Maccabiah Games
The Maccabiah Games is an international multi-sport event with summer and winter sports competitions featuring Jews and Israelis regardless of religion. Held every four years in Israel, the Maccabiah Games is considered the foremost sports competition for global Jewry.
The Maccabiah Games were declared a "Regional Sports Event" by, and under the auspices and supervision of, the International Olympic Committee in 1961.
Organized by the Maccabi World Union, the first games were held in 1932.
The 2022 Maccabiah Games were originally scheduled for 2021, but were postponed and held in 2022 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, making it the first summer games to be postponed.
The next Maccabiah Games were supposed to be held in Israel between July 1, 2025 and July 22, 2025, but were postponed to the summer of 2026 due to the Iran–Israel war.
Games
Originally, the Maccabiah was held every three years. Since the 1953 Maccabiah Games, the event has generally been held every four years, in the year following the Olympic Games.The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world, as well as to all Israeli athletes regardless of ethnicity or religion.
Competitions at the Maccabiah are organized into four divisions: 1) Open Juniors; 3) Masters; and 4) Disabled. The Games are organized by the Maccabi World Union.
Etymology
The name Maccabiah was chosen after Judah Maccabee, a Jewish leader who defended his country from King Antiochus. Modi'in, Judah's birthplace, is also the starting location of the torch that lights the flames at the opening ceremony, a tradition that started at the 4th Maccabiah.History
The Maccabiah Games were the result of a proposal put forward by Yosef Yekutieli in 1929 at the Maccabi World Congress. Yekutieli, who heard about the Stockholm Olympics, wanted to form a representation for Eretz Yisrael. Following the appointment of the new British Palestine High Commissioner, Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope, the Maccabiah got the go-ahead.The 1st Maccabiah opened on March 28, 1932. The Maccabiah Stadium in Tel Aviv, which was built with donations, was filled to capacity. Roughly 400 athletes from 18 countries took part in everything from swimming, football, and handball, to various athletics. In the first Games, the Polish delegation took first place.
The Maccabiah Games were intended to take place at an interval of three years. Following the success of the first Games, the 2nd Maccabiah was held from April 2 to 10, 1935, despite official opposition by the British Mandatory government. Over 1,300 athletes from 28 nations participated. The 3rd Maccabiah, which was originally scheduled for spring of 1938, was postponed until 1950 due to British concerns of large-scale illegal immigration, World War II, and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It became the first Maccabiah to be held after the establishment of the State of Israel.
Starting from the 4th Maccabiah, the games were changed to take place every four years in the year following the Olympics and since 1953, the Games have taken place every four years, with the exception of the 21st Maccabiah, which was postponed for one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 15th edition was marred by what became known as the Maccabiah bridge disaster, when a temporary bridge built for the march of athletes at the opening ceremony collapsed, plunging about 100 members of the Australian delegation into the waters of the Yarkon River. Four athletes were killed, and 63 injured. More than 5,000 participants from over 50 countries competed in those Games.
File:President Biden launched the 21st Maccabiah Games.jpg|thumb|US President Joe Biden, together with President Issac Herzog and Prime Minister Yair Lapid, at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2022 Maccabiah Games.Over the last two decades, the number of participants grew to 9,000 athletes in the 19th Maccabiah, from 78 countries, making it the 3rd-largest sporting event in the world and the second largest sporting event in 2013, behind the 2013 Summer Universiade. It is a forum for Jewish athletes to meet and convene, and provides the athletes with opportunities to explore Israel and Jewish history.
Approximately 10,000 athletes, from 80 countries, were expected to compete in 42 sports categories in the 21st Maccabaiah. It was reportedly the world's largest sporting event in 2022. President of the United States Joe Biden attended the opening ceremonies, cheering on the U.S. delegation of 1,400 athletes—larger than the U.S. delegation to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. This made him the first American president to attend the Maccabiah Games.
Editions of World Maccabiah
The following is an overview of the Games:Summer Maccabiah
Winter Maccabiah
Prior to World War II there was an attempt to organize a winter Maccabiah. Due to the relatively warm temperatures in Palestine, the winter Maccabiot were organized in European nations. The 1st Winter Maccabiah was held in Zakopane, Poland, February 2 to 5, 1933. The games were met with great opposition; the Gazeta Warszawska newspaper encouraged Polish youth to intervene during the games to prevent the "Jewification of Polish winter sports venues".A second attempt at the winter games was relatively successful. The 2nd Winter Maccabiah took place February 18 to 22, 1936, in Banská Bystrica. At the games, 2,000 athletes from 12 nations participated.
For 85 years, these were the only winter Maccabiah games to be held and the only two Maccabiot that did not take place in the Land of Israel. During these years, the Maccabi did run smaller regional winter games. Then, the 3rd Winter Maccabiah took place from January 1 to 9, 2023, in Ruhpolding, Germany. At the games, 400 athletes from 20 nations participated.
| # | Year | Host | Athletes | Nations | ||||
| 1 | 1933 |  Regional MaccabiahEuropean MaccabiahPan American Maccabi GamesLatin American Maccabi's, called Jorge Newbery Pan American Maccabi Games or Pan American Maccabiah from 1966:
|
|1960