Review: Maccabiah

Maccabiah: The Long Ride to the International Sports Games

by Deborah Bodin Cohen & Kerry Olitzky

Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House),2025

Category: Picture Books

Reviewer: Rinat Hadad Siegel

 

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Many of us are familiar with the Maccabiah, an athletic competition in Israel that brings together Jewish and Israeli athletes from around the world. Some refer to it as the Jewish Olympics, and the 2025 Maccabiah Games are just around the corner. 

This child-friendly picture book biography takes the reader back to 1912, where the seeds of the Maccabiah were sown when a 15-year-old Yosef Yekutiel listened to radio broadcasts from the Stockholm Olympics. The story highlights a problem: on the one hand, Yosef was happy to learn that Jewish athletes won medals, but at the same time, he discovered that not all countries allowed their Jewish athletes to participate in the Olympics. That drove Yosef to find a solution, which came in the shape of the Maccabiah.
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The story describes the different problems that occured on the path to the creation of the Maccabiah, showing the determination and creativity of Yosef. He did not give up until his dream of the first Maccabiah came true in 1932, when three hundred ninety athletes from eighteen different countries gathered in Tel Aviv for the opening parade. The beautiful illustrations help set the historical tone of the story and give a glimpse to the different communities that sent athletes to the Maccabiah.

This important story has many themes, but the one that struck a chord with me and is also acknowledged in the back matter and author’s note, is that of Hatmada, persistence, and is explained beautifully by the co-authors.

In an era where things happen at the speed of light, here we have a story about a dream that required so much dedication, creativity, and work over many years.

This story is suitable for any athlete out there and for Jewish athletes and readers especially, as it brings forth a problem created by antisemitism and a fantastic way to solve it. The back matter adds much important information and the author’s note ties it beautifully to Judaism and its values.

 

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Reviewer Rinat Hadad Siegel was born in Israel to a Jewish Mizrahi family. She is a children’s book author and a former educator and resource teacher for elementary and middle school children. Rinat received her Bachelor’s Degree from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev and holds a Master’s in Education from the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. Exploring Mizrahi roots is one of Rinat’s passions, and she aspires to promote and add diverse Jewish history into children’s literature. Find more information at rinathadadsiegel.com or follow her on Instagram at @rinathadadsiegel.