When the idea of including campers with disabilities in Ramah camp was proposed in the late 1960s, there was a great deal of pushback. Fortunately, we have come a long way since the first Ramah camp began including people with disabilities through its Tikvah Program in 1970. Following in this Ramah tradition, Ramah Galim was founded with inclusion as a core value with Tikvah as part of our camp from the beginning — and we get more inclusive each summer.
This year, we began in-depth discussions about inclusion—for people with disabilities and for everyone—during staff week. The Tikvah staff led a Shabbat afternoon program consisting of stations where we learned texts, discussed benefits and challenges of inclusion, and shared concrete strategies for facilitating inclusion. The Tikvah staff also modeled spirited musical Tikvah davening (prayers) for the camp over Shabbat. The entire staff was more excited than ever before to genuinely include and model inclusion for their campers.
Ramah Galim has reached new levels of inclusion. Inclusion is no longer a “program;” rather it is a mindset and an attitude that reflects our values. Two of the 12 campers who started the summer in Tikvah selected Ocean Exploration as their maslul (specialty track), which they seamlessly attended daily with campers from other edot (divisions). The rest of the Tikvah campers rotated through such activities as kayaking, biking, wall climbing, gardening, and performing arts with peers from other divisions. Additionally, each day, Tikvah joined Bogrim and Nachshonim for morning prayers. I have lost track of the number of Friday afternoon, and Shabbat day and weekday evening peulot erev (evening groups) that have included Tikvah and another edah.
The most wonderful part is that inclusion is no big deal. Campers with and without disabilities participate in camp activities daily—from maslul, to meals, Havdalah, singing and dancing, and Yom Sport.
In this very special summer, when children have been apart for so long, it is a delight to see all campers playing, learning, and enjoying being Jewish together, in their special home, just a short walk from the waves of the Monterey Bay. May we continue to grow our naturally inclusive Ramah Galim community.
For Team Israel and members of the media who spent three tense, very exciting nights at Maimonides Park in Coney Island, N.Y., back in September 2016, July 11 was a true homecoming.
Team Israel played a Sunday afternoon game against the FDNY (Fire Department of New York) in Brooklyn, N.Y.—at the same stadium as the miracle games of 2016—before embarking on a series of exhibition games on the East Coast that will then see them fly to Tokyo to compete in the Summer Olympic Games. Israel will face Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the United States and the Dominican Republic. While their medal chances are uncertain, the 24 players on the Olympic roster could not be more excited.
In 2016, nobody took Team Israel seriously as they played in the World Baseball Classic qualifiers. That began to change after they defeated Great Britain once and Brazil twice, and advanced to “Pool A” in South Korea in March 2017 against South Korea, Taiwan and the Netherlands.
Team Israel proceeded to battle through the World Baseball Classic and won the 2019 European Baseball Championship. By finishing in the top five, Israel earned the right to participate in the 2020 Olympics qualifiers. As the winner of that tournament, Team Israel qualified to be one of six national teams to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, the 2020 Olympics were postponed to July 2021, where, being that COVID remains an issue in Japan, they will largely take place without fans and with players living in a bubble reminiscent of the NBA bubble in Florida in 2020.
Nevertheless, July 11 was a day for nostalgia and celebration for the journey and for what Team Israel represents for Israel and the Jewish people. The 12 pitchers, three catchers, six infielders and three outfielders are mainly American-born players of Jewish descent, although there are some native-born Israelis on the team. In order to represent a country in the Olympics, a player must be citizen of that country; thus, all members of Team Israel hold citizenship. Some are former Major Leaguer Baseball players with extensive MLB or Minor League experience.
Team Israel (again) playing at Maimonides Park in Coney Island, N.Y., on July 11, 2021. Photo by Howard Blas.
‘Crazy, rewarding, hard, fun, tough’
Pitcher Shlomo Lipetz, 42, was born in Tel Aviv, played college baseball in the United States and has been affiliated with Israel baseball for more than 30 years. At the World Baseball Qualifiers in 2017, the right-handed pitcher was the only native Israeli on the team.
Baseball and Team Israel have helped keep him focused throughout the pandemic. “The fact that I just keep playing the game kept me really sane while doing my day job,” he says.
Lipetz is vice president of programming for City Winery. He says he is proud of how far Team Israel has come since 2017. “It is no longer the underdog mentality—that we are just happy to be here. With the help of some of the big league guys, folks like Ian [Kinsler] and Danny [Valencia], I think that really helped change our mentality to something of ‘we belong here, and we can make some noise!’ ”
Pitcher Josh Zeid, 34, has played for the Houston Astros and is currently working for the Chicago Cubs in Phoenix, where he is the rehabilitation pitching coordinator. He also pitched for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, where he was named to the 2017 All-World Baseball Classic Team.
At the end of the WBC, Zeid thought his baseball career was over. As he looks back on the past four years, he says “it has been crazy, rewarding, hard, fun, tough, but it is crazy. We are standing here today in Brooklyn. Four years ago, we were all here. I thought my career was over at the end of the season. We had a swan song starting in Brooklyn; it is pretty surreal, pretty special.”
The right-handed pitcher uses a bright-blue mitt with the expression “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” inscribed in Hebrew. “My grandfather died six months ago, and these were his last words to me,” he reveals.
Zeid pitched the second inning of the FDNY game and struck out all three batters. “I am honored to play for Team Israel in the Olympics,” he says. “It’s a lifelong dream come true. I feel I have been blessed. Just putting in the work and care and effort to making sure this one comes true as well.”
Pitcher Joey Wagman, 29, was also all fired up to return to Brooklyn as part of Team Israel. Drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 17th round of 2013 draft, he recalls, “The last time I was here was five years ago for the qualifiers, so it definitely brings back a lot of memories.”
Wagman did not play in 2020, though he resumed training with Team Israel teammate, Zach Weiss, when both lived in Southern California.
“I used the time to refine some things in my movement and delivery and shore up my mental game,” he relates. Over the past three months, Wagman has played professional baseball in the Czech Republic. “It was a different pace of baseball. After an 18-month layoff, it was a decent, relaxed environment, where I could control pitch counts and innings, and it served its purpose as prep for the Olympics.”
Of the opportunity to reunite with his teammates, Wagman says: “It has been years since I’ve seen all these guys—being together brings back so many good memories. There have been so many good memories with Team Israel in the past five years.”
‘We need to start playing some good baseball’
Danny Valencia is arguably Team Israel’s most accomplished player. Valencia, 36, has played for eight Major League teams, and had 795 hits and 95 home runs in 3,000-plus plate appearances. He says he is looking forward to representing Israel in Tokyo. “It is a really cool experience, and it is going to be an awesome memory for all of us.”
Valencia also knows what being in the Olympics will take, noting that “we need to start playing some good baseball.”
Valencia knows this Olympics will feel different due to COVID precautions. “Obviously, we will be in a bubble. There will not be many fans at the games, but it should be an amazing experience. We will be around a lot of great athletes. And we’re there to handle the job but also to enjoy the experience.”
Ben Wanger, 23, a right-handed pitcher, also serves as a designated hitter. His parents, David and Gwen Wanger—both clothed in “Wanger” jerseys—traveled from Newton, Mass., to Brooklyn and watched their son from behind the Team Israel dugout. While they’re unable to attend the Olympics in Tokyo, they dream of the day they will be able to visit Israel for the first time—and celebrate what they hope will be a medal for Team Israel.
Whether Israel ultimately wins gold, silver or bronze, the Wangers are practically glowing over the accomplishments of their son and his teammates—and of what the experience has done for everyone’s Jewish identity.
“The experience for these players, especially American Jews who made aliyah, has been incredibly enriching,” says David Wanger. “They are so much more attuned to their heritage, and they feel incredibly connected to Israel and to the Jewish people.”
The Wangers and the good-sized observant Jewish crowd that showed up in Brooklyn are praying that the miracle of Team Israel will continue. The team is off to a promising start with a 12-3 victory over New York’s bravest: the FDNY. Israel scored an impressive 12 runs on 15 hits, with the first run at the top of the sixth.
Team Israel in Brooklyn, N.Y., on July 11, 2021, before they are off to the Tokyo Olympics. Photo by Howard Blas.
Tough times demand tough Jews. If Jon Loew has his way, Jews in the United States and around the world will invest the time and energy needed to learn self-defense to protect themselves. Loew has been worried about the safety of the Jewish community for years and has been passionately making this case for Jewish self-defense, often feeling that the Jewish world wasn’t listening.
In 2001, the Long Island native who is a lawyer, businessman and firefighter started Fuel for Truth, Israel education and advocacy training in response to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centers in New York City and Pentagon in Washington, D.C. “After I saw the buildings burning on 9/11, I knew this would have implications for American Jews. I was worried about what would happen on college campuses.”
Loew found that most in the Jewish community did not share his level of concern: “Jewish organizations said there was no problem—in academia, the media, etc.”
His self-funded training program continued to expand in its quest to educate college students about Israel. Loew continued to worry about the Jewish community. “With the summer conflict in Gaza (‘Operation Protective Edge’) in 2014, I saw a correlation between the war against Israel and attacks on Jews outside of Israel.”
Again, he found the organized Jewish community to be unresponsive with many saying, “it will never happen—they had their head in the sand—again!”
That same year, in response to what Loew felt was a “rising tide of physical attacks against Jews,” he established the Legion self-defense and counter-terrorism training program.
The nonprofit has grown to facilitate the training of Jews in 12 U.S. cities, including in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California and Florida. Credit: Courtesy.
Legion’s mission is to train and equip civilians with the skills needed to defend themselves and their families. The founders of the organization sought to establish deterrence so Jews would not be seen as “easy targets.” The nonprofit has grown to facilitate the training of Jews in 12 U.S. cities, including in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California and Florida. The Legion has also announced the addition of the first two gyms outside the U.S., in Toronto and London. To date, more than 400 men and women from age 20 to 70 have received training from instructors, which include v special-forces veterans from the United States and Israel, senior intelligence officers, combat medics, and MMA (mixed martial arts) and Krav Maga professionals.
Legion is expanding and making it easier for Jews across the country to access self-defense training. “We have become a networking organization to connect gyms and people who want to train there,” notes founder and former chairman Loew. He is committed to “hooking people up with self-defense gyms in their area, wherever they live.” He’s even looking to expand outside of the United States.
Loew is concerned that violence against Jews continues to increase, that Jews are not properly acknowledging the problem and that they are not learning to defend themselves. “We want Jews to increase awareness of the threat, to restore some level of deterrence and to increase their ability to defend themselves,” he explained. “As a result, they will feel more confident.”
Loew even imagines a day when every Hebrew school and Jewish day school will teach self-defense as part of regular PE (physical education). “I want every Jew to be a Ninja!”
Loew is concerned that violence against Jews continues to increase, that Jews are not properly acknowledging the problem and that they are not learning to defend themselves. Credit: Courtesy.
‘Self-defense can no longer be a foreign concept’
Meredith Weiss, co-founder of Legion and its voluntary chief operating officer, shares Loew’s concerns and supports his approach to addressing the problem.
“I fully believe Jews must take a proactive approach in their own safety. It’s all about deterrence. We cannot leave our physical well-being or security in the hands of others.”
Weiss, who grew up in Lawrence, N.Y., has always been strongly connected to Israel and went through Legion’s programs, though she notes that it was a bit challenging in the beginning. “We had people laugh at us when we started up. ‘You’ll never get a room of Jews training.’ We did exactly that. Then, we did it again … and again … and again.”
The first chapter was in Manhattan, and by 2015, they were training a full class of students.
Weiss firmly believes that “self-defense can no longer be a foreign concept to American Jews. It must become the absolute norm.”
She is passionate about the organization and the need for Jews to learn to defend themselves. She playfully, yet seriously, notes that fitting self-defense training into an otherwise busy schedule is both possible and necessary: “Wake up, have coffee, get a day of Zoom meetings in, grab the dog at the groomer, learn how to get out of chokeholds and then be home in time to see the kids before bed!”
On Tuesday, on the 150 flat kilometers (93 miles) from Redon to Fougeres, Israel Start-Up Nation was blessed with its first top 10 result in this year’s Tour de France.
Days before the start of the annual Tour de France, cycling’s most prestigious race, the Israeli national team’s star rider and four-time winner of the event, Chris Froome, was enthusiastic and optimistic.
Froome has been working hard to return to his previous level of performance following the severe injuries he sustained in a 2019 crash that occurred while he was previewing the time trial course at the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné. He suffered a double femur fracture to his right leg, multiple additional fractures and a collapsed lung.
Yet in the “Israel Start-Up Nation” team’s pre-Tour de France press conference, Froome expressed hope that this year’s Tour de France, held from June 26-July 18, “will be a steppingstone to get to my formal level of racing. I am really hoping to be on the starting line and put my recovery process behind me.”
Little did Froome know that a few days after those comments, he would be involved in another, highly preventable crash. On the first day of the Tour de France, a spectator stepped into the path of the riders to unfurl a sign, causing a massive pileup of cyclists. Consequently, seven of eight riders for Israel Start-Up Nation crashed in Stage 1 of the race.
Froome did not sustain any broken bones and the new injury was to his left leg, not the one fractured in 2019. He experienced swelling and bruising to his left inner thigh. He also slightly injured his thorax, which initially affected his breathing. He underwent scans and checks until 1 a.m. and was able to resume riding in Stage 2.
In regard to his left leg, Froome reported, “It’s pretty swollen and pretty painful, it hurts when I stand up but it’s alright. I was able to get through today and if I take it one day at a time, I can try and survive until the time trial. Then I can maybe take it as a recovery day. I hope to come round and give more to the team over the next week.”
Ultimately, all of the Israeli team’s riders completed Stage 1, with experienced Tour de France rider Guillaume Boivin ranking as the team’s best finisher in 31st place. After the stage, Boivin recounted, “My teammates had told me that the first day would be hectic and they were right on the money on that one. For sure, it’s not ideal to start a Grand Tour like this, but we also have to remember that this is a three-week race….We have to put this behind us and look forward. There is still a lot of racing to come.”
Israel Start-Up Nation bounced back during Sunday’s second stage. Michael Woods, the team’s leader, was true to his word from the pre-race press conference. At the time, he reported, “I think I can be quite competitive. I am one of the stronger climbers on the world tour.” Indeed, he was competitive on the climbs and on the uphill finish of Stage 2 on Mûr-de-Bretagne, though he acknowledged the day was tough and that he was shaken up by Saturday’s crashes.
“Mentally, it was a struggle out there today,” Woods said Sunday. “After the crash yesterday, I was pretty scared all day. However, my legs felt really good. When Van der Poel took off, I was a little too far back. I tried attacking but I didn’t want to play the GC (general classification) game, so when the win wasn’t an option anymore, I just sat in. Still, I’m really happy to bounce back like this and see that I’m able to climb with the best guys. This gives me a lot of confidence for the mountain stages.”
Woods finished Stage 2 race in an impressive 11th place. He is humbled to be leading the Israel-Start Up Nation team, saying, “If you had told me earlier in my career I’d be leading a national team, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
Stage 3, from Lorient to Pontivy, also featured several crashes — but the Israeli team was not involved in them. Boivin was the team’s best finisher, in 23rd place. Israel Start-Up Nation’s sports director, Rik Verbrugghe, said Monday, “Today was a really nervous stage, especially towards the end…but the good thing is that we passed this stage without any crashes. Now, we look forward to tomorrow.”
On Tuesday, on the 150 flat kilometers (93 miles) from Redon to Fougeres, Israel Start-Up Nation was blessed with its first top 10 result in this year’s Tour de France. André Greipel was 10th in the bunch sprint on stage 4. Teammates Rick Zabel and Boivin Guillaume finished 15 and 21 respectively.
