A Colorado journalist arrived in Israel to pursue a dream; months later, she was among the first reporters inside Kfar Aza after October 7.
Nicole Zedeck: Making aliyah from Colorado to Israel’s front lines
Israel U19 baseball team finds silver lining after Maccabiah loss to Team USA
Originally appeared in JNS.org on July 10, 2026.
Despite falling short in the series, Team Israel celebrated a historic performance, new friendships and valuable preparation for the European Championship.
Israel’s Under-19 National Baseball Team came close to accomplishing the improbable against Team USA at the 2026 Maccabiah Games at Ezra Schwartz Memorial Field in Ra’anana. Before this year’s series, Israel had defeated the Americans only once. This year, Team Israel raced to a surprising 3-1 series lead before dropping the final four games.
Despite the heartbreaking finish, Team Israel had plenty to celebrate. Both teams acknowledged just how far the Israeli program has progressed since the last Maccabiah they faced each other in 2022.
Freddy Bain, Team Israel’s manager, who represented Israel as a player at the 2017 Maccabiah, was understandably disappointed that his team could not close out the series. He said the players shared that feeling.
“The players were disappointed—but the experience was not a disappointment,” Bain told JNS.
“You show up to win—even though the odds are against you,” he added, noting that Israel had beaten Team USA only once before this year. “We played really well.”
Building a stronger program
Wayne Stofsky, head coach of Team USA, admitted he was far from certain his team would prevail.
Stofsky, who played twice in the College World Series, coached Team USA at the 2022 Maccabiah, serves as director of athletics at the David Posnack School in Davie, Fla., and has helped numerous players reach the professional ranks through Cannons Baseball University, said, “I didn’t expect to win. I knew it would be competitive.”
He said his players were “ecstatic,” especially since an estimated 80% of them will not continue playing baseball in college.
“If this is their last baseball experience, it was a pretty good one,” he said.
Stofsky described the winding path that brought his team to Israel.
“We picked two teams in June 2024—a top team and a second team—with 18 players each,” he said.
When the 2025 Maccabiah was postponed because of the war in Gaza, Team USA lost 12 players from its top squad, two from the second team and two assistant coaches. Rather than hold new tryouts for 2026, Stofsky rebuilt the roster from players he had already evaluated during tryouts in four U.S. cities.
Then came the war with Iran.
“We lost 19 more players,” he said. “At that point we decided not to bring a second team.”
The tournament had originally been scheduled to include four teams—one from Israel, two from the United States and one from Canada. In the end, only Team Israel and a single American team competed.
“Instead of having two teams of 18, we had one team of 17,” Stofsky said. “But it felt good. Everyone wanted to be here and be part of the journey.”
For Stofsky, baseball is only part of the Maccabiah experience.
“I tell them baseball is just the avenue that gets you here,” he said. “The experience is much more than baseball.”
The two teams spent hours together both on and off the field, including a postgame pizza party and a visit to a shawarma restaurant.
Arnie Fielkow, Maccabi USA’s baseball chair, a former Maccabiah basketball player and sports attorney, agreed that assembling the team had been particularly difficult because of the postponement and the changing roster.
Now that the delegation is in Israel, he said, the experience has exceeded expectations.
“The opening ceremony was so special, and we got to see the Nova site,” he said. The team also visited Sderot and continued “connecting with Israel” through educational tours.
Both Fielkow and Stofsky praised the remarkable improvement of Israel’s baseball program.
“I am very proud of Israel Baseball,” Fielkow said. “Their improvement in play is unbelievable.”
Stofsky pointed to Israel’s deeper pitching staff, stronger infield and several players capable of competing in NCAA Division III baseball.
“They are advancing the sport,” he said.
He also believes the two-team format ultimately made for a better competition.
“Each game was competitive,” he said, noting that several contests were decided by one or two runs. “It was good for us and for the Israeli kids. It gave them a sense of how to compete and what to do.”
More than baseball
The seven-game series also served as ideal preparation for Team Israel’s next challenge.
Bain spoke with JNS as the team prepared to board a flight from Ben-Gurion Airport for the Under-18 European Baseball Championship, to be held in Trieste and Ronchi dei Legionari, Italy, from July 13-19.
“It is a quick turnaround and not a lot of time to be sad,” he said.
Looking back on the Maccabiah, Bain believes the experience extended well beyond the results.
“Within a game, it is hard to see the big picture,” he said. “Afterwards, you can see what it is all about—it is a celebration of world Jewry.”
He said many Israeli players were already chatting with their American counterparts on FaceTime from the airport.
“The American kids are a great group of kids,” Bain said. “It is nice seeing the kids interact and trading gear—even after seven intense games.”
Stofsky, who also spoke with JNS from Ben-Gurion Airport after a two-hour wait in the security line, was delighted to hear that his players were already keeping in touch with the Israelis.
“That is pretty cool. I didn’t know that,” he said. “The players got along really well. They got to the stadium two hours early, so they had time to hang out. They had pizza and shawarma together, and they were trading uniforms and hats. Maybe they were making friends for life.”
While grateful for the friendships and the opportunity to strengthen Jewish connections, Stofsky admitted there was still room for a little competitive satisfaction.
“It is not just about baseball,” he said with a smile, “but winning makes the trip a lot more fun and exciting!”
Maccabiah 2026 offers Israeli ‘olim’ a chance to represent their countries of birth
Originally appeared at jns.org on July 8, 2026.
From Cuba to Estonia, immigrants to Israel proudly compete under their former homelands’ flags while celebrating their shared Jewish identity.
The Maccabiah Games bring together thousands of Jewish athletes from across the globe to compete under the flags of their home countries. But among this year’s competitors is a unique group of athletes who now call Israel home while proudly representing the countries they left behind.
At last week’s opening ceremony in Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium, delegations from Finland to South Africa and Taiwan marched into the arena before the largest delegation of all—Israel’s 2,200 athletes.
For some Israeli olim (immigrants), however, the Games offer a rare opportunity to compete for the countries where they were born while living permanently in the Jewish state.
For Michael Raichman, who made aliyah years ago and now lives in Haifa, representing Estonia is both a privilege and a responsibility.
Wearing a “Maccabi Estonia” shirt while attending a hip-hop dance workshop with his 4-year-old daughter at Maccabiah City in Expo Tel Aviv, the fencer smiled as he explained why he continues to compete under Estonia’s flag.
“I have been here for a long time—since before she was born,” he told JNS. “I represent Estonia and the Jewish community. If not me, no one!”
Raichman said he is the only Estonian competitor at this year’s Games.
A few pavilions away, Alexis Chavez wore a dark blue Cuba T-shirt alongside four teenage teammates who had just finished competing in the 3-on-3 basketball tournament.
Chavez, who has lived in Hadera for the past 15 years while the younger players still reside in Cuba, said the Maccabiah represents something much larger than sport.
“It brings all Jews together—like brothers,” he said. “It is all sababa.”
Remembering where they came from
For Colombian weightlifter Judith Gaon, representing her birthplace is deeply personal.
The 27-year-old second-year medical student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem made aliyah in 2012 and is a three-time Israeli national champion. Yet at the Maccabiah she chose to wear Colombia’s colors.
Speaking to JNS after advancing to the next round with a successful 50-kilogram lift, Gaon said the crowd’s encouragement helped her recover after two failed attempts.
“I heard lots of cheering,” she said.
Gaon first discovered weightlifting seven years ago at the Jerusalem CrossFit center, where she works. She credits the sport with helping her overcome insecurities while coping with a medical condition.
Although proud to represent Israel internationally, she said competing for Colombia at the Maccabiah allows her to honor her roots.
“It is amazing to represent Colombia,” she said. “So I don’t forget my roots and what our amazing people went through.”
Drawing a parallel to the Passover story, she added: “It is like Pesach. We always remember our roots and where we are from and where we are headed. I like to remember where we came from.”
Her father and many other relatives still live in Colombia.
Nearby, Colombian delegation manager Bela Himelfarb reflected on the shrinking size of her country’s team.
Unlike previous Maccabiah Games, when Colombia sent delegations of 150 athletes in 2022 and 80 in 2025, only five competitors arrived this year, most of them juniors.
She attributed the smaller delegation partly to scheduling conflicts with school trips to Israel and the FIFA World Cup.
Himelfarb, who divides her time between Bogotá and Harish, said Colombia’s Jewish community continues to view Israel as a refuge during periods of uncertainty.
“People want to come to Israel when they feel in danger,” she said.
She believes the election of Colombia’s new president, who is viewed as more supportive of Israel, has temporarily eased those concerns.
“Maybe there will be no necessity for now,” she said, while acknowledging that “most of the young people are trying to move and make aliyah.”
Representing Israel from abroad
Not every athlete’s story follows the same path.
Jonah Weissmann, 18, now lives in Miami but returned to Israel to play for Team Israel’s baseball squad.
His family moved from Boulder, Colo., to Israel in 2018 intending to stay for one year.
“We planned to stay for one year and stayed for four,” Weissmann told JNS before Team Israel’s game against the United States at Ezra Schwartz Memorial Field in Ra’anana. “Our parents wanted us to have a stronger Jewish identification and get out of our bubble.”
After returning to the United States in 2022, Weissmann assumed his opportunities to represent Israel had ended.
“When they were putting a team together, one of my teammates asked Freddie [manager Freddie Bain] if I could play,” he said. “They invited me to join. I am so happy to be playing with the guys on the team.”
More than a sporting event
Before Tuesday’s game, players from both Israel and the United States gathered to hear Yoav Schwartz speak about his nephew, Ezra Schwartz, the 18-year-old American who was murdered in a terrorist attack on Nov. 19, 2015, while volunteering in Israel during his gap year.
Schwartz told the players that just one day before he was killed, Ezra had emailed the Israel Association of Baseball asking whether he could join a local team. Today, the field where the Maccabiah baseball tournament is being played bears his name.
The teams had also heard the previous day from Debbie Ziering, who shared the story of her son Aryeh, among the first Israeli soldiers killed defending southern Israel during the Hamas massacre on Oct. 7, 2023.
Moments like those underscore how the Maccabiah extends well beyond athletic competition.
For nearly two weeks, athletes compete in more than 40 sports while forging friendships across continents, sharing experiences of Jewish life in vastly different countries and strengthening their connection to Israel.
For competitors like Raichman, Chavez and Gaon, the Maccabiah Games also provide something increasingly rare: the opportunity to celebrate both the countries that shaped them and the country they now call home.
Maccabiah honors fallen athletes through sport and remembrance
Originally appeared at JNS.org on July 6, 2026
Maccabiah Israel Chairman Asaf Goren tells JNS that memorial swims, commemorative pins and even favorite foods are helping athletes remember 18 fallen members of the Maccabi family.
For Asaf Goren, the theme of the 22nd Maccabiah—“More Than Ever”—is more than a slogan highlighting the power of Jewish unity and the bond between Israel and Jewish communities worldwide.
It has become the driving force behind a Maccabiah-wide initiative honoring 18 athletes with ties to the Maccabi movement who lost their lives in Israel’s wars. Through sporting events and educational programming across the country, organizers hope participants will return home as ambassadors carrying the stories of these fallen athletes to Jewish communities around the world.
Goren, 49, who has held senior positions in Israel’s tourism industry, has spent much of his career working in various capacities for the Maccabiah, rising to his current position as chairman of Maccabiah Israel in September 2022. While he concedes that he is not an Olympic or Maccabiah-level athlete, he proudly noted that he hurried back to his office for an exclusive interview with JNS after taking part in an open-water swim in the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) held in memory of fallen IDF Capt. Eden Nimri.
Nimri, 22, a team leader in the Artillery Corps’ “Sky Rider” drone unit and a competitive open-water swimmer, was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, at the IDF’s Nahal Oz outpost. By standing guard at the entrance to a shelter, she saved the lives of 17 unarmed soldiers. Before her military service, she represented Israel at the 2014 Mediterranean Cup, the International School Sport Federation’s 2017 World Championships and the 2018 European Junior Open Water Swimming Championships, where she finished 30th.
Sunday’s open-water competition featured 1.5- and 3-kilometer races, but also included a symbolic 170-meter swim—10 meters for each of the 17 soldiers Nimri saved. Her parents, Sharon Yael and Michael, attended the event.
Nimri is one of 18 athletes with ties to the Maccabi movement who lost their lives during Israel’s wars.
“After the 2022 Maccabiah, we decided the Maccabiah couldn’t be just a once-every-four-years event,” Goren said, noting that the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre occurred between the 2022 Games and the scheduled 2025 Maccabiah, which was postponed because of the war with Iran.
Goren, who spent seven months serving in the reserves during the war, said he was proud of the response by Kfar Maccabiah, the Maccabiah organization and the Maccabi World Union in helping those affected by the war.
Kfar Maccabiah, the hotel and conference center in Ramat Gan established by the Maccabi World Union in 1957, opened its doors to approximately 1,000 evacuees from Sderot and Ashkelon.
“We had schools, a nursery school, dogs, birds, and we even built glamping facilities for Nova festival survivors,” he said.
“We realized very quickly that we couldn’t celebrate sports as originally planned—we went back to the drawing board,” Goren said. “We needed to be together, tell the story, and emphasize Israel, Judaism and sport more than ever. We need the Maccabiah more than ever with antisemitism rising in the Diaspora.”
Those discussions took place while Israeli hostages were still being held in Gaza.
“We needed to find a way to make the stories of these athletes part of the Maccabiah without turning it into Memorial Day,” Goren said. “We wanted what happened here to have a lasting impact.”
Maccabiah Games organizers met repeatedly with the families of the fallen athletes, interviewed their friends and teammates, and sought to understand how each person should be remembered.
“We wanted athletes from around the world to connect with the experience and memory of each person who lost their life,” Goren said. “We want every athlete to leave knowing at least three of these stories in a meaningful and lasting way.”
They created a series of round blue commemorative pins, each honoring one of the 18 athletes, continuing the long-standing Maccabiah tradition of athletes exchanging pins. Among them are a soccer ball for Guy Simhi, a surfboard with a microphone for Raz Mizrachi, a heart for Noa Zander and an orange swimmer for Eden Nimri.
Families also identified a favorite food or drink of their loved one—from Milki chocolate pudding to Danone yogurt—which organizers highlighted during the commemorative events.
“We had a story, a pin and a taste to make sure the impact goes on forever—that a light will glow forever,” Goren said.
Following Nimri’s memorial swim, participants toasted her memory with Limoncello and Danone Pro 25 vanilla, two of her favorite drinks.
Among those commemorated was Adi Leon, a Givati Brigade soldier who was killed on Oct. 31, 2023, when an anti-tank missile struck his Namer armored personnel carrier. A longtime member of the Maccabi Tzair youth movement, Leon was also an aspiring electronic music producer who left behind a notebook titled To Be Read After My Death, describing the values that guided his life and military service.
At the Maccabiah, participants listened to Leon’s original music, watched videos of his performances and gathered in a room decorated in the purple colors of the Givati Brigade.
Goren said he is especially proud that each tribute celebrates the athletes’ lives rather than focusing only on their deaths.
“No one can take part in one of these events and walk away unchanged,” he said. “Years from now they’ll still remember these stories. ‘More Than Ever’ won’t just be a slogan—it will stay with them.”