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The Olympics: A Jewish Perspective

The Olympics are absolutely wonderful to watch. The human drama, the pressure to perform, the success of the athletes that almost defies gravity and believability.

As a Canadian, I watch our Canadians strive for gold and cheer their performances. As a Jew I’m also keeping an eye out for the few members of my tribe who are able to perform at the Olympic level, mostly in figure skating. I also watch the 2 Israeli athletes, though they are just happy to be there and won’t be competing for top spots. I was speaking to an Israeli friend who mentioned that Canada won a medal, and now that we have over a dozen, I was quite nonchalant that we won a few, as I’m greedy to win more, especially in curling, hockey and figure skating.

He was amazed at my nonchalance because if Israel won a medal, of any colour, the country would be in an uproar. Same with the dozens of other countries that send just a small group of athletes who are there to compete and can only dream of winning.

That is why I am less in awe of medals and more in awe of the Olympic spirit that underlies the Olympic games. I love the story of our Canadian coach who helped a Russian skier when his skate broke. Or the snowboarders who offer friendly hugs and high fives at the end of their runs celebrating the competition instead of the winner.

I love when athletes pay tribute not to their own abilities, but the families, friends, co-competitors and coaches that helped them reach their goal of competing and perhaps even winning a medal.

As the prophet Jeremiah aptly said, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, the strong man glory in his strength, the rich man glory in his wealth, for all I care about is kindness, justice and righteousness”. I hope all the athletes achieve to the best of their abilities but are also wary of boasting and conceit, rather be humble and thankful of their god given talents.