For the athletes and spectators at the 18th Maccabiah, the experience lingers long after the last stadium light has been turned off, the last piece of confetti swept away. For those who experienced it, the 18th Maccabiah was not just a sporting event, but a life-event, an introduction to Judaism and Zionism that persists long after the games are over.

Martin Berliner, CEO of Maccabi Great Britian/United Kingdom, which sent a delegation of 513 athletes to the Maccabiah at a cost of 1.6 million British pounds, recently told the Israel News Agency:

The Maccabiah is not about the money. Nor is it about medals and winning. It’s about the continuity of the Jewish people.

Yes, every individual loves to win and pocket that gold, silver or bronze medal, but the focus is on bringing together like-minded Jewish individuals from all over the UK, enabling them to meet and make friends that last a lifetime. It’s about bringing them to Israel to explore their Jewish roots and meet other Jews from the rest of the world. It’s about connecting to the homeland.

In fact, Maccabi Great Britain’s main goal is not the acquisition of medals, but supporting the continuity of British Jewry while stressing the importance of Israel, by focusing on the entire community, including the youth with a number of cultural, educational, social and athletic activities.

David Pinnick, head of the Great Britain delegation, told the Israel News Agency:

Before we arrived in Israel, people kept saying to us they hoped we’d win many medals and that we’d do really well in all our games. The first time I even thought of medals was when we started winning them. It’s not about the medals; medals get put into a drawer and forgotten about, but the memories live on forever. We believe it’s about being at a Maccabiah and being in Israel, and the camaraderie and feelings that go with the events.

Israel is part of our mission statement and Maccabi is a huge part of Jewish identity. In fact, many of our players become managers and community leaders because they’ve been inspired by this event. Maccabi is a vehicle to bring people to Israel; it is not an elite sports event focusing only on the sports. People are enthusiastic and passionate about the fact that it is in Israel, and watching the team develop outside of sports, making contacts, networking, making friends, is extremely rewarding.

Berliner agrees:

When the UK team was assembled, we had 513 Jewish people from Great Britain in one room all meeting and getting to know each other. That is what it’s all about. What we do is incredibly hard to put together - it’s all about Jewish continuity; we use sports to engage people, enable them to meet other Jews and have lasting experiences.

If we won all the medals and people went home and never spoke to each other again, we would have failed. It really is about the relationships and friendships that develop. We’ve even had a few marriages that resulted from meeting at previous Maccabiah events.

For both Berliner and Pinnick, the message of continuity has a personal tone, as their enthusiaism has spread to their children, who competed in the Maccabiah, Berliner’s son on the UK soccer team and Pinnick’s daughters on the UK netball team.

As Berliner told the Israel News Agency:

That’s where the continuation of the Maccabiah comes in. We have been involved and now our children are participating - as competitors and as leaders (madrichim). There is a woman whose husband and sons are competing, and in some families, there are three generations who are part of the British team.

Stuart Greenberg, Chairman of the Great Britain/United Kingdom Maccabi delegation told the Israel News Agency recently:

From the British point of view - it is great to win a medal, but it is the ethos of these games which truly counts. Showing support for Israel.

These sentiments are echoed on the other side of the Atlantic as well. As Ron Carner, General Chairman of the 18th Maccabiah Team USA told the Israel News Agency during the games:

I think it is going great - the best run Maccabiah ever. The complaint level is nearly nothing. And the US team really gets it - they understand the dual components of the program. Israel and sport.

The connection to Israel and Jewish life is felt even more acutely by those who came to the Maccabiah from the world’s smaller Jewish communities. Benjamin Waskar, a cricket player from a village three-hours distant from Mumbai, India, told Ha’aretz:

To play cricket, which I love so much, and to be in Israel where all the things I read about in the Bible happened, is simply a dream come true. When I was small, I wanted to play cricket and practiced with my friends, but I came from a religious family that objected.

Instead, Waskar studied to be a cantor, which gave him a new appreciation for his Jewish identity, an identity which has been reinforced by his recent visit to Israel as part of the Maccabiah.

It’s important to me that Jews learn about their roots and the meaning of being a Jew.

For the Indian cricket team, not only was the Maccabiah a lesson in Zionism and Jewish continuity, it was also living proof of the fact that kol yisrael arevim ze l’ze - All of Israel are responsible one for the other, as their travel costs were covered by Steve Soboroff, a Jewish businessman from Los Angeles and major Maccabi supporter.

According to Steve Marshall, the Indian delegation head:

Thanks to the donations we could allow young players and those with little means to fulfill a dream.

A dream which brought them to Israel and cricket glory, as they beat out South Africa to win their first gold in the 18th Maccabiah.