The Maccabiah Youth Games are held in Haifa, but the city missed an opportunity to connect
About 2,700 teenagers from about 35 different countries and Jewish communities from all over the world are hosted in the city of Haifa for the Maccabiah Youth Games. The city is decorated with flags, the hotels are almost fully occupied, on the streets of the city you can see teenagers walking, sitting in cafes or restaurants - trying to connect with the city.
A city is the people
Our city has excellent sports facilities. But a city is not the sum of the buildings in it, a city is people - people who create connections and bonds. At this point, it seems to me that we missed an outstanding opportunity to connect youth from around the Jewish world to the various communities in the city of Haifa and Haifa youth. The schools are on summer break, but it was possible to prepare in advance and involve them in hospitality. The youth movements, the community centers, the community centers, the various sports associations, the football, basketball, swimming schools, 5 Rotary clubs and many more, could have taken an active and involved part in hosting the Maccabiah participants.
Acquaintance and maybe even friendship
This week I was sitting in a cafe on the beach and at the table next to us sat a group of teenagers from the Great Britain soccer team. They discussed the last game in which they lost, and initiated a conversation with them. It seemed that they were very happy about the opportunity to have a conversation with locals and get to know each other directly. Personal meetings and direct communication are used to leverage connections, build a basis for getting to know each other and maybe even friendships.
Here is a small example: the management of the youth hostel in Haifa approached the Haifa Rotary Club, of which I am a member, to offer the Maccabiah youth staying at the hostel to do voluntary work in the community. The club that owns a grove near the hostel immediately got involved and dozens of teenagers mobilized to clean and cultivate the grove together with club members. It was a very positive experience for them.
Haifa missed an opportunity
From my many years of experience as CEO Leo Buck, years in which I built dozens of international programs with communities around the world, and from my work as CEO of the Jewish Federation and JCC in Pennsylvania, I learned about the power and importance of creating connections between people, in building bridges between cultures and communities - connections that build friendships for life. These require initiative, organization, management and ongoing maintenance, and in the event of hosting the Maccabiah, which takes place once every four years, the city of Haifa missed an opportunity to leverage all of these.
The warm residents of Haifa
A host city needs to open not only its facilities, but also its beating heart through its residents. By planning and organizing in advance and with attention to the importance of the matter, it was possible to arrange for host families for dinner, for friendly matches between different teams and the Maccabiah national teams. To initiate meetings at the neighborhood sports fields with the neighborhood children and the national team players for training and games. To organize beach volleyball games at the beach, to initiate meetings with the older group in the various youth movements in the city of Haifa and to hold social events, joint parties, nature tours together with Haifa youth who guide them and more. Another missed opportunity by the city leadership.
Although a large youth party was held last night (Wed), with spectacular shows and attractions, such a one-time and large event cannot replace hospitality throughout the stay and direct acquaintance that is forged directly with the people of the city.
Hug and connect
The city, through the municipality, had to embrace an event of such an international magnitude and alongside the Maccabiah Games hosted in Haifa, manage an organized set of home hospitality, interpersonal meetings and many events that create a connection between the young guests and the warm residents of the city of Haifa.
We will have another opportunity in four years and I hope that such an event will look different in our city.
The municipality of Haifa should go out of its way to encourage entrepreneurs to revive the entertainment in the city and turn Haifa into an entertainment center again:
- Use of roofs for clubs and pubs. There are dozens of rooftops in Tel Aviv. Zero in Haifa. When here there is a more beautiful view of the mountain and the sea. It is not clear why it is not possible to initiate pubs and restaurants on rooftops in the lower city???
- Reuse of abandoned buildings such as the casino or in the lower city as nightclubs for youth and students. A fund that will encourage the entrepreneurship of entertainment places of the economic society is a necessary thing.
- Encouraging music creators and event producers to organize huge events for youth in the stadium and the congress center
- Regarding the Maccabiah and in general, we need to bring huge performances to the Haifa Stadium and the Romema Hall, which stand deserted all summer.
If they were to bring them to a good show it would be something unforgettable. That's the huge miss.
Danny Fassler, my friend, you should, in my opinion, have offered Nasinuch before the Maccabiah Games. Shabbat Shalom.
Our mayor is a symbol of "zero human relations" and a lack of understanding regarding communication. If Danny had come with proposals, she would have waved him off because she would not have understood what he wanted and is not aware of the importance of the social connection that can be created in Maccabiah. Really limited.
Definitely true. I also feel that Haifa as a city does not provide a proper solution for hospitality and/or foreign tourism. On the other hand, as usual, the residents initiate and take the reins and thanks to the love of the city that motivates them, they do what municipal bodies should have led. But is it correct to constantly build on the initiatives and goodwill of residents? See, for example, the CityQuest Haifa game that hosted all the youth delegations that came to Haifa, to a pleasant experience in the lower city thanks to the initiative of the owners of the game, his personal appeal to the organizers of the competition in order to expose the Maccabiah youth to the beautiful Haifa as well.
The spokesperson of the municipality of Haifa has failed just like all the other departments. No one published the Maccabiah dates ahead of time and for example a public that wanted to watch and cheer on Maccabiah booked trips abroad if they had known they would have moved and come to entertain and cheer. There are many more such lapses that result from a lack of communication and communication with the public at the municipality. Perhaps the speaker is busy correcting the serious omissions in previous issues .
There is no doubt that Haifa cannot offer the youth who come to Maccabiah more than beaches and the sea. There are almost no clubs and youth clubs, leftovers from the 80s and 90s. The shopping malls are far away and replicated without local uniqueness. They see a mall like this all the time. That's not what they came for. The delegations are taken on buses for trips, among other things because they don't have too much to do. It seems that the stadium is no longer hosting its purpose of generating leverage for cultural and sports events. Maccabi's game yesterday was the exception, once every two months there is an event there.
Hello Danny.
As someone who has known you, your work and your skills for many years (including Brutary), I have questions.
There is no doubt that you are right. Every word you said is true. It is certainly true that the municipality should have carried out your suggestions and added more ideas to them.
Why didn't the Maccabiah organizers think about mixing the municipalities/local councils/youth movements etc.?
Why did you, with such a correct attitude and ideas, not draw the attention of the organizers, the municipality, etc.?
your,
Zavik Volk
Definitely missed, our youth were willing to contribute, to the atmosphere of a spoon and many acquaintances. Too bad.
And with such a dysfunctional municipality, how can it be otherwise?!
We will reckon with the time and restore sanity to our wonderful city.
There are few performers and visionaries like Danny Fessler. Leo Buck is also not what he used to be in all respects. rope.
There are a few other mistakes I saw as a Maccabiah volunteer
Looking forward to a serious summary conversation to learn lessons
If you are so smart, why didn't you offer your experience before the Maccabiah?
Danny Fessler is not a prophet...he brings his insights and perception from his experience, but as a resident. The mayor and her assistants are the ones who should leverage such an event for the benefit of the city, its residents and the Maccabiah participants....but what should be expected from the mayor and her assistants who mostly do nothing or at best some walk around the street Sirkin in the Talpiot market, maybe one of the restaurant owners will give them a drink at his expense.