Sports have an extraordinary ability to reach broad audiences, build pride and engagement and unite communities. Just ask any New Yorker how they felt for two weeks this June; the Knicks united one of the most diverse cities in the world in ways not seen in a generation. And the FIFA Men’s World Cup captivated the globe this summer. The USA had its most exciting run in decades, the tiny nation of Cape Verde punched way above its weight and Spain’s team hoisted the trophy with more than 1.5 billion people watching, but the tournament’s most powerful stories weren’t on the pitch. What happened in the stands and in cities across the country — that’s what continues to resonate. For six weeks, strangers who didn’t share a language discovered they shared the same hopes, the same rituals and the same joy.

The Maccabiah, often referred to as the Jewish Olympics, is one of the largest sporting events in the world as well as one of the largest gatherings of global Jewry of any kind. Just like the World Cup, the 2026 Games were a shining example of the unifying power of sports.

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The U19 Boy's Basketball team after winning gold at the 2026 Maccabiah in Israel.

Last month, Maccabi USA brought an incredibly diverse delegation of 900 American Jews to Israel to compete alongside 4,000 Jewish athletes from 40 countries. Even though it came a year later than planned — postponed due to the 2025 war with Iran — and with fewer athletes than usual due to geopolitical uncertainty, the latest edition of the Maccabiah was worth the wait.

The opening ceremony featured a parade of participating nations, each delegation decked out in its country’s colors, and culminated in the full stadium belting out a stirring rendition of Hatikvah. It was a beautiful reminder of both the amazing diversity of our people and the ties that bind us. I watched in awe as teens and adults alike bonded through practice and competition, and listened to the myriad languages spoken on the field of play and in the stands. With participants coming from around the globe, I also recognized that many would never have considered visiting Israel if sports hadn’t opened the door, and that they likely returned home with a different view of the Jewish State than what is often depicted in the media where they live.

For those of us who fund, build and run Jewish institutions, this matters now more than ever.

Younger Jews today construct their Jewish identities differently from previous generations. They are less likely than their parents or grandparents to define their Jewishness through religious observance or attachment to Israel. A Pew Research Center survey of American Jews, for instance, found that only about a third of Jews under 30 say caring about Israel is essential to their Jewish identity, compared with roughly half of Jews over 65. But more recent research from the Jewish Federations of North America also points to an opportunity: young Jews looking to engage are seeking nonpolitical spaces built on friendship, culture and community — somewhere to just be Jewish together, without first having to defend a position or choose a side.

This is something many of our core institutions struggle to provide, but that is precisely what the Maccabiah offers. 

Nobody asked our athletes what their politics were before they warmed up. Nobody asked them whether or how they practiced their Judaism before they took the field. They just needed to show up, stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Jewish athletes from around the world, and compete.

In this way, sports are the vehicle, not the destination. More than 700 members of the USA delegation stayed after the Maccabiah’s closing ceremony for our Israel Connect program. For an additional week, they walked Jerusalem’s Old City, explored Tel Aviv’s Shuk HaCarmel, prayed at the Kotel and cried together at the Nova Music Festival memorial. Most were between 14 and 24 years old, exactly the demographic that research suggests is searching hardest for somewhere to belong.

The Knicks NBA Championship parade lasted a day. The World Cup lasted a month. But the impact of Maccabiah endures long after the final medal is awarded, because what we’re cultivating is lifelong Jewish pride, connection and community.

None of this happens by accident. Since its founding in 1948, Maccabi USA and our supporters have understood three simple yet profound principles, well before the data validated them.

First, to ensure Jewish continuity, we need to meet each generation wherever they are on their Jewish journey. Second, sports will forever be a welcoming and accessible gateway to Jewish engagement, especially for athletes with no prior Jewish connections. And third, the synergy between Judaism and sports — two crucial identity markers — creates a powerful sense of belonging, transforming meaningful experiences into lifelong connections to the Jewish community and Israel.

That’s why we need more funders, federations and other organizations to take sports engagement more seriously as a tool for deep Jewish connection.

Jewish leaders often ask how to fight antisemitism. The better question is how to build a Jewish identity so strong that antisemitism never becomes a deterring force in a young Jew’s life. Sports build confidence and leadership skills while offering a welcoming path to Jewish engagement and a proven method for bridging difference. If we’re serious about the future of Jewish continuity, sports shouldn’t be on the sidelines of our communal strategy, but at the center.

The organizations investing enormous resources to fight antisemitism and strengthen Jewish life at legacy institutions should invest just as creatively in the non-traditional spaces where Jewish identity is waiting to be formed: on the court, in the pool and at the rink.

The next generation isn’t waiting inside our institutions for us to find them. They’re already building community on the playing field. We should meet them there.

Marshall Einhorn is the CEO of Maccabi USA, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that sends delegations of American Jewish athletes for Jewish sports experiences in Israel, Latin America and Europe.