Remembering Munich: Olympics Moment of Silence

Dear Friends:

Every two years, the Olympic Games give us a glimpse of Olam Haba, the World to Come.  Representatives of the nations of the world join together in one place.  Over time, the Olympics trace the continents.  Athletes from nations that are enemies at home give themselves to a different allegiance -- to excellence, to fair competition on a basis of equality.  The Olympics show us what our universal humanity would look like.  A world of honor for individuals, pride for nations, and Shalom for all humankind.

This year's Olympic Games mark 40 years since the 1972 Olympics in Munich, where eleven Israelis were killed.  A small group of Palestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic Village, killed two immediately, and took nine others hostage.  The hostages were killed when an attempt to rescue them failed.

Ankie Spitzer's husband Andre was the Israeli fencing coach in Munich, murdered in the attack.  This year, she spearheaded a petition to the International Olympic Committee for a moment of silence at the opening ceremony.  In her words:  "for the memory of the eleven Israeli athletes, coaches and referees murdered at the 1972 summer Olympics in Munich... and to promote peace."  Over 100,000 people have signed the petition.  President Obama, Governor Mitt Romney, and the U.S. Senate have all called upon the IOC to give a moment of silence, as has Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.

The International Olympic Committee has refused.  Some argue that the request for a moment of silence is a political statement with no place in the Olympics, taking sides in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.  It is not.  The attack in Munich was an attack on Israelis, on Jews.  It was also an attack on the essential Olympic spirit of solidarity and peace.

Please join me in a moment of silence tomorrow, as the opening ceremony of the London Olympics begin at 4:00 PM Eastern time.  Set the alarm today on your watch, phone, or computer.  Tomorrow, take a moment to remember the slain Israelis.  Meditate on the fact of a world that is too far from peace, where war and common violence have not ended.  We will observe a moment of silence as well during Shabbat evening services before Kaddish.

How appropriate that the Olympics commence formally this year on the 9th of Av in the Jewish calendar.  It is a day of fasting (observed after Shabbat this year), to remembering Jewish catastrophes through history, beginning with the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem in ancient times.  It is also the day when our prayers and hopes for redemption and peace begin to arc upward out of the depths of our mourning.  May our moment of silence give way to healing for the families of the Munich 11, who still grieve.  And to hope for the sukkah of Shalom, the temporary structure of peace that the Olympics represent.  May the peace that we all will glimpse in these Olympic Games be spread out over us, over Israel, and over all the nations.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Jon

Comments

[Chris]

The attack was definitely a horrible act of terror.
I'm myself a non-Jew and I clearly don't understand why are they hated so much. Thankfully today I don't face the same amount of hate as that time so maybe there is a hope that it stops.

[the sudoku game]

Thank you so much for this post! I watch the Olympics every time it takes place anywhere in the world so I'm interested in any information about it

[Tiffani D. Burt]

Thanks a lot for this post. This was a very touching piece of writing. Hope to find some more interesting data in here!