The Maccabiah Games

Having grown from 390 athletes from fourteen countries to nine thousand athletes from seventy-eight countries, the Maccabiah Games (or the “Jewish Olympics,” as it has come to be known) continue to gain popularity. The Maccabiah Games, which take place in Israel, first began in 1932, and the latest games took place in July of 2013, with the debut of participants from Cuba, Albania, and Nicaragua. Sports range from table tennis to ice hockey, basketball, chess, and much more. Past participants have included former NBA coach Larry Brown, Olympic swimmers Mark Spitz and Jason Lezak, and Olympic gymnast Mitch Gaylord, among others. The Jewish Olympics details the history of the Maccabiah Games, including how they began, how they have grown in popularity, how they have impacted the Jewish community worldwide, and much more. In addition, it highlights the countless special achievements of the athletes over the course of the nineteen games. The Jewish Olympics is a detailed and fascinating history that will interest any sports fan, as well as individuals interested in cultural events. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. In addition to books on popular team sports, we also publish books for a wide variety of athletes and sports enthusiasts, including books on running, cycling, horseback riding, swimming, tennis, martial arts, golf, camping, hiking, aviation, boating, and so much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

From their conquest of Palestine in 1917 during World War I, until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the British controlled the territory by mandate, representing a distinct cultural period in Middle Eastern history. In Embodying Hebrew Culture: Aesthetics, Athletics, and Dance in the Jewish Community of Mandate Palestine, author Nina S. Spiegel argues that the Jewish community of this era created enduring social, political, religious, and cultural forms through public events, such as festivals, performances, and celebrations. She finds that the physical character of this national public culture represents one of the key innovations of Zionism-embedding the importance of the corporeal into national Jewish life-and remains a significant feature of contemporary Israeli culture. Spiegel analyzes four significant events in this period that have either been unexplored or underexplored: the beauty competitions for Queen Esther in conjunction with the Purim carnivals in Tel Aviv from 1926 to 1929, the first Maccabiah Games or "Jewish Olympics" in Tel Aviv in 1932, the National Dance Competition for theatrical dance in Tel Aviv in 1937, and the Dalia Folk Dance Festivals at Kibbutz Dalia in 1944 and 1947. Drawing on a vast assortment of archives throughout Israel, Spiegel uses an array of untapped primary sources, from written documents to visual and oral materials, including films, photographs, posters, and interviews. Methodologically, Spiegel offers an original approach, integrating the fields of Israel studies, modern Jewish history, cultural history, gender studies, performance studies, dance theory and history, and sports studies. In this detailed, multi-disciplinary volume, Spiegel demonstrates the ways that political and social issues can influence a new society and provides a dynamic framework for interpreting present-day Israeli culture. Students and teachers of Israel studies, performance studies, and Jewish cultural history will appreciate Embodying Hebrew Culture.

Here is the first full account of Jewish contributions to international sports. Rich in personal anecdotes, historical background (including explanation of the barriers excluding Jewish athletes from otherwise successful careers) and packed with 150 rare, historical, black-and-white photographs. Foreword by Mark Spitz.

A multi-generational family epic detailing history's only known journey from Auschwitz to the NBA When Lily and Alex entered a packed gymnasium in Queens, New York in 1972, they barely recognized their son. The boy who escaped to America with them, who was bullied as he struggled to learn English and cope with family tragedy, was now a young man who had discovered and secretly honed his basketball talent on the outdoor courts of New York City. That young man was Ernie Grunfeld, who would go on to win an Olympic gold medal and reach previously unimaginable heights as an NBA player and executive. In By the Grace of the Game, Dan Grunfeld, once a basketball standout himself at Stanford University, shares the remarkable story of his family, a delicately interwoven narrative that doesn't lack in heartbreak yet remains as deeply nourishing as his grandmother's Hungarian cooking, so lovingly described. The true improbability of the saga lies in the discovery of a game that unknowingly held the power to heal wounds, build bridges, and tie together a fractured Jewish family. If the magnitude of an American dream is measured by the intensity of the nightmare that came before and the heights of the triumph achieved after, then By the Grace of the Game recounts an American dream story of unprecedented scale. From the grips of the Nazis to the top of the Olympic podium, from the cheap seats to center stage at Madison Square Garden, from yellow stars to silver spoons, this complex tale traverses the spectrum of the human experience to detail how perseverance, love, and legacy can survive through generations, carried on the shoulders of a simple and beautiful game.

Hardly a day passes when Israel is not in the news. This book provides essential facts about not only the political events in the news, but also the positive contributions Israel is making in the arts and sciences. This is not a recitation of facts and figures, but a mosaic of the most important aspects of Israel's past and present. The book will entertain those interested in some of the fascinating trivia about Israel and inform those doing more serious research about the economy, government, and culture of the Jewish State.

The Olympic Games, revived in 1896, are the most well known international multisport gathering—but since 1896, hundreds of other competitions based on the Olympic Games model have been established whose histories have not been well documented. The Encyclopedia of International Games captures (in one alphabetical sequence) the histories of these games, many of them for the first time. The work includes major regional events such as the African, Asian, Arab, South Pacific, and Pan American Games; competitions such as the Indian Ocean Island Games, Arctic Winter Games, Island Games, and Games of the Small Countries of Europe; specific populations or professions such as the North American Indigenous Games, Maccabiah Games, World Military Games, World Police and Fire Games, and World Medical and Health Games; and Special Olympics, the Paralympics, games for the blind, and other regional games. Eight appendices, notes, bibliography, index.

Hardly a day passes when Israel is not in the news. This book provides essential facts about not only the political events in the news, but also the positive contributions Israel is making in the arts and sciences. This is not a recitation of facts and figures, but a mosaic of the most important aspects of Israel's past and present. The book will entertain those interested in some of the fascinating trivia about Israel and inform those doing more serious research about the economy, government, and culture of the Jewish State.

Following the 1972 Olympics one sportswriter referred to Mark Spitz, winner of seven gold medals, as “the first great Jewish athlete.” He couldn’t have been more wrong. As Jewish Sports Legends shows, Jews have excelled at athletics for centuries. This engaging volume illuminates the lives and unforgettable accomplishments of Jews in virtually every major sport played worldwide. Baseball stars Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg, basketball’s Red Auerbach and Dolph Schayes, and football’s Sid Luckman and Marv Levy are only a few notable examples. With photographs accompanying almost every sports personality, this fifth edition introduces some famous and some not-so-famous Jewish sports greats throughout history. More than eighty new entries have been added to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame since 2005, among them Lyle Alzado, Max Baer, Ira Berkow, Kenny Bernstein, Sasha Cohen, Shawn Green, Donna Geils Orender, Aly Raisman, and Bud Selig. While most of those profiled are professional sport champions and Olympic gold medalists, the book also features great coaches, officials, journalists, and other significant contributors in every major sport.