Reuven Helman ( he, ראובן הלמן; 1927 - July 11, 2013) was a former
Maccabiah Olympian recognized as a weightlifting champion, distinguished athlete in
Track and Field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
,
the
Decathlon
The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...
and for his career as an athletic instructor.
He competed in
shot-put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...
and
javelin
A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...
. Helman came in second in 1957 in the International Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv, and had also competed in 1953.
Personal life
Helman became an adherent of the
Chabad Lubavitch
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups ...
Movement after visiting its spiritual head, Rabbi
Menachem M. Schnerson.
He attributed his strength to
kosher
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
eating, clean living and exercise.
Military service
Helman fought in
Israeli's 1948 war of independence and was dubbed the “human cannon” for his ability to fling
grenades
A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade gene ...
over 75 meters when army supplies were short.
He also received a
war medal A war medal is a military decoration awarded in time of war, as opposed to a service medal. It may refer to, for example:
*War Medal (Norway)
*Campaign medal
*Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
*British War Medal, British Empire medal for servi ...
for his service in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
See also
*
List of select Jewish weightlifters
References
External links
Photos of Helman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helman, Reuven
2013 deaths
1927 births
Jewish weightlifters
People from Tel Aviv
Jewish male athletes (track and field)
Israeli soldiers
Maccabiah Games silver medalists for Israel
Israeli male athletes
Maccabiah Games medalists in athletics
Israeli people of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
Mandatory Palestine military personnel of World War II