The legend of kibbutz basketball, the one who for years has given rise to an elite and social sports culture and has become a singular pride. This legend is now published in the book "Much More than a Game: The Story of Kibbutz Basketball" (Galilit Publishing) written by Shlomo Glazer, a former player and coach and a basketball man at every level.
The book reviews the history of basketball in the kibbutzim and sheds light on a rather amazing sporting and historical phenomenon that was and is no more. This phenomenon includes, among other things, the story of Marcel Heifetz and his friends who immigrated from Egypt shortly after the War of Independence, infected the members of Ein Harod with the basketball craze until they moved to Hapoel Holon, and also starred for the Israeli national team. Following the book, we dove into the podcast "Hear a Story" with author Shlomo Glazer and former captain of the Israeli national team and Hapoel Gevat Yagur Itamar Marzel, into the small and big stories of kibbutz basketball and the reasons for its rise and decline.
The book also contains the story of many basketball stars who were born and raised on kibbutzim, including Marzel Migur and Hanan Keren from Ramat Hashofet, who led the Israeli national team in the 70s and 80s. The first gave up a three-season contract at Hapoel Ramat Gan in exchange for an apartment and chose to stay on the kibbutz, while the second signed, Rachmana Lazlan, specifically for Maccabi Tel Aviv and even won the European Cup with it.
"Personal responsibility towards my friend Yegor." Itamar Merzel (left) playing for the national team at the U.S. game,
Heated encounters. Maccabi Tel Aviv players (in white), from right: Tani Cohen Mintz, Haim Shtarkman and Tal Brody, in front of Beit Alfa players Hagai Halperin, David (Dede) Einav and Oded Solaz, on the field at Beit Alfa, 1967, photo: Leonard Sklartz, courtesy of David (Dede) Einav
Speaking of collective success, the Upper Galilee is currently marking 30 years since the historic championship, which ended a streak of 23 consecutive championships won by Maccabi Tel Aviv, and the legendary manager Amit Gal does not forget the Chabadniks who came from Safed during the cherry season and "brought to the hall in Kfar Blum a rare connection between epicourses and the singing of 'Messiah Moshiach.'"
"I've always been around basketball." Shlomo Glazer, Photo: Ran Peretz
"At their peak, from the late 60s to the early 80s, the kibbutzim constituted 3.5% of the population in Israel, and almost half of the teams in the league and the Israeli national team were from the kibbutzim," explains the author of the book Glazer. "The peak was in the 1968/9 season, when six out of 14 kibbutz teams played in the National League. In the four European Championships in which the Israeli national team participated between 1977 and 1971, five players from the working settlement were among the 12 players on the roster, and 10 of the 50 most prominent scorers in Israeli basketball are from a kibbutz.
"In those years, the games were held on Friday evenings, and there was a real curfew in the kibbutzim and surrounding communities. All the kibbutzniks, from the mountain and the valley, came dressed and dressed for the best show on the kibbutz."
"Much more than a game." Book cover,
"Hear a Story" - Israel Hayom's supplement podcast. Conversations about what goes on behind the scenes of working on the articles, what has been published and what has not and especially what is beyond the text.
To read the full article on the history of basketball in the kibbutzim - click here.
To order the book from the author Shlomo Glazer: 050-7677925
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