training."