Spirit of Sportsmanship Boycotts Israel

By Franklin Foer
Published on August 26, 2004

The Olympic Games are, of course, more than just games. As Bob Costas and the event's organizers constantly remind the world, they are a festival of humanity, a great coming together, the one moment when the planet gathers in a friendly spirit of healthy competition. Dogging your viewing of pummel-horse routines and synchronized diving, there is ample talk of the "Olympic movement," a phrase intended to highlight these aspirations.

Last week, however, as the Athens games got under way, an Iranian judo champion exposed the hollowness of this rhetoric. Rather than compete against an Israeli, Arash Miresmaeili quit the Olympics entirely. As he told the Iranian government's official news service: "I refuse to fight my Israeli opponent to sympathize with the suffering of the people of Palestine, and I do not feel upset at all."

Parshat Reeh

By Abby Gilad
Published on August 1, 2002

Last week we talked about ways you can help out people who might need your help this summer. In this week's portion, we are again told not to forget the needy. This time the Torah uses the words "do not harden your heart." Who else hardens their heart in the Torah? Pharaoh, of course! Pharaoh gets so used to hardening his heart, that at some point, it becomes the only reaction he can have. Can you think of a time when you "hardened your heart" and refused to give in or help someone? The Torah says: Do not do this too often, for it will become a habit hard to break.