Eight hundred ninety athletes representing 23 countries competed in the 1953 4th

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (a.k.a. the World Maccabiah Games; he, משחקי המכביה, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics"), first held in 1932, are an international Jewish and Israeli multi-sp ...

, held September 20 to 29, in 18 branches of sports.

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i President Itzhak Ben-Zvi opened the Games at

Ramat Gan Stadium Ramat Gan Stadium ( he, אצטדיון רמת גן, ''Itztadion Ramat Gan'') is a football stadium in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. It served as the national stadium of Israel until 2014. Overview Completed in 1951 and serving ...

Tel Aviv District The Tel Aviv District ( he, מָחוֹז תֵּל אָבִיב; ar, منطقة تل أبيب) is the smallest and most densely populated of the six administrative districts of Israel with a population of 1.35 million residents. It is 98.9% Jewi ...

, in front of a crowd of 50,000. American Olympic wrestling champion Henry Wittenburg carried the US flag for Team USA. At the closing ceremony Prime Minister

David Ben Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...

addressed the collected athletes, saying: "Come back to us for the next Maccabiah, and bring along representatives of Romania, Hungary, and Russia," as a crowd of 50,000 cheered.

History

The

were first held in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

Notable medalists

Ben Helfgott Sir Ben Helfgott (born 22 November 1929) is a Polish-born British Holocaust survivor, Olympian and former champion weightlifter. He is one of two Jewish athletes known to have competed in the Olympics after surviving the Holocaust, along with ...

, a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

survivor and later an Olympian, won the weightlifting gold medal in the lightweight class for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

for the second Games in a row. In gymnastics, Olympian

Abie Grossfeld Abie Grossfeld (born March 1, 1934) is an American gymnastics coach and former gymnast. Grossfeld has represented the United States as a gymnastics competitor or coach in seven Olympic Games, seven World Championships, six Maccabiah Games, and f ...

of the United States won six gold medals. In tennis, U.S. champion

Anita Kanter Anita Kanter (born 1933) is a former amateur tennis player from the U.S. who played in the 1950s. In singles, Kanter was ranked # 6 in the United States (and # 10 in the world by ''World Tennis'' magazine) in 1952, and # 9 in the US in 1 ...

won gold medals for the U.S. in women's doubles with partner Toby Greenberg of the US, and mixed doubles with Grant Golden, and the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in women's singles. Toby Greenberg also won the silver medal in mixed doubles with partner

Pablo Eisenberg Pablo Samuel Eisenberg (July 1, 1932 – October 18, 2022) was an American scholar, social justice advocate, and tennis player. He played in Wimbledon five times, making the quarterfinals once, and won a gold medal at the 1953 Maccabiah Games ...

. Angela Buxton of

, who three years later was to win the doubles title at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, won the gold medal in women's singles, defeating Kanter in the final. On the men's side, Grant Golden, who was ranked # 2 in the US that year, captured three gold medals in the men's singles (over

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n Davis Cup player

Syd Levy Sydney Levy (17 October 1922 – 22 November 2015) was a South African tennis player. He competed at Wimbledon, the French Championships, the U.S. Open, and Davis Cup, and won a silver medal at the Maccabiah Games in Israel. Biography Levy att ...

), the men's doubles with partner

, and the mixed doubles with Kanter. Eleazar Davidman competed in men's singles in tennis for Israel. In boxing, Abraham Rosenberg, a

survivor, won the heavyweight division gold medal. Rozenberg fighting for France lived to that time in Germany, but Germany didn't have a team in that Maccabiah, so Rozenberg fought for France. American Olympic champion

Henry Wittenberg Henry Wittenberg (September 18, 1918 – March 9, 2010) was an American wrestler and Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling. He won two Olympic medals and was the first American wrestler after 1908 to achieve this feat. Wittenberg at one ...

won a gold medal in wrestling. Olympian León Genuth of Argentina won the middleweight wrestling championship for the second Games in a row.

Fred Oberlander Fred Oberlander (23 May 1911 – 6 July 1996) was an Austrian, British, and Canadian wrestler. He was born in Vienna, Austria. He won the World Championships in 1935. Oberlander was offered a chance to compete for Austria at the 1936 Summ ...

of Canada, former world champion and Olympian, won the Greco-Roman wrestling heavyweight gold medal. In fencing, 3-time

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

gold medalist

Allan Kwartler Allan S. Kwartler (nicknamed "Doc"; September 10, 1917 – November 11, 1998), born in New York City, was an American sabre and foil fencer. He was Pan-American sabre champion, 3-time Olympian, and twice a member of sabre teams that earned ...

of the US won a gold medal in

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ...

. British Olympian and world champion

Allan Jay Allan Louis Neville Jay MBE (born 30 June 1931) is a British former five-time-Olympian foil and épée fencer, and world champion. Early life Jay was born in London, England, and is Jewish. His father died fighting in World War II in 1943. He ...

won three gold medals, in foil and epee (in the epee final, he defeated America's

Ralph Goldstein Ralph Myer Goldstein (October 6, 1913 – July 25, 1997) was an American Olympic épée fencer. Early and personal life Goldstein was born in Malden, Massachusetts, and was Jewish.

Ralph Cooperman Arnold Ralph Cooperman (16 November 1927 – 22 March 2009) was a British three-time Olympic foil and sabre fencer. Personal life Cooperman was born in Stoke Newington, England, and was Jewish. Fencing career He won the British junior ...

was a medalist for Great Britain in fencing.

Harry Kane Harry Edward Kane (born 28 July 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the England national team. A prolific goalscorer with strong link play, Kane is regarded as one of ...

of Britain, a future Olympian, won the 400 meter with a games record time of 50.5. World record holder

Henry Laskau Helmut ("Henry") Laskau (September 12, 1916 – May 7, 2000) has been called the greatest racewalker in U.S. track and field history. Born in Berlin, Germany Laskau was a top distance runner in his native Germany, before being forced to leav ...

of the United States won a gold medal in race walking. American Olympic discus thrower Vic Frank competed. American Olympian and world record holder in the hammer throw

Marty Engel Marty Engel (January 25, 1932 – January 29, 2022) was an American athlete. He competed in the men's hammer throw at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He competed for Team USA in the hammer throw in the 1953 Maccabiah Games, winning a gold medal in ...

won a gold medal in the hammer throw and a bronze medal in the shot put. Israeli Olympian Arieh Batun-Kleinstub (Naveh) won the gold medal in the high jump. The US basketball team won a gold medal, with future NBA player

Boris Nachamkin Boris Alexander Nachamkin (December 6, 1933 – February 14, 2018) was an American professional basketball player. Nachamkin was born in Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S ...

and Ed Weiner playing, and coached by Tubby Raskin of

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

. Israel won the silver medal, with Olympian

Abraham Shneior Abraham Shneior (also "Avraham" and "Shneur", "Schneor," or "Shaneir"; אברהם שניאור; December 9, 1928 – February 24, 1998) was an Israeli Olympic basketball player. He was born in Mandatory Palestine. Basketball career His club was M ...

playing on the team. In swimming, future Olympian

Shoshana Ribner Shoshana Ribner (also "Rivner", he, שושנה ריבנר; February 20, 1938 – 29 June 2007) was an Israeli Olympic swimmer. Biography Shoshana Ribner was born in Vienna, Austria. Her family immigrated to Israel when she was an infant. Ribner ...

of Israel won the gold medal in the 400 m crawl, defeating Olympian

Zsuzsa Nádor Zsuzsa Nádor (19 September 1927 – 14 April 2015) was a Hungarian swimmer. She competed in the women's 100 metre freestyle at the 1948 Summer Olympics. At the 1950 Maccabiah Games, representing Great Britain, she won gold medals in the ...

of Great Britain. American

Bernie Kahn Bernard M. Kahn (April 26, 1930 – April 21, 2021) was an American screenwriter. Education He received bachelor's and master's degrees in English literature from the University of Michigan. At the 1953 Maccabiah Games in Israel, in swimming ...

won a gold medal in the 100 m backstroke. Israeli Olympian Yoav Raanan won a gold medal in high diving, as two-time Olympian

Peter J. Elliott Peter John Henry Elliott (14 June 1930 – December 2016) was a British film actor, singer, dancer, stunt performer and television presenter. Life and career Elliott had been diving since the age of 12 at the Marshall Street swimming pool ...

of Great Britain won the bronze medal. It was decided to change the duration after this Maccabiah to once every four years, to gain Olympic recognition.

Participating communities

First-time entries included

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

(

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

). The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that community contributed, with 23 countries fielding delegations. * * * * * * (20) * * * * * * * * (279) * * * * * * * * * (120)

References

External links

Summaries of each of the Games
{{DEFAULTSORT:1953 Maccabiah Games

Maccabiah Games 1950s in Tel Aviv