Kirk Douglas Leads Group of Maccabiah Supporters

A group of Southern California-based business, entertainment and civic leaders – The “Committee of 18,” spearheaded by business and civic leader Steve Soboroff – have come together to create worldwide awareness and provide unpre-cedented financial and technical support for the 18th Maccabiah World Games in Israel – the quadrennial Jewish Olympics. LOS ANGELES, Calif., USA (February 4, 2009)

Kirk Douglas signed his name in Hebrew on an official Maccabiah Games 2009 jersey. Douglas is a member of the LA-based committee of 18, which is providing $1.5 million in financial support as well as expertise in naming rights, marketing, merchandising and television to make the upcoming 18th Maccabiah Games the first ever to be broadcast outside of Israel. [Full article can be found at www.maccabiah.com]

Israel Gets Ready

Israel is apparently gearing-up for the Maccabiah event. Advertising and hype have started.

USA Teammate

Elana's coach (Kris) took this picture at Maccabi Trial in Oklahoma in December. Pictured with Elana is Ilana Gordon from California who also made the team. They were in the same rotation at the trials and became fast friends. They have been texting back and forth ever since.

Here's a little sample of Elana on the uneven bars at practice last week. Some new skills that she was very happy to get.

M'Kor Shalom Newsletter

The February M'Kor Shalom newsletter has a great picture and article about Elana. http://www.mkorshalom.org/thesource.html. Not exactly the NYTimes, but hey...

New "Junior Maccabiah" Website

Maccabiah Israel just opened a new separate website to focus on the "Junior" games. If you can get past the obvious Hebrew-English translation issues, the site provides some insights into what the experience will be like. http://junior.maccabiah.com/default.asp

Also, there's a big announcement on the Maccabiah website that tickets have gone on sale for the opening ceremonies! Very exciting.

USAG Region 7 Announcement

The USA Gymnastics Region 7 Website recently posted the below announcement about the gymnasts from the 5 state "region" to make the Maccabiah team. Each state has it's own USAG body, and then there are regional and national bodies. Region 7 is the region that covers NJ.


"January 9, 2009 - FOUR REGION 7 ATHLETES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 2009 MACCABIAH GAMES

In December of 2008 four gymnasts from Region 7 qualified to represent the USA at the 2009 Maccabiah Games, to be held in Israel this coming July. The trials were held in Norman, Oklahoma at the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy.

Simone Freidman, age 13, of Capital Gymnastics NTC in Burke, Va., and Taylor Chep, age 13, of Hill’s Gymnastics in Gaithersburg, Md, and Elana Molotsky, also 13, of Jersey Jets in Mount Laurel, N.J., will be part of the USA junior girl's team. Sara Biederman of Columbia, Md, is the coach for the junior girls team.

Lindsay Bloom, age 16 of Galaxy Gymnastics in River Dale, NJ, will be part of the senior team.
The Games run July 12 – 23, 2009. The games will be televised on the JLTV network.

http://www.jltv.tv/maccabiah.html
http://jltv.tv/livestreamchoice.php

To offer support or donations for the teams, or for more information about the Maccabiah Games visit: www.maccabiusa.com "