'More than the sports': Security tight as Toronto hosts Maccabi Games

Security will be tight at the Maccabi Games, an athletic competition bringing together Jewish youth from around the world, returning to Toronto for the first time in four decades this summer.

The Maccabi Games were created in 1982 and serve to “empower Jewish teenagers through transformative experiences” and “inspire Jewish pride,” according to a press release. Event will take place across Toronto, Vaughan and Markham between Aug. 2 and 7 and is distinct from the Maccabiah Games, also known as the “ Jewish Olympic Games ,” held every four years in Israel.

Alan Perlis, a Prosserman JCC board of directors member, said organizers have dealt with many concerns, particularly from American Jewish communities, who fear visiting Toronto because of recent media headlines about antisemitism in the city.

“They think they’re gonna show up here and the amount of antisemitism and security risks is massive,” Perlis told National Post. “The way people view Toronto, Canada, this community, is sad.”

Perlis and Andrew Levy, the executive director of Toronto’s Prosserman JCC, underscored that the Maccabi Games will feature ample security protections and that a committee had been assembled to coordinate with local police and Jewish community safety experts. Perlis said that the costs associated with the security budget for the tournament “could be the same size as some games’ budgets.”

While security remains “a significant element … in the games in every community,” Levy feels that the general awareness around safety has grown in recent years following high-profile antisemitic incidents.

Levy spoke about the importance of the Maccabi Games against the backdrop of concerns over rising antisemitism, particularly in Toronto, since the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israelis on October 7, 2023. He stressed the importance of building community resilience and instilling pride in Jewish youth, which has made the tournament even more timely.

“The greatest way we believe at the JCC to respond to that is by strengthening Jewish life and by building allyship with the broader community,” Levy said. “And there’s nothing better to do that than sports.”

“ The perception from the broader community of the rise in antisemitism in our country has actually made us consider security both from the practical implementation level and from the communication perspective so that people feel comfortable in participating,” Levy said.

The JCC executive said there would be roughly “2,500 teen athletes from 85 communities all over the world” participating during the event and that they anticipate “about 15,000 spectators” to attend. The athletes “are all between 13 and 17,” Levy added, and will be competing in roughly a dozen different sports ranging from baseball and basketball to golf and track.

This year’s event will include a pilot session for female hockey, Levy said.

“There’s a real opportunity for us to unify our community,” Levy said. “For us, it’s more than the sports.”

The outpouring of support from the Toronto Jewish community at a moment of heightened tensions has been heartening, Levy and Perlis both noted. More than 600 local families have volunteered to host athletes competing in the games from places including “Israel, Ukraine, Argentina, Hungary, Great Britain and Mexico.” Still, their goal is to get even more locals to open their doors to strangers and help accommodate the remaining athletes.

“I think that’s something that’s unique about these games,” Levy said.

Perlis recalled fondly growing up in Thornhill, Ont., in 1986 when his parents hosted athletes from Pittsburgh during the last Maccabi Games in Toronto. After 40 years, he feels that the time is ripe for Toronto to host the games again.

“It is something that we’ve been looking to bring back to Toronto, which is one of the largest but really most thriving, affiliated communities in North America. For us not to have the games for 40 years was pretty sad,” he said.

“It’s all about the bonding and the experience.”

• Jack Jedwab: Maccabi Tel Aviv return home after nearly two seasons of post-October 7 exile
• Security bolstered, Israeli fans barred at Villa-Maccabi match

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