When the 2025 JCC Maccabi Games wrapped up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 8, the Baltimore delegation came out with several strong results from their athletic competitions and got an opportunity to grow closer to their Judaism.
This year’s games were held at the University of Pittsburgh and saw nearly 2,000 total athletes, 65 of whom were from the Baltimore area, competing in baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, volleyball, softball, tennis, swimming, dance and track.
Baltimore teams and athletes in individual sports earned 19 medals, including golds in 17U Girls Tennis, the 15U Boys Track 3,000-meter race and the 15U Boys Sprint Medley Relay.
“The games were great. It’s exhausting, but it’s the most fun experience I’ve ever had,” said Benjamin Wahlberg, a member of Baltimore’s 17U baseball team. “[You] spend all day either playing baseball or hanging out with new kids, meeting other Jewish teenagers your age.”
Wahlberg, 17, is a rising junior at Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School and was part of the bronze medal-winning 17U baseball team.
Wahlberg has participated in the games for four years and said he’s seen a change in his role. He’s grown from a 13-year-old looking up to his older teammates to being the “older guy” looking out for the younger ones and making sure they’re included in activities and having a good time.
Wahlberg said one of the coolest aspects of the games is being able to see the hundreds of other Jewish athletes in the same age bracket.
“Most of these kids, when they play sports, they’re the only Jewish kid on their team. They don’t see a lot of other Jews playing sports, and then you go to these games, and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, there are thousands of other kids my age playing the same sport as me.’ And it’s really cool to talk to them about it and know that there are other kids just like you,” Wahlberg said.
Wahlberg said the Maccabi Games have given him an opportunity to meet so many new people at practices and events before the games and while he’s at the games. He added that, while he sees plenty of Jewish baseball players at Beth Tfiloh, he’s had the chance to meet a bunch of players from other schools around the Baltimore area and connect with them.
Besides the athletic competition, a major focus of the games is to build Jewish connection and promote Jewish values.
“Most of this week is really helping them develop their sense of Jewish identity, their sense of Jewish pride, and building those friendships and relationships with athletes, not just from North America, but from around the world. We have delegations represented from Israel, Ukraine, Argentina, Mexico, a few places within Canada, so Toronto, Alberta, Vancouver,” said Rebecca Chinsky, senior director of operations at the JCC of Greater Baltimore and Baltimore delegation head for the Maccabi Games.
Chinsky said that when the athletes aren’t competing, they can participate in “Hangtime,” a space for the kids to relax, meet other athletes and learn about Israel, Jewish life and Jewish history.
Athletes can also give back to the host community through volunteering with the JCC Cares program. This year, JCC Maccabi partnered with Reading Is Fundamental Pittsburgh in an athlete-led book drive and other projects.
The group also got to have fun outside of competition with a trip to Jewish Heritage Night at PNC Park, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ stadium. JCC Maccabi even brought in special guests to run clinics and activities.
Among those guests was Baltimore native Tamir Goodman, a former American-Israeli professional basketball player who was nicknamed the “Jewish Jordan,” in a nod to basketball legend Michael Jordan.
Chinsky said that her own experience playing in the Maccabi Games is one reason why she loves what she does at the JCC. She added that she loves seeing the impact of the games on the participants, especially since for some kids in public schools, this is one of their few chances to experience this unique Jewish environment while playing the sports they love.
“It really is an amazing, incredible experience just to witness the friendships that develop and the Jewish growth for some of these kids. This might spark their interest into doing some other Jewish-related programming in the community, whether it’s joining BBYO or doing Diller or signing up for one of our 4Front programs here at the JCC,” Chinsky said.
“It’s amazing to see the connection that a lot of these kids will start to have and develop solely because they came to this Jewish sports tournament.”
