The 4th Maccabiah

On September 22nd, 1953, eight days of thrilling competitions featuring 892 athletes in 19 events opened in Ramat Gan Stadium. A group of non-Jewish medalists from the Helsinki Olympics, along with five American water ballet dancers, delivered a spectacular performance. By that time, the center of gravity of Jewish sports had shifted to North and South America. 

Most of the competitions took place in track and field events (with 100 participants from 16 nations) and swimming (72 competitors from 13 countries). Soccer had the largest number of team competitions. Due to insufficient sports facilities, the Technical Committee had to hold some events in schools and public gymnasiums.

That year, the competitions took place against the backdrop of fedayeen raids along the Jordanian border, David and Paula Ben-Gurion’s retirement to Sde Boker, and a low immigration rate—just 11,000 new arrivals. Meanwhile, the Hapoel organization demanded that Maccabi World Union give the Maccabiah a more unified national character by transferring management of the Israeli delegation and overall supervision of the Maccabiah to the Israel Sports Association. A compromise, mediated by Teddy Kollek, was reached: Maccabi representatives agreed that the Israel Sports Association would establish a coordinating committee to assemble the Israeli all-star teams, and that a joint body would be responsible for maintaining equipment.

The Maccabiah budget, approximately a quarter of a million Israeli pounds, was funded in part by the Israeli government, the Jewish Agency, and public foundations. The President of Israel, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, declared the games open. The torch was carried from the Hasmonean graves in Modi’in to Ramat Gan Stadium, where hundreds of pigeons were released in Olympic tradition. The Closing Ceremony at the stadium concluded with a soccer match between the all-star teams of Israel and the Jewish diaspora.

After the Fourth Maccabiah, the organizers decided to hold the games every four years—aligning with major international sporting events—in an effort to gain recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as a regional competition. This recognition was officially granted in the 1950s. 

Notable Athletes and Winners:

• Angela Buxton – Future Wimbledon champion

• Fred Oberlander (Canada) – Wrestler, Winner of the first Eliyahu Savislotsky Medal

• Abe Grossfeld (USA) – Gymnast, six gold medals

• Shoshana Rivner (Israel) – Swimmer, two gold medals

• David Kushner (Israel) – Broad jump winner, later a top coach

• Perry O’Brien (USA) – Shot put champion

• Henry Laskau (USA) – Race walking champion

• Bob Richards (USA) – Olympic pole vault champion

• Harrison Dillard (USA) – 110-meter hurdles champion

• Roy Romaine (UK) – Swimmer

• Peter Eliot (UK) – Diver

Joining the Party: Countries Who Participated for the First Time:

• Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)

• Brazil

• Chile

Say Hello: New Sports Competition

• Bowling

Saying Goodbye: Categories From Previous Maccabiot That Were Left Out

• Grass hockey