Jon Marks
Growing up in a Montgomery County suburb, Taylor McEwing said she was surrounded by Jews. Yet the daughter of an Irish Catholic father and Ashkenazic mother never felt any real sense of Jewish connection — until she got involved with Maccabi.
“Maccabi was a turning point in my Jewish identity,” said McEwing, a dancer among the inductees at the April 21 Philadelphia JCC Maccabi Hall of Fame ceremonies at the Kaiserman JCC. “It was my first opportunity to be around Jewish kids who were proud to be Jews. Maccabi gives you the chance to be proud of being Jewish.”
In fact, it left such an indelible mark on her that she became more involved in college and eventually made aliyah, spending five years in Jerusalem teaching and starting a dance school before returning home in 2020. While there, she reunited with her older sister Tzipporah (Jordan) who’s married and has lived there since 2013, recently giving birth to her fifth child.
McEwing’s Maccabi experiences resonated with many of her fellow inductees at the event, which was as much a reunion of old teammates and coaches as a celebration of their accomplishments.
“It seems like yesterday I was here and yet forever ago,” said hockey coach David Barrist, whose most vivid memory of the 2011 games was the constant rain throughout the proceedings. “But it was an unbelievable experience. The memories are priceless.”
That was the theme for the day.
“It’s a real honor,” said Lindsay Krasna, who won two gold medals and a silver while playing Maccabi basketball in 2002, 2004 and 2009 before becoming coach of the 2010-’11 teams that were also honored. “I had so many good memories of people coaches and players. A lot of them I haven’t seen in over a decade. But Maccabi was such a fantastic experience for my sense of Judaism.”
Philadelphia Inquirer sports columnist Mike Sielski emceed the ceremonies for the second straight year, calling himself “Maccabi’s favorite goy.”
“I’m truly honored,” said Sielski, the co-host of WIP’s Saturday morning sports talk show with soon-to-be retiring Glen Macnow. “I don’t know if I’d say I have a different perspective, but I’d say it’s a reaffirmation to me of the value of community. We need to do more as people to connect away from technology. Whether you’re talking religion, community sports leagues or just going out for beer on Saturday night, I’m a big believer in that,” he said.
Other honorees included Steve Rosenberg, who co-chaired the 2011 event with his baseball-playing son, Jake, Jennifer Newman (tennis), Lev Davidson (swimming) and basketball-playing brothers Matt and Corey Sherman. Corey Sherman was unable to attend since he’s one of the New York Knicks’ assistant directors of video/analytics and player development in their playoff series with the Sixers. Joining them was their father Adam, who played for four Maccabi USA 40 and over Masters teams, winning two golds, a silver and a bronze.
Continuing with basketball, there are those 2010-’11 girls coached by Krasna: Sydney Frank, Shelby Ginsburg, Jess Glassman, Sarah Godwin, Farryl Groder, Jackie Krevolin, Hannah Rose Nussbaum, Lauren Rothfeld, Molly Rubin, Sarah Sherman, Sydni Shub, Ellie Silverman, Janie Smuckler and Carlie Tepel, along with assistants Dana Albalancy and Cara Mignona.
Finally, Bob Spivak, former president of Maccabi USA and an International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductee, was inducted posthumously.
“It means a lot for me to go in with my son,” Steve Rosenberg said. “I’m not an athlete. I do this to help young people get involved Jewishly and combine their love of sports. More people should be involved, and that’s going to be my message.
“Twenty years from now, they’ll remember their Maccabi experiences more than any AAU tournament or other event they played in. It’s so important for young people to get involved.”
Their involvement — along with nearly $45,000 raised through benefactors — will result in a complete renovation of the Kaiserman gym this summer. “You modeled it, lived it and built your foundation for the program today,” Kaiserman CEO Alan Scher told the honorees and their friends and families. “This foundation you’ve all built has really inspired us.”
That kind of spirit has had a lasting impact on Taylor McEwing.
“I think it was because she was around Jewish kids,” said her mother, Randi McEwing, who sent her three children to Hebrew school at Or Hadash even though she had no religious education growing up. “There weren’t too many Jews she was friendly with. When she went to Maccabi, she met all these kids who were Jewish and started to become prouder as she learned more about it.”
Jon Marks is a Philadelphia-area freelance writer.
