Twenty-one countries sent 980 athletes to compete in the 1957 5th Maccabiah Games, an international Jewish athletics competition similar to the Olympics. The opening ceremony on September 15, 1957, was held in Ramat Gan Stadium, with athletes parading before Israeli President Yitzhak Ben Zvi.
1957 Maccabiah Games
Female runners at the Games.
The Maccabiah Games, first held in 1932, are an international Jewish and Israeli multi-sport event held quadrennially in Israel. The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world, and to all Israeli citizens regardless of their religion. It is the third-largest sporting event in the world by number of competitors, with 10,000 athletes competing. The Maccabiah Games were declared a "Regional Sports Event" by, and under the auspices and supervision of, the International Olympic Committee in 1961.
First Maccabiah Games
Delegations in the streets of Tel Aviv during the parade of the 1st Maccabiah.
US President Joe Biden, together with President Issac Herzog and Prime Minister Yair Lapid, at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2022 Maccabiah Games.
Bronze medal from the winter games in Banska Bystrica, 1936, in the Jewish Museum of Switzerland's collection.