Never too old to paraglide
Here’s a great news item. Trudy Bibring, 89 years old and a native Austrian who has been living in Israel for 30 years, paraglides to raise funds for 600 children at risk in childrens’ homes throughout Israel.
Her paragliding adventures began when Bibring, who lives in Netanya, would watch from her apartment window the paragliders jumping off the Netanya cliffs nearby. Netanya is considered the home of paragliding in Israel, as the city’s moderate cliffs plus a stiff offshore breeze provide the right environment for gliders, who are often seen cruising high above the beach, just along the cliff line.
Bibring thought to herself, hmm, that’d be a great stunt for raising money. Given that she’s a proper Austrian lady, she may not have said it just like that, but that was the gist of the idea.
Her friends, say Bibring, are proud and a little bit envious. And she’s still doing it, as seen in this YouTube video taken June 17, just a few weeks ago, from a cliff near Netanya’s Carmel Hotel.
89!
Swimming with the current at the Maccabiah Games
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat (right) steals Jason Lezak's official Maccabiah Games t-shirt from him at a ceremony in Jerusalem this week. (AP)
The 10-day competition, held every four years, is touted as the third largest sporting event in the world, and the opening ceremony will take place on July 13th at Ramat Gan stadium.
Some of the visiting athletes are already arriving in the country, including five-time American Olympic medalist, swimmer Jason Lezak from California.
Lezak, on his first visit to Israel, forfeited his spot on the United States’ World Championships team to participate in the Maccabiah, whose swimming competitions will be held at the Wingate Institute from July 19-22.
“I’ve gotten to the point in my career where I thought this was the right opportunity at the right time,” Lezak told journalists at Kfar Maccabiah in Ramat Gan. “I’ve been to the World Championships numerous amounts of times, and I thought this was a good opportunity to not only be in a competitive swimming event, but to have the whole experience.”
Lezak cemented his place in history at the Beijing Olympics when he came from a full body length behind French swimmer Alain Bernard in the anchor leg of the 400 meter freestyle relay to win gold for the US and ensure Michael Phelps was on course for a record eight golds.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Lezak spoke highly of Israeli swimmers
“When I was younger, I would see maybe one or two fast Israeli swimmers at competitions, and now we’re seeing more of them,” Lezak said. “Some of them actually come to the United States to train. They definitely are improving and they definitely can get faster. How long it takes for them to get into the finals I don’t know, but it will happen, I’m pretty confident in that.”
Israelis made an impressive showing at last summer’s Olympic Games, with Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or reaching the semifinals in the 200m free and Guy Barnea qualifying for the semi of the 100m backstroke.
In March Gal Nevo became the first Israeli in 20 years to win a medal at the NCAA swimming championships when he came second in the 440m individual medley while swimming for Georgia Tech, six months after reaching the semifinals of the 200-IM in Beijing.
And on Sunday Alon Mandel broke the Israeli record for the 50m butterfly, swimming in a time of 24.27 seconds to qualify for the semifinals at the Universidade in Belgrade.
So, it may only be a matter of time until we develop our own Phelps or Lezak. And next week’s Maccabiah Games will go a long way toward achieving that goal. Go Jewish athletes!
Our first NBA pick
You may have read about it already, but I need to express my excitement about Omri Casspi becoming the first Israeli player to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft. Yes, it’s not the final, final stage in this nail-biting process, but hey, it’s the NBA and he’s Israeli and it’s looking pretty good.
In case you didn’t know, Casspi is 6′9″, 20, and a forward for Maccabi Tel Aviv. He was selected 23rd overall by the Sacramento Kings, and as Ha’aretz noted, “is the focus of a national obsession with the idea of an Israeli making it into the NBA, in which some 20 percent of the players are foreigners.”
The country’s obsession should have been requited ten years ago when Oded Katash had a two-year contract with the New York Knicks — the New York Knicks! — but lost his marbles during the 1999 player lockout. I know, insane.
There have been others since; Doron Shefer, Lior Eliyahu and Yotam Halperin, all drafted, all in the second round. But they didn’t make it. Casspi, on the other hand, is in. Will he get a contract? Will he get off the bench? Hard to say. But hey. Very hopeful.
According to the New York Jewish Week, Casspi’s selection also smacks of a coexistence bid, natch, as the King’s co-owners, Joe and Gavin Maloof, are popular Sacramento businessmen and philanthropists who come from a Lebanese Arab family. That appears to be a first.
So what’ve we got? An Israeli basketball player signed to the NBA, and a coexistence play in progress. All good signs.
Taking a thong turn in Tel Aviv
Just how cool is Tel Aviv? When The Israel Bicycle Association and the Tel Aviv Rollers decided to stage a protest ride to oppose the lack of government support for urban bike riding as well a bill that would stiffen a required helmet law for cyclists, they did it in style.
On Tuesday night, hundreds of cyclist and roller skaters donned thongs and rode through the streets of the city – with the final destination being a thong party at a local club. Watch some video footage from Israel’s Channel 2 here
According to The Jerusalem Post, two weeks ago, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation decided not to throw the government’s support behind the bill to encourage bike-riding as transportation. The bill would mandate the inclusion of bike trails in urban plans and would allow bikes to be taken on intercity public transportation like trains and buses. It would also smooth the way for specially designated parking areas for bikes, and incentives to employers and employees who made the bicycle a primary form of transportation to work. The bill suggested a budget of NIS 100 million to build bike lanes and parking areas.
As far as the helmet law, the Association says that the best way to keep bikers safe is not through requiring a helmet, but through making new separate bike lanes.
“The government doesn’t seem to really understand what biking is – a daily means of transportation for hundreds of people. It’s not just a hobby for a select few mountain bikers,” bike association head Yotam Avizohar said.
“In the three countries which have a similar Helmet Law to ours – Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – there’s been a sharp dropoff in riders. Whereas there isn’t such a sweeping law in Denmark or Holland, yet they are serious biking countries,” Avizohar added.
“The government doesn’t seem to really understand what biking is – a daily means of transportation for hundreds of people,” said Avizohar.
And it’s a great excuse to get out at night wearing only a thong.
Public exercise
I’ve been seeing these exercise boards around town for some months now, as I make my way to and from various spots in the ‘hood. Sponsored by HMO Clalit — although I’m pretty sure that I’ve seen similar efforts from Maccabi and Leumit — they suggest walking routes around town with stretching exercises displayed on the boards.
It’s a great idea, because Israel is actually filling up with DIY exercisers; I see people speedwalking and jogging all over the place, particularly in groups of two and three on Shabbat mornings. I’m on my way to synagogue, they’re working out, and we’re all enjoying our Shabbat morning peace and quiet.
I haven’t actually tried the exercises myself, seeing as pushing a double stroller is enough exercise for me for the moment, but I was very pleased to see a somewhat unlikely pair of exercisers stopping by one of the local boards this afternoon. Unlikely in that it was a pair of Arab women from the nearby village, dressed in exercise pants and shirts, modest, but clearly for exercise purposes, head coverings intact.
We grinned at each other, women cheering each other on in our efforts to stay in shape, and appreciating one another’s efforts to do so.
Israeli bathers – beware of matkot sightings
You can keep your baseball and soccer. What more typically Israeli sport could there be than matkot?
Essentially beachside paddleball with those big flat paddles and tiny rubber ball – matkot is an Israeli obsession – you take your life into your hands when you walk on any beach in the country. I still can’t figure out if there are rules or not – are the players trying to hit it to each other, or smash it past each other?
Now, there’s someone who’s trying to codify the game – 65-year-old Amnon Nissim and his Morris Zadok, the self appointed “father of matkot in Israel.” According to a story by Jerrin Zumberg in The Jerusalem Post, Nissim has turned his Tel Aviv apartment into the unofficial “Matkot Museum of Israel.
He also holds court most days below the Crown Plaza hotel on Tel Aviv’s Gordon Beach, where the best matkot players in the country have been gathering for 70 years.
Nissim’s mission is not only to formalize the game through set rules, competitions and organized community events, but to make it an official Olympic event.
“It’s the most Israeli game there is,” says Zadok, 59. “It’s a game of peace and togetherness where you aren’t playing against one another, but as partners to reach a goal.”
Zadok’s web site is devoted to matkot and promoting his Bat Yam sporting goods store. A letter to prospective players about matkot says, “It’s not just a game, but a way of life, and an excuse to go down to the beach. There’s no better way to get a tan, meet friends and let out some energy.”
To formalize the game for serious players, Zadok created a set of rules. Rounds of three minutes are spent hitting the ball. Each team of two players stands eight meters apart, trying to get as many hits as possible. Each hit, or point, is earned by the ball going back and forth once. The national record is 178 hits in the three-minute window.
While I may stick to tennis, I’ll now have some new found respect for matkot players next time I get bashed in the head by a stray ball on the beach.
A proud parent
Filed under: General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Sports
Alright, this is delicate. I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, but I don’t think there’s any way around it.
I didn’t think I’d be raising Torah scholars when my wife and I started having kids some 20 years ago. But I was hoping they’d find their own way to express their Zionism and sense of being Israeli. I guess she could have done this anywhere, but the fact of the matter is second daughter Sarit chose to stand out in volleyball here in Israel. And she’s made herself, her family and her friends proud to know her by the way she’s conducted herself these last few years.
Through no initiative of my own, The Jerusalem Post identified her as a sports person of note in their weekend magazine column ‘Holding Court’.
“When she came to me in seventh grade she was very quiet and delicate,” recalls her coach, Oron Ashery. “She asked just to practice and not to play, and since then she’s just grown and grown in the sport. She’s a very special player in the group. She’s the captain of the team, which made the Final Four. She’s been a significant member of our starting six for a while. Sarit is very brave. Over the years she’s gained confidence, and goes after balls that other players don’t even bother with. She makes it to every practice and helps organize the team – she’s the one who maintains the contact between the players.”
And
It’s pretty likely that when Sarit Brinn’s doctors do a chest X-ray, they see a volleyball beating inside her heart. The 17-year-old Ma’aleh Adumim senior and team captain is so devoted to her sport – which this year saw her team, Tali Beit Hinuch, come out of nowhere to claim third place in the high-school league with a 9-6 record – it’s taken over her life, and she loves it.
Not content to just play for her high-school team, Sarit also joined Hapoel Beit Hinuch Jerusalem in a women’s league that includes older players, and her club finished first, advancing to a higher league for next season.
So when she’s up at 2 a.m. making up the class work that she missed because she’s been at one of three practices or two games a week, it just doesn’t faze her. “It gives me energy to play,” she explains in a phone interview recently near the end of the regular school league season.
At home, she can be like any other teenager at times. But the story did capture her big heart, her dedication and her enthusiasm. Now, if we could just get her take out the garbage.
Foto Friday – Running Around the Holyland
Filed under: Foto Friday, General, Pop Culture, Sports, Travel
The sixth annual Pope John Paul II Pilgrimage Peace Marathon took place on Thursday. Although not truly a marathon — it is best described as a non-competitive 10k walk-run from Manger Square in Bethlehem to Notre Dame outside Jerusalem’s Old City walls — it is nonetheless a unique and truly moving event.
Italian and Palestinian participants did the first 2k within the Palestinian Authority, then met up with their Israeli counterparts — myself included — at the Rachel Crossing checkpoint, and ran the remaining distance together. The photo is of the festive ceremony at Notre Dame where everyone got a medal…
…including my pal Yaron Rochin, of Jerusalem’s Beit HaLohem, who organized the Israeli group.
Yaron is quite a story in an of himself. An IDF veteran with legs wounded by shrapnel, he is nonetheless a fixture at all Israeli running events where he always picks up the rear — which is where you can find me — with his infectious energy.
Yaron led the Papal Peace Pilgrimage pack with cries of “Yalla, hevre!” and the next day, did the Tel Aviv Marathon — a true 42.2k — in a hand-powered bicycle.
More about this unique event can be found in a previous post and on this YouTube video, courtesy of Italian news service Rome Reports:
As for the Tel Aviv Marathon, the energy and spirit among participants was great and, hopefully, the city’s residents won’t be too hateful and the event will be allowed to continue and grow. Here’s the starting line. I’m the one in the orange shirt.
Yaron crossing the finish line.
And the winner, Daniel Kones of Kenya, who finished in 2:38:06.
More information about running in Israel, as well as registration for events, can be found at Shvoong. The site is, unfortunately, only in Hebrew. Another event organizer is ProSport – and they do have an English site. On-on and happy trails!
Yoga puts religious Israelis in an uncomfortable position
Filed under: A New Reality, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Religion, Sports
Today’s Western societies are into all kinds of Eastern recreational and spiritual pursuits. There are also scores of Israelis from multiple generations returning home from backpacking jaunts to India and elsewhere in the East on an ongoing basis. Combine the two phenomena, and the booming popularity of yoga in Israel seems like an obvious eventuality.
For Israelis who are interested in spirituality avenues that are new to them, regardless of potential conflict with their Jewish roots, yoga is hardly a problem. But for the increasing numbers of Israeli Orthodox Jews who are experimenting with flavors from other faiths and integrating them into their own traditional frameworks, yoga isn’t always a straightforward pursuit.
Other spiritual paths might be less problematic for religious Jews looking to pepper things up: Buddhism, for example, is often justified on the grounds that it is essentially a code of ethics with possibly nothing to teach in terms of deities. And other religions have their own potential beefs (pardon the apropos expression) with yoga. However, some Jewish theologians, including a well-publicized responsum by Chabad Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, have justified yoga practice among Jews on the grounds that one ought not throw the baby out with the bathwater – in other words, just because many yoga practitioners include chants dedicated to multiple deities in their practices, that doesn’t mean that the spirit-calming and body-stretching advantages of yoga ought to be avoided.
Another complication to the situation is that it might not be so straightforward that yoga’s Hindu chants to more than one god represent idolatry. Many other theologians have posited that since they all essentially represent manifestations of the one primary godhead, Brahman, the additional Hindu gods can be seen as analogous to Jewish mysticism’s concept of the sephirot, the kabalistic manifestations of the Jewish God’s various components of holiness.
Regardless, there are thousands of religious Israelis who are simply scared of yoga’s spiritual elements and prefer to focus on its exercise-based advantages. Case in point is Californian immigrant yogi Aviva Schmidt, whose yoga studio in Jerusalem, “Power Flow,” has been christened by Ha’aretz as “Israel’s first kosher power yoga studio.”
Located in Jerusalem’s posh Rehavia neighborhood, “Power Flow” specializes in power yoga, which is different from conventional yoga in that the exercises are quicker and more exhausting. “They call it yoga for athletes,” Schmidt said. “It’s not your slow, meditative and gentle yoga, it’s a workout.”
As Schmidt explains her approach to the conundrum….
“Yoga is based on Eastern tradition and focuses a lot on meditation. Different positions are worshipping different idols, which goes against Judaism. So I keep it very pareve: for example, I don’t say the names of the positions, there is no chanting, no ohming. I do focus on the breathing, as this is very important in yoga, but any kind of eastern philosophy stays outside.”
Hey, whatever floats your boat. We’ve heard of kosher cell phones and kosher sex, so kosher yoga? Why not.
Image of Israelis doing yoga courtesy zivpu from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.
Foto Friday – Holyland Hashers run Tel Aviv
Filed under: Foto Friday, General, Pop Culture, Sports, Travel
My running club, the Holyland Hash House Harriers, held a traditional Red Dress Run in Tel Aviv this weekend in celebration of our 777th run. The Hash, for the uninitiated (and yes, there is an initiation!), is an international running and beer-drinking dis-organization that specializes in fun runs. And here’s your proof:
Here we are, doing a bit of cult-to-cult dancing with some Hare Krishnas.
Ynet did a really nice video of the run, noting that, as Israelis tend to take their sports very seriously, they seemed mighty perplexed by the stampede of “Ameri-kookim” tearing down Rothschild Boulevard.
But that was nothing compared to the week before, when the Holyland Hash House Harriers met up with 40 Royal Navy sailors and flummoxed Haifa.
We are now getting set for the Tel Aviv Marathon, 10k and 5k runs on April 24th. (Despite all outward appearances, the group includes some very serious athletes). So be on the lookout! Come run with us! Or at least have a camera ready.
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