First Hand Accounts of the JCC Maccabi Experience As part of their creative writing/journalistic experience, nine of the Maccabi ArtsFest participants this year documented the JCC Maccabi Experience 2010 for the Jewish Times. Below are excerpts from some of their work, courtesy of the Jewish Times. You can read the full articles at www.jcc.org/maccabi.
The Maccabi Experience: Arts, Games, and Friendship Rebecca Liebman
ArtsFest Visual Arts Participant
September 2010 Elul/Tishrei 5769/5770 I n si d e : Jewish Life...............................2 FYI...........................................3 Children & Youth.................. 4-6 Teens.......................................7 Adults.................................. 8-9 Art & Culture.................... 10-11 Fitness...................................12 Associated Corner.................13 Aquatics................................13 JCC Maccabi................... 14-15
Maccabi Staff Writer Nancy Goldberg, the director of ArtsFest, has spent an ample amount of time planning for ArtsFest and is glad that it is finally here. “This new tradition is a great idea,” she said. “At opening ceremonies, when delegates marched in, nobody could tell the difference between athletes and artists. They were all just Jewish teens experiencing something wonderful together.” As it was said in a movie that was shown at the opening ceremony, “You are now part of something so much bigger than a game.” You are now part of a family, a group of people who are having the JCC Maccabi experience together in Baltimore, Maryland right now. You will meet talented Jewish teens from all over the country. They bring a passion for the arts, the sports, and friendship. By the time you leave Maccabi 2010, even if you do not have a medal to show or a song to sing, you will leave with at least one more friend than you started with. Because of Maccabi, you will be part a link in the chain of Jewish people that will one day change the world.
Brush Strokes, Eraser Shavings, Maccabi Perfection Julia Grace
Maccabi Staff Writer The visual arts theme this year is Jewish Environmentalism. The talented artists are painting and drawing pictures to tell the world that we need to save the planet, and they’re doing it well. They use different strokes, different brushes, different people, different ideas, one community and one common goal; to spread the word through art. Instructor, Jay Wolf Schlossberg-Cohen, is inspiring them. “It doesn’t matter what your talent is, how long you’ve been doing it, how many medias you’ve worked in, how you look, how old you are, how Jewish you are—but work to a high standard and push yourself,” he tells them. “So just keep going with what you like and you’ll go far.” Continued on page 15
Games Soccer Competition