The Maccabiah Games first held in 1932, are an international Jewish multi-sport event now held quadrennially in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Maccabiah, which is organized by the Maccabi World Union, was declared a “Regional Sport Event” by, and under the auspices of and supervision of, the International Olympic Committee and international sports federations in 1960. The Maccabiah is often referred to as the “Jewish Olympics”. Originally, the Maccabiah was held every three years; since the 4th Maccabiah, the event is held the year following the Olympic Games. In contrast with other large multi-sport events such as the Olympics, competitions at the Maccabiah are organized into four distinct divisions – Juniors, Open, Masters, and Disabled.
The 19th Maccabiah, the most recent edition of the Games, was held in 2013. The next edition, the 20th Maccabiah, will be held in July 2017. The most recent Games brought together 9,000 athletes, making it the third-largest international sporting event in the world (after the Olympics and the Pan American Games). The 9000 athletes competed on behalf of 78 countries.Maccabiah
The Maccabiah games recognizes all 28 current Olympic sports, plus many other sports such as chess, cricket and netball. In contrast with the Olympic games and other major international sporting events, the Maccabiah rules regarding accepting new sports are very lenient. New sports are accepted to the Maccabiah Games provided that competitions will only take place if four separate delegations bring competitors for that sport (three in the case of female sports as well as the junior divisions). As a result, the Maccabiah has held various unique competitions such as duplicate bridge. Karate, not yet on the Olympic schedule, made its debut in 1977 at the 10th Maccabiah Games. Largely due to the efforts of American karate sensei, Alex Sternberg, the requisite number of initial countries signed on and agreed to send a delegation. Since 1977, karate has participated uninterrupted. Although, at the beginning, karate was only contested in the fighting or kumite category, forms or kata was included in 1981. In 1985, women’s karate was added. Junior and youth categories made their debut in 2009. The World Karate Federation, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) oversees and supervises the rules of karate competition at the Maccabiah.
Maccabiah is open to Jewish athletes as well as Israeli athletes regardless of religion. Arab Israelis have also competed in it. The Maccabiah is a forum for Jewish athletes to meet and convene, it also provides these athletes with opportunities to explore Israel and Jewish history.
