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Local Athletes Refl ect on Maccabiah
Games Experience
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
T he 21st Maccabiah Games
took place in Israel from
July 12-26. U.S. President Joe
Biden attended the opening ceremony
in Jerusalem alongside Israeli Prime
Minister Yair Lapid and President
Isaac Herzog, becoming the fi rst
U.S. head of state to appear at the
games. Among the thousands of athletes
from countries all over the world at
the “Jewish Olympics,” many were
from the Philadelphia area or had
Philadelphia ties. Several spoke to the
Jewish Exponent about their experi-
ences. Th ere was one unifying theme in all
of their refl ections: It was really cool to
be there.

Aiden Abrams
Th e Penn Valley resident and incoming
senior at Harriton High School helped
lead the United States’ U18 basketball
team to a gold medal in the three-on-
three tournament. In a semifi nal game
against one of two Israeli teams in
the fi eld, the point guard assisted on
a basket, hit a three and buried some
free throws to turn a late fi ve-point
defi cit into a win. Aft er beating the
other Israeli team in the championship
before a packed crowd, Abrams threw
the ball in the air and jumped for joy
with his teammates.

Th e American teenager said he
came away from the experience with
a new appreciation for his religion. He
especially enjoyed unplugging on the
Sabbath. “You eat dinner with the people you
love on Friday night,” Abrams said. “I
want to be more in touch with people
than my electronics.”
Danny Rosenblum
Rosenblum, a Radnor resident, rising
senior at Radnor High School and
point guard on the school’s boys’ bas-
ketball team, played on the United
States’ U18 fi ve-on-fi ve team. His role
was to back up Yogi Oliff , a standout
point man from the Chicago area who
will play for Washington University in
St. Louis, a Division III school, next
year. Rosenblum embraced his role and
provided a spark off the bench, scoring
baskets, assisting on others and steal-
ing the ball from opponents, during the
team’s undefeated gold medal run.

On his fi rst trip to Israel, he also felt
like he grew to understand his people
more deeply than before. Rosenblum
and his teammates plan on staying in
touch, holding reunions and giving
each other places to stay during future
college visits.

“Just how well Jewish people stay
together and look out for each other,”
he said. “Within the fi rst week or so we
were basically family.”
Brenda Benaim
Benaim was born in Philadelphia, grew
up in Bucks County and attended Ohev
Shalom in Richboro with her family.

Aft er the family moved to Australia
when she was 15, Benaim picked up
netball. And then, aft er she made ali-
yah with her husband in 2007, she par-
ticipated in her fi rst Maccabiah Games
in the all-female sport in 2009.

Th is year, the 47-year-old partici-
pated in her third Maccabiah Games
for Team Israel in the master’s divi-
sion for athletes 35 and older. She also
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