The St. Louis JCC Maccabi Delegation is seeking teen athletes to fill spots available on several teams for the 2017 JCC Maccabi Games in Birmingham, Ala. (July 31 to Aug. 4) and the JCC Maccabi Games and ArtsFest in Miami (Aug. 6-11).Team St. Louis is...
The St. Louis JCC Maccabi Delegation will travel to Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, July 31 to Friday, Aug. 4, 2017 to participate in the JCC Maccabi Games and to Miami, Florida Sunday, Aug. 6 to Friday, Aug. 11 to participate in the JCC Maccabi Games and ArtsFest....
As I write this, a week has passed since the last Maccabi athletes returned to their homes. I thought the Maccabi experience might feel less intense after a few good nights of sleep, but it doesn’t. I still feel grateful and emotional and proud —...
By Eric Berger, Staff Writer
• Published August 11, 2016
Before traveling to the JCC Maccabi Games in St. Louis, Jared Steele, 15, had more experience in the water than in the clouds. A swimmer from Texas City, a port and refinery city about an hour south of Houston, Jared had never before left Texas. It was...
By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published August 10, 2016
A week of intermittent rainy weather didn’t dampen spirits at this year’s Maccabi Games. The six-day-long event wrapped up Friday after a Thursday night celebration to close out the competition with festivities for participants and the traditional...
By Hannah Snidman, Staff Writer
• Published August 3, 2016
A sea of blue “Host Family” T-shirts swarmed into Chaifetz Arena Sunday night in anticipation of the 2016 JCC Maccabi Games Opening Ceremony. The crowd numbered between 4,500 and 5,000 people, according to organizers. The host families and spectators...
By Eric Berger, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published August 3, 2016
If you attended the JCC Maccabi Games this week and heard athletes from the St. Louis delegation speaking Hebrew with perfect — seemingly native — accents, it’s understandable that you might have been confused.There were, in fact, 10 athletes from...
By Hannah Snidman, Staff writer
• Published July 27, 2016
When the 2016 JCC Maccabi Games get underway in St. Louis beginning Sunday, July 31, much of the focus will be on the athletic competitions that underscore the weeklong event. But a hidden gem defines the spirit of what these Games are truly all about:...
By Eric Berger, Staff Writer
• Published July 27, 2016
A few years ago, Jewish Community Center President and CEO Lynn Wittels was at a Cardinals game with some leaders of Maryville University. The Maryville officials mentioned their efforts to increase Jewish life on campus. Wittels suggested that the school...
By Hannah Snidman, Staff writer
• Published July 27, 2016
With more than 1,500 hungry athletes and delegation coaches in St. Louis for nearly a week, feeding mouths at the 2016 JCC Maccabi Games could be a challenge.However, the three co-chairs responsible for handling all of the meals promise that Games participants...
By Eric Berger, Staff Writer
• Published July 27, 2016
In 2014, Jonathan Deutsch traveled by himself to Cherry Hill, N.J. to watch the JCC Maccabi Games. In most years, the Jewish owner of a manufacturing company would have been joined by hundreds of teenage athletes from St. Louis competing in sports ranging...
By Hannah Snidman, Staff writer
• Published July 27, 2016
Given that the JCC Maccabi Games have been around since 1982, several St. Louisans who took part in them as teenagers are now involved as adults in other aspects of the weeklong competition. What follows are the stories of five local individuals who have...
