Five Towns JCC shoots hoops in Israel

The JCC of the Greater Five Towns is making history this week, competing for the first time in the JCC Maccabi Games, taking place in Israel this week. A team of 11 teenage girls will play basketball. “This is the first time that the Five Towns JCC is in the JCC Maccabiah. It’s a wonderful opportunity to be there and we are proud to send them to the games,” said executive director Rina Shkolnik.

Coached by Lawrence resident Michael Alon, the team of 11 also includes members of the Mid-Westchester JCC and one girl from Allentown, Penn. The team comprises of current and recent local residents. The team will be staying at Kibbutz Dafna, a northern Israel community that was mentioned in Leon Uris’ novel Exodus.

Following the sports competitions, the girls will then travel to nearby Kiryat Shemona for a day of community service. They will then visit the Neot Shoshanim Jewish Community Center in Holon, the “sister city” partnering up with the Five Towns JCC. The girls will be spending a Shabbat in Holon, interacting with their host families.

This year’s games are the first to take place in Israel, with 43 JCCs competing. The six-day event brings some 1,250 teens, chaperones and coaching staff to Israel. Alongside the sports games, creative teens interested in the arts, acting, cooking, and music will participate in an ArtsFest taking place in the same week in Israel.

The cost of the flight was underwritten by a generous member of the five Towns JCC, according to Shkolnik. The JCC Maccabi Games are a run along the lines of the greater Maccabiah Games, where Jewish athletes from around the world compete in Israel every four years. The first JCC Macabbi Games were in Memphis in 1982.