Maccabiah

And the Winner Is...

Day 4, Friday, July 15: Today are the semifinals and finals for beach volleyball. This is it. I woke up early and looked out from the small balcony off my room. At 5:30 am the incoming tide was so high it seemed to swallow the beach, even threatening the volleyball courts of the jetty-protected Hof Saronit. The break in the super-hot weather has brought rollers on the Mediterranean.

Surfers must have been watching the weather report because even at this early hour I see about 5 or 6 surfers paddling out to catch a wave. By 6:30 more than 2 dozen surfers were bobbing atop the waters, waiting for a good one. The, wind, too, is up. The US team had agreed that wind might play to their advantage, since the winds blowing onto the L.A. beaches can get pretty stiff. They are used to playing against the wind.

At breakfast, I sit at a small table by myself. Jon, Danny, Melody, and a few other volleyball competitors sit at a large table adjacent to mine. I hear a snatch of Jon's advice to Danny, regarding blocking at the net: "Do not jump early. Wait, wait, wait." I've seen the results of this. It must be sooo hard to wait, but the timing on blocking a shot must be just right. Jon jokes about my not wanting to eat with them, but I explain that often Ami does not like to talk first thing in the morning, so I figured the same for them. Plus after waking up Ilan yesterday, I decided I'd best not bother anyone. I learn that Melody is from that most pleasant of "towns," Santa Monica. Although Fran has not come down yet, I am reminded how her last name, Seagull, so fits someone who spends lots of time on the beach.

I then headed over to the Internet cafe to post yesterday's info before the games began. While rushing back along the promenade to deposit camera download equipment at the hotel, I bumped into Ami and Ilan rushing off to their game. They looked pretty sleepy. Good luck, I said. They play Jon and Aaron at 10:30 am: their match in the semifinals.

Before the semifinals, we all gather in the stands. However, Neil, Ilan's dad, is in his usual position, filming from behind the barrier at one end of the court (photo: Ilan, his dad and grandmother).

Talia and Uri, my friend and her son, have taken the train up from Tel Aviv. Ilan's grandmother and cousins sit in the stands next to us. I had told Jon and Aaron, "We'd like to yell "USA" for this match, but..." They knew how it went: blood trumps tribe.

The game began. Ami and Ilan were not having an easy time of it. Shots and blocks they usually would have managed with ease, they were flubbing. They lost the first game 11-21. Arrggghhh, what happened? Apparently, earlier in the week, during practice, they beat Jon and Aaron. They can do it. So what's with this score?

The second game they pulled themselves together more:

But Jon was his usual consistent self and Aaron was hot on defense. I especially remember two killer shots he saved that looked unsaveable. A comment behind me, maybe from one of the Aussies since it was in English, is that Aaron has improved considerably during these games. He plays a sport at UCLA--lebara? something like that--that really hones defensive moves.

At one point, after Ami made an unexpected smart, light touch that won them a point, Danny, sitting behind me, said, "Ami's got beautiful hands," explaining that Ami gets himself in exactly the right position then lets hand control finish the job. Earlier, Ami had explained to me that the aerobic demands of some of the other sports he's played keeps him moving fast so he can get in position. I can't remember if I've mentioned this, but Ami and John Woo, his partner on the L.A. beaches, won a tournament a couple of months ago that got them a AAA rank. That's the level just below professional rankings.

Ami did get off one of his "I'm burying this" hits, but they lost the second game, too, 13-21. Hmmm, they looked asleep when I saw them hurrying to the courts. Maybe they still were asleep. Wake up, guys!!

Meanwhile, Israel played Mexico in their semifinal match. Israel won the first game, Mexico the second. But Israel came back to win the third. That means Ami/Ilan play Mexico for the bronze at 1 pm. And Jon/Aaron play Israel for the gold/silver at 2 pm.

As people waited, I went with Uri to the beach. I was wearing the new crop pants I'd bought the day before, so I just waded out in the water while watching Uri have a great time jumping among the low rollers and letting surf break against him. Tempted, I rolled my pants up, but went too deep, getting myself soaked.

The play for bronze begins. Ami and Ilan have finally woken up! They look good: pass, set, shot. Blocks. It's all working and they win the first game 21-18. The second game is close, but Mexico takes it. They must play a third. Agh, the tension rises. Ami's neck--strained muscles--have been killing him. The doctor assigned by the Maccabiah had given him a shot of litocaine(sp?) the day before, but that pain-duller had worn off. He's played hurt before, so dig deep, Ami!

The third game begins. The US pulls ahead by a point or 2, then Mexico catches up. It happens again and again.  The Mexico cheering contingent is large...and loud: Meh-hi-co! Meh-hi-co! We yell, too. Can they hear us? Does it help? Ilan looks great, making fine line shots that Mexico cannot get to. Ami works both with a light touch and his scary hits. These guys are on a roll! But they get to 15--total points needed to win a tie-breaking third game--and Mexico is still only one point behind. Gotta win by 2.

Mexico gets the next one: 15-15. US pulls ahead. Mexico catches up. Now Mexico pulls ahead: 17-16. Our hearts are in our mouths. My stomach is somewhere else entirely and we're screaming like crazy. It's 19-19. ohpleaseohpleaseohplease. US answers me with 20-19. I'm such a wreck that I barely remember the last point, but all of a sudden it's 21-19 and...Ami and Ilan have got the Maccabiah bronze medal!!!!!

With such a neck-and-neck finish, this has been by far the most exciting game of the tournament.

The temperature has soared and, at 2 pm, at the height of the day's heat, they are too exhausted for photos for the moment. Water is what's needed.

Now US 1 and Israel 1 begin the final match:

Well-matched, the points mount. But Israel's coach has set up a camera on a tripod on the sand behind the court. Although it's outside the 5-meter protected zone, it's just outside the zone, within range of balls and not really b'seder. Worse, when the US is serving from that side and whoever is at the net, with hands behind him, signals to the server, the Israeli coach sees the signals and relays them to his players. Not nice. The US complains, and the coach quits his attempts to cheat. Ami tells the ref that even the camera being there is dangerous, but they don't make the coach move his camera. Some of the reffing has been good, some of it way out of date (Jon explained), some of it bad. Ask someone with more knowledge than I if you want to know more about the refs.

Israel wins the first game 21-19. Close enough so that we know Jon and Aaron can win the second. And they do!

And, now, the final game. Like the match for bronze, this goes back and forth. Jon and Aaron look a bit ragged, compared to their usual collected selves. The US water polo team, who have been playing in Tiberias, show up to cheer on the US: a crew of large bodies with big voices. Exactly what we need (although Jon has assured me earlier that while the ball is in play experienced competitors do not hear a thing, being totally focused on their game). We yelled and shouted "U-S-A, U-S-A." Israelis yelled and shouted "Yis-ra-el, Yis-ra-el." The Israelis pulled ahead...and then it was all over. Israel had won the gold, US1 the silver, and US2 the bronze.

Who knows why one good teams beats another good team on any given day. The reasons are many. It's consistency over time that tells the tale. Maybe it would have been more satisfying with the US in the top 2 positions, but for me this worked. And, it was a fine tournament. The comaraderie was one of the best parts. I wish I had had a chance to root for Mexico, too, but...next time.

Now Ami is off to Hertzlia Petuach to spend Shabbat with Shaked and his family. As Ami has described him, Shaked has been a prince of a guy. He runs the Hertzlia Arena and works with the Israeli international team. When the volleyball players got to Netanya, there were no practice courts. It was not Shaked's responsibility at all, but he managed to organize courts and other things for them. He is a mensch.

I am returning with Talia to Tel Aviv, not going to the medals ceremony Saturday night, when the mayor of Netanya, a woman most say is doing a terrific job as mayor, will hand out the medals. I'll return to tell more about the women's play and get some background on the Israeli men. At the very start of the games, the first time I saw Israel 1 (the gold medalists) walk onto a court for practice, I said to myself of one: "How can a guy with such skinny legs be a good player?" I was disabused of that notion right away. Israel 1 is good.

But we must hurry to catch a ride because it is Friday late afternoon and soon things will be shutting down for Shabbat.

L'hitraot! (See you!)

A 'Roo Gets into the Games

Day 3, Thursday, July 14: Big mistake--I called Ami at 7:30 am to see if he wanted to eat breakfast with me. My phone call woke up Ilan not Ami. I quickly rung off with an apology. Apparently, I'd woken Ilan up enough so that he was ready for breakfast, sort of. He joined me and we talked jazz. Ami told me that Ilan not only plays the trumpet, he composes as well. I love jazz. And, yes, Ilan, the Jazz Bakery (where he has played a few times) is pretty sterile, but you can hear the music. If you're in the Bay Area, try Yoshi's--a great venue.

Ilan was not entirely awake because he quickly left for a post-prandial nap. At breakfast I also saw a couple of large tables full of US swimmers. The swimmers compete at Wingate, down the road a bit. The US has brought 21 in Open and 19 Juniors. I saw one of the swimmers in the King Solomon hotel pool today: long, effortless strokes, just 5 to cross lengthwise and turns as smooth as a seal.

I'm no shopper, but I followed Ami's advice and checked out the shops along Netanya's Herzl St. I bought a couple of things, but was especially intrigued by the languages I heard on the street. A lot of Russian. In fact, a lot of signs include Russian. If Russian is Netanya's second most-used language after Hebrew, French is third, both French immigrants and tourists. The Jerusalem Post had an article today on the rise of French tourism to Israel.

Finally, it was time to head down to Hof Saronit and today's games. All 3 US teams (2 men, 1 women) were playing Israel teams at 5 pm. I was told that the top teams among men are the 2 US teams, Mexico 1 and Israel 1. Today Ami and Ilan play Israel 1.

The first game, Ami and Ian had some great blocks, 3 hot ones in a row. But they lost that game 17-21. The music during play today was good: "No Woman, No Cry," Eagles road music, a cut off of Idan Rachel's new CD...  For those who haven't heard Rachel, check him out. Israeli fusion of jazz, reggae, world music. Very good to my ears.

In the second game, Ami and Ilan just nosed out Israel 1 to win, but this was tough play. Tough enough so that Israel 1 took it from them in the third game. Another day it would have been different, but...  There's still the playoffs on Friday (tomorrow).

Unlike the first 3 days, these games will be played in the morning and early afternoon. Thank goodness the hothothot weather has broken a bit. Each of the medal-round players (US 1&2, Israel 1&2, did I miss a team?) will play 2 games, results being gold, silver, bronze, and klum (nothing).

Meanwhile, Jon and Aaron handily defeated Israel 2 in 2. Although I had been yelling Artzot Ha'Brit (USA) thinking to psych out the Israelis, Jon assured me later that seasoned players don't hear that stuff. Jon coaches volleyball for Brentwood in L.A. and has a sense of humor that's catches you coming and going.

Last time I was this excited watching one of Ami's sports, I took it up: soccer, the beautiful game, which I loved playing for years. I told Jon this and he said, well, I teach volleyball on the West Side (L.A.). Come take lessons. Ok, Jon, if Michael and I land in L.A. on our return to California, you're on.

I stayed to watch Australia vs Mexico 2. Where do my rooting loyalties lie: with continent or language? In this case, as in most others in life, it lies with the personal connections one's made. I've met the Australians. Besides, it was fun to shout "Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy!" with this wild and crazy contingent of Aussie fans. Danny and Max did win and then did a victory lap with a huge, blow-up 'roo draped in national flag. 

The US team is in "lock up" tonight. I preferred to eat elsewhere. I chose Cafe del Mar at the top of the Sharon elevators that carry people down from promenade to beach. The upper walkway provides a great view of Hof Saronit.

Cafe del Mar served me a perfect and perfectly presented denis--delicious, mild white fish. Appetizers of olives and peanuts, a dry red Yarden wine. The sauteed denis seeming to swim over ripples of good balsamic past an outcrop of grilled peppers and eggplant. With sides of "home fries" and Israeli salad. Yum.

At 4 pm, under the hot sun, the promenade had been empty. At 8:30 pm, as I walked back to the King Solomon in the dusk, the promenade was alive with people: young families with strollers, groups of old people sitting and talking, couples, teens. In the lit-up square, artisans sell jewelry, paintings, crafts (as well as T-shirts and chotchkes). This is the Israel I love.

Later, I met up with Ami. We sat and talked in the cool of my room about what each of us would do after the Games are over tomorrow and how we would meet up before I left Israel on Tuesday evening.

Thank you, Michael, for straightening out bureaucratic snafus! Can't wait to see you.

Everything Heats Up: Day 2

Wednesday July 13: After last night's cliffhanger with the train, I decided to stay in Netanya the last two nights of the Games. Talia dropped me off at one of the Tel Aviv stations in plenty of time for the 16:08 train...if it had come then.

About half an hour later, a packed, grumpy crowd jostled onto the late train. At Netanya, the moniot (taxis), which were plentiful the day before, were nowhere to be seen. Finally, I snagged a seat on one. Sorry, Jon

and Aaron,

missed most of your match due to the usual balagan.

But they won in the third game, against the Mexicans, putting them into the medal round on Friday. Later, Jon said if it came down to the U.S. vs Israel, Mexico said they'd cheer us on. Hemispherics, I guess. And Mexico came with a healthy cheering committee!

BTW, in Hebrew we are Artzot-ha'Brit (Lands of the Covenant, because of our nation's/states' contractual obligations to that fine document, the Constitution).

Next up, at ~6:15 pm: Ami and Ilan, playing the Australians. As the game started, the other side chanted "Ozzy, Ozzy" for each point. Hmmm, one of their player's names? No, duh, Michal, that's how you pronounce Aussie. Their players are Max and Danny.

Ami and Ilan won the first game 21-16, with some gravity-defying defence. The ball would look like it was dropping into the Siberia corner of the court and somehow the guys would dig it out and over. Nice defence today, guys!

The second game was definitely more touch-and-go: 5-5, 7-7, 10-10, point by point. Arrgggg, where's my tension relief? It was about then I noticed Ami spit. "25 cents," I said to myself without even thinking. At about bar mitzvah age, Ami picked up this spitting thing. Not nice. So I started charging him a quarter per spit. The total bill for today: ~$1.50. But he said it was the sand...not a usual thing.

Ami's pretty scary-looking when he's about to put down a hit (spike). Kinda Darth Vador in your face. He and Ilan finally started pulling ahead, each of them placing nice, hard-to-reach shots along the line. Point 19 really rocked! Can't remember why, think it was some incredible block. And...then...it was 21-13. Into the medal round for them as well.

Tomorrow, US 1 plays Israel 2 and US 2 (Ami/Ilan) plays Israel 1. These will be tough games. Best possible results of all these games will be US 1 vs US 2. Kaef! (Fun!)

We then cheered on the final game of 2 of 3, US women vs Canada women. The US women, Melody and Fran, played tough, but the Canadians played tougher. Like all 4 US men, the US women are from Los Angeles.

Aside: In Tel Aviv, which is either "blue" or too busy to bother, I didn't see any orange strips flying from car antennas. Orange = anti-Gaza pullout. Here, I see a fair amount. Should I fly some blue? Nah, I'm here for sports. Ok, so I showed a bit of my political ankle. I'm trying to keep this only to sport. But, hey, this is Israel.

Ami and I walked back to the King Solomon Hotel along the landscaped seaside promenade overlooking the beach, now soft-looking in the fading light and rising breeze. Scents of rosemary and honeysuckle, tangy and sweet mixing, filled the air. Oh so pretty.

We stopped at the central square, a huge open area centered on a large, bubbling, splashing fountain and edged by shops and open-air restaurants. We had strawberry-banana smoothies at the Yotvatah restaurant. Mmmmm. I did not hydrate enough today.

At dinner, we sat with the "Ozzies," Max, Danny, and a dad/official. Discussed what the US women could have done to pull ahead, how best to visit Australia, whether the ice cream was really "cream" since the dinner buffet included meatballs spiced with cinnamon and cumin. And, of course, lots of joking around.

There's a fine camaraderie here among players and countries. As Ami said earlier as we sipped smoothies, this is mostly about the Maccabiah and this feeling of "hey, we're from everywhere, we're athletes, and we're all Jews."

Mea culpa for spelling mistakes and any lack of photos. I'm at an Internet "cafe" (without the cafe) and I'm on a time clock and, as usual, wondering about workable usb ports. Cindi--more on Ilan and jazz tomorrow.

Beach Volleyball: Day 1

Tuesday, July 12. It's hothothot here. Maybe that's why the beach volleyball games started late in the day. All games for beach volleyball (kaduraf-hofim) are held on Hof Saronit (Saronit Beach) in Netanya. It would be impossible to cover all the games by oneself because they are spread all over the country: women's basketball in Jerusalem, soccer (football) in Haifa, swimming at the Wingate sports complex near Netanya.

So, I took the train from Tel Aviv to Netanya and a cab to the beach. The trains are great: double-decker with comfortable seats, big windows, and digital readouts--in Hebrew of course--for each approaching station (and I can read them).

The beach is at the Mediterranean--quite lovely. They had stands with chair-seating and a high, billowing covering against the sun. Seats a few hundred and was mostly full for the later games. I got there to see the start of the women's games at 4 pm.

Then, at 5 pm, US 1 played Brasil. US 1 is Jon Aharoni and Aaron Wexler, both of L.A. They know Ami through the L.A. beach volleyball scene. "We love that guy. He's craaaazzzy," one said. "We're bummed he's moving to San Diego," said the other.

They won their match handily in the first 2 games. You have to win 2 of 3 games. On the adjacent court, Israel 1 beat Australia 1. (Most countries playing beach volleyball have 2 teams.) Israel 1 looks pretty good.

Next: Ami and Ilan Goldstein (now I've got the spelling correct) playing Mexico. They won their first game 21-14, no problem. The second game, however, Ami and Ilan wanted to see if we were all paying attention and let Mexico get ahead in the middle third of the game. Oooof, come back! They did. Now, I don't know much about beach volleyball, so I'll probably get the terminology wrong, but: when Ami and Ilan are doing a classic dig-set-spike, what can stop them? They make it look easy, elegant. This they won 21-14 as well. Kal ha-k'vod, guys!!

Right afterward, we were all gathered around the athletes' central tables when we heard about the bombing not far from where we are in Netanya. Because it is so close to Tul Karm and the territories, Netanya has been hit by suicide bombers a lot. In this case, Islamic Jihad. Beyond saying they are a bunch of death-obessed losers, I bite my tongue. But security around the players seems good, and the bomber had nothing to do with the Games. Then Ami and I walked with the others on the team up to the promenade, high above the beach, where we met up with Ilan's family.

I went with Ilan's family (his dad, grandmom, and cousins) to the cousins' house in south Netanya, thinking we'd meet up with Ami and Ilan for dinner, but the traffic due to the bombing was crazy, taking us an hour for a 10-minute drive. I realized we'd never meet up for dinner, so I asked to be dropped at the train, which arrived just as I stepped onto the platform! If I had been a minute later, I would have had to wait an hour.

Tomorrow's games begin late, too. Ami/Ilan play Australia 1, I believe. I will probably stay over in Netanya at the King Solomon Hotel, where the athletes are staying. It was fun being with Ami, who intro'd me to the people he's met. He's a popular guy, natch. His Hebrew is surprisingly good for not having used it since that college semester at Ben Gurion University.

That's it for now. And, yes, Connor, I did sleep again, and long. I had to catch up on sleep.

Let the Games Begin!

Last night the Maccabiah opening ceremony splashed light, color, motion, and emotion around Israel's Ramat Gan national stadium. The thousands upon thousands in the stands were at least as exhuberant as the athletes and performers on the field. The whole event was truly awesome, not to use that word lightly.

The pre-program began with parasailors parachuting into the stadium in 2 groups of five. Followed by a Russian artistic gymnastics team, medal-winners at their event. Followed by young dancers presenting a whole pagent of red, gold, green, and blue formations: circles, hearts, and more.

Then singing, including the audience: "Am Yisrael Chai" and other favorites.

I was sitting at the end of an aisle and got to talking with Yoav, a young man doing security duty. Yoav just finished Army, completing his duty through the worst of the intifada. And, yes, there was mention of the 8,000 Israelis and others injured by terrorists and the help for these victims given by Project Tikvah (Hope). Yoav, like many just out of the Army, is off to India for a couple of months. Then to university to study architecture. He was kind enough to provide background for parts of the ceremony I might not understand. B'hatzlacha (good luck) Yoav! I enjoyed your company.

Before darkness focused attention on the field and the parade of athletes, it was fun to watch all the different contingents of fans: a whole block of Aussies in green, fans from Colombia doing the Wave with Colombian flag colors. Kids with T-shirts proclaiming "Turkia."

Women wearing Mexican sombreros. South Africans wrapped in their colors.

Then came the Parade of Athletes. 52 nations represented. Some, like Japan, with only one athlete. Some, like the Australians, with hundreds; 559 Australians to be exact, their largest delegation ever. This, the 17th Maccabiah, started in 1932, more than a decade before the modern State of Israel was official. Here's the list of nations, parading in order of their names in Hebrew (excuse misspellings, no time to ck dictionary):

Australia, Austria, Ukraine, Uruguay, Azerbijan, Italy (carrying a long banner that said, in Hebrew, "Italy Loves Israel"), Argentina, USA (all in white, the second largest contingent after the Israelis, who numbered 800+) led by Mark Spitz and Lenny Krazelburg...

...Brazil, Belgium, Belorus, Brazil, England. At this point, I've got to stop and say it was fun to see Brazil followed by England. The green/yellow Brazilians were, as one might expect, full of drama: doing flips on the field, spilling out of order with an overload of crazy energy.   And the Brits, wearing red, were, yes, oh-so orderly. 

...India, Holland (Netherlands), Hungary, Venezuela, Turkey, Greece, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia, Mexico, China/Hong Kong, Slovakia, Spain, Serbia/Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Finland, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Chile, Czech Republic, France, Colombia, Costa Rica, Canada, Romania, Russia, Sweden (the Swedish and Russian contingents were about the same size, which surprised me), Switzerland, and Israel.

Uri, my friend Talia's son, was watching the ceremony at home on TV and was impressed that this whole stadium field was packed with athletes--all Jewish! I told Talia that we, in the stands, felt the same way. The emotion was palpable. They announced that this was the world's largest Jewish event. Yes, indeed.

Once the athletes were all on the field, they began moving, uniform colors mixed and mingled as athletes began trading. Ami told me he got a Mexican jersey, an Australian hat, and something else. BTW, Ami, I did see you as that huge river of USA athletes in white rambled by. I saw you stop and take a picture and then someone took one of you. The athletes then took their seats to watch the show.

First, a brief yizkor with the stadium lights turned off and everyone lighting mini-flashes remembered, especially, the athletes killed on the Maccabiah bridge 8 years ago. Then Gal Friedman, who won the windsurfing gold for Israel at the last Olympics, lit the Maccabiah torch.

President Moshe Katsav addressed the stadium. Then P.M. Ariel Sharon. Then a hugely powerful story in dance and music of the Jewish people from ancient times...

to today. Melodies from prayers we sing. "Tents" (think "Ma tovu...") scored by the stripes of tallitot. Colored cloths held by dancers on the field were flipped to show their gold side, we in the audience held gold-foil paper, and the lights reflected a field and stands of gold as we sang "Yerushalaem shel Zahav" (Jerusalem of Gold).

Finally, about a dozen hot-air balloons were filled and they rose, colorfully, just above the stadium field.

Fireworks! 6:30-11 pm. Whew. The end! ...for today.

Now from Tel Aviv...

Arrived to find warm and sunny weather. AND my opening ceremony ticket was mailed to Talia's house: a nes (miracle)! The opening ceremony is tomorrow at ~6:30 pm Tel Aviv time. I've got my ticket and even an official seat number. Whew! At the Continental gate in Newark airport, I found out that a number of other parents were heading to Israel to see their sons/daughters play in the games: 2 have sons on the basketball team, one set of parents a son on the soccer team, and one on the gymnastics squad.

As Ami mentioned in his comment, the beach volleyball games (July 13, 14, 15) are in Netanya, so I'll either be driving Talia's car or taking the train. Driving in Tel Aviv is a whole other kind of game, but one I'm familiar with, one that takes a lot of mental koach...but no problem.

Correction: Ami's teammate is Elon and he goes to New York University. That's all for now.

   

Ami at the Games

I'm off to the Maccabiah Games in Israel. These are the 17th Games of the Maccabiah, which are held every four years, like the Olympics. In fact, the Maccabiah is often called the Jewish Olympics. Organizers estimate about 7,000 athletes from 64 countries will be competing in this year's Games.

The Maccabiah have a few classes of competition: youth, masters, and open. "Open" is where the top athletes in their events compete. These have included Olympic medal-winners such as swimmers Lenny Krayzelburg and Mark Spitz and gymnasts Mitch Gaylord and Kerri Strug. If you want to find out more about the Games or see the schedule of events, check these two websites: www.maccabiusa.com and www.maccabiah17.com.

Why am I so interested? My son, Ami Strutin-Belinoff, will be competing in the Open division of beach volleyball. A bit of background: Ami is a 6'4" 29-year-old psychologist who will be moving from L.A. to San Diego upon returning from the Maccabiah to take a position as school psychologist in the San Diego school system. Oh, and by the way, he plays beach volleyball. A few months ago, he and one of his regular L.A. partners made AAA, just a notch below pro. The past two years he has appeared among the photos of beach volleyball competitions that run in the L.A. Times annual story on the sport. Here's a photo of Ami--not in beach volleyball gear:

I'm also doing this blog because I love Israel and traveling through every part of it. (I'm a writer--as well as a newly graduated librarian--and one of my books is Discovering Natural Israel: www.michalstrutin.com). Plus, one of my closest friends, Talia, lives in Tel Aviv. I travel to Israel fairly regularly.

Of course, I'm going to cover the Maccabiah opening ceremonies--if the complications surrounding getting a ticket were resolved--and all of Ami's events. BTW: his partner is Alon, I think. I'll check to make sure I'm correct on this and provide some more info on him. I do know that he is on full volleyball scholarship to university.

Besides covering the Games, however, I'm going to do my usual meandering around. I can never get enough of visiting the Neve Tzedek neighborhood of Tel Aviv: art galleries, cafes, quaint, charming homes, etc. So part of this blog will just be flat-out travelogue on whatever it is I happen to be seeing and enjoying. If you stick with me and have any questions along the way, I'll try to answer them. I'm also going to include photos, hopefully beach volleyball action shots will be just that.

Well, until I land b'Aretz ("in the Land [of Israel]")...l'hitraot ("see you")!