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

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics") is an international multi-sport event with summer and winter sports competitions featuring Jews and Israelis regardless of religion ...

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

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i President

Itzhak Ben-Zvi Yitzhak Ben-Zvi ( ''Yitshak Ben-Tsvi''; 24 November 188423 April 1963; born Izaak Shimshelevich) was a historian, ethnologist, Labor Zionist leader and the longest-serving president of Israel. He was first elected on 8 December 1952, assumed of ...

opened the Games at

Ramat Gan Stadium Ramat Gan Stadium (, ''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 as Israel's largest stadium e ...

Tel Aviv District The Tel Aviv District (; ) is the geographically smallest yet also the most densely populated of the six administrative districts of Israel, with a population of 1.35 million residents. It is 98.9% Jewish and 1.10% Arab (0.7% Muslim, 0.4% Chris ...

, 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 ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder and first prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency from 1935, and later president of the Jewish Agency ...

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 Benjamin Helfgott (22 November 1929 – 16 June 2023) was a Polish-born British Holocaust survivor, Olympian and champion weightlifter. He was one of two Jewish athletes known to have competed in the Olympics after surviving the Holocaust, ...

, a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

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 north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

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

Abie Grossfeld Abraham Israel "Abie" Grossfeld (born March 1, 1934) is an American gymnastics coach and former gymnast. Grossfeld represented the United States as a gymnast for 15 consecutive years in 35 countries as a member of 26 international United States ...

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 Grant Golden may refer to: * Grant Golden (tennis) * Grant Golden (basketball) Grant Golden (born January 15, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for AEK B.C., AEK of the Greek Basketball League (BCL). He played college basketbal ...

, 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, ...

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 Angela Buxton (16 August 193414 August 2020) was a British tennis player. She won the women's doubles title at both the French Championships and Wimbledon in 1956 with her playing partner, Althea Gibson. Early life Buxton was born in Liverpo ...

, 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 * W ...

, won the gold medal in women's singles, defeating Kanter in the final. On the men's side,

, 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 Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

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 at ...

), the men's doubles with partner

, and the mixed doubles with Kanter.

Eleazar Davidman Eleazar Davidman (also Elazar Davidman, ; 9 December 1936 – October 2007) was a Jewish Israeli tennis player. Tennis career Davidman competed in men's singles and men's doubles in tennis for Israel at the 1953 Maccabiah Games. He competed fo ...

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 New York police officer, coach, competitor and Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling.Obituary ''Los Angeles Times'', March 12, 2010. He won two Olympic medals in freestyl ...

won a gold medal in wrestling. Olympian

León Genuth León Genuth Hejt (5 August 1931 – 10 March 2022) was an Argentine amateur wrestling, wrestler. He competed in the Wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle middleweight, men's freestyle middleweight at the 1952 Summer Olym ...

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, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

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 ma ...

. British Olympian and world champion

Allan Jay Allan Louis Neville Jay MBE (30 June 1931 – 5 March 2023) was a British five-time-Olympian foil and épée fencer, and world champion. Early life Jay was born in London, England, and was Jewish. His father died fighting in World War II in ...

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 fencing, fencer. Personal life Cooperman was born in Stoke Newington, England, and was Jewish. Fencing career He won the British ju ...

was a medalist for Great Britain in fencing. Canadian David Silverstone won a bronze medal in epee.

Harry Kane Harry Edward Kane (born 28 July 1993) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Bundesliga club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich and Captain (association football), c ...

of Britain, a future Olympian, won the

400 meter The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

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 Vic Frank (April 4, 1927 – April 6, 2010) was an American athlete. He competed in the men's discus throw at the 1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London ...

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 and Ed Weiner playing, and coached by

Tubby Raskin Morris "Tubby" Raskin (Hebrew: מוריס "טאבי" רסקין; January 8, 1902 – September 9, 1981) was an American basketball player and coach. He played for the Brooklyn Arcadians in the American Basketball League (ABL). He later coach ...

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

. Israel won the silver medal, with Olympian

Abraham Shneior Abraham Shneior (alternate spellings: "Avraham" and "Schneior", "Shneur", "Shneor", "Schneor", or "Shaneir"; Hebrew language, Hebrew: אברהם שניאור; December 9, 1928 – February 24, 1998) was an Israeli basketball player and basketball ...

playing on the team. In swimming, future Olympian

Shoshana Ribner Shoshana Ribner (also "Rivner", ; 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 began competing as a swimm ...

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 h ...

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, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

(

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

). 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