By Sara Lesczynski
On Thursday, October 12, 2023, not even a week after war broke out in Israel, thousands of people joined together in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, for the Maccabi Raanana vs. Brooklyn Nets basketball game. Many of the fans showed up purley to show their support of Israel, and I was one of those people. If I could use only one word to describe the game it would be “achdus” (unity). As I walked into the arena, I noticed children and parents who stood outside handing out signs that said, “I stand with Israel” and “New York stands with Israel.” Most people brought Israeli flags, and some even brought the yellow Chabad “Moshiach” flag. Whenever the Maccabi Raanana team was even close to making a basket, the crowd would break out into song and cheers. During time-outs, popular Israeli songs like “Hashem Melech” by Gad Elbaz and “Tel Aviv” by Omer Adam would play, which the crowd absolutely loved. Due to our excitement and dancing, my friend and I ended up on the jumbotron a few times, and our Resident Advisor who was also at the game even got a video of it.
The Raanana vs. Nets game attracted a multitude of people. From day school students, to Bubbies and Zaydes, everyone came with ruach (spirit). There happened to be a huge group of high school girls, not so far from my section, who were singing and chanting as loudly as they could at every opportunity. When I asked who they were and why they were there, they said they wanted to stay completely anonymous, because their school didn’t allow them to go for tzniut (modesty) reasons. They did however say that they were in the 12th grade, and ALL of them were planning on attending seminary in Israel next year. They then broke out into discussing some beautiful Divrei Torah. They also showed me a huge bag of Shabbos candles they’ve been handing out and said, “our brothers and sisters are fighting the physical battle in Israel, but we have to fight the spiritual battle here.” They asked me if I light Shabbat candles, then handed me two. They relayed that, “our spiritual ammunition is to light Shabbat candles and add light into the world.” The group of girls were a perfect example of why everyone came, to show their support for Am Yisroel.
The game ended and Maccabi Raanana lost, but that didn’t mean the event was over. The Maccabi basketball players looked out into the crowd, absorbing everyone screaming their team name, then walked to the stands to greet the fans. Everyone in the stands came down to the players and the players signed posters, flags, and Blundstone boots. When I tried to get one of the players attention to ask for an autograph, a lady next to me shouted his name, saying “my bestie,” and turned to me to ask for my name. “My bestie Sara needs your autograph!” It wasn’t until he turned to her and said, “I’m going home with you, you can hold up,” that I realized she was his mother. She then went on to use her motherly power to get me a couple of other players’ signatures.
After we met the players we started to make our way out of the arena. As we were walking out, everyone got together one last time to sing “Am Yisrael Chai” while waving their flags. Every single person said “good night,” “thank you,” or “get home safe,” to security and ushers. This game was a prime example of Jews making a Kiddush Hashem, especially during these difficult times when it’s so important to show the world what we stand for.