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ISRAELI WHEEL-CHAIR ATHLETES IN ACTION
HANDICAPPED
YOUTHS
GET NEW
Lease on Life
by DAVID HOROWITZ
A World Union ROSH HASHANA Press Release
The Israel War of Independ
ence and the subsequent polio
epidemic of 1951 had left their
deep marks on the young
State. T h o u s a n d s. mostly
children, f o u n d themselves
faced with a completely new
life burdened with crutches
and wheelchairs.
The emerging nation, troub
led with the multiple problems
of rebuilding the ruins and re
habilitating farmlands and vil
lages left waste by the conflict,
had to find a way in caring for
the huge army of handicapped.
The task fell mostly on the
shoulders of private citizens,
idealists, a few elected men
and women who were able to
project themselves into the
shoes of those who suffered. A
number of American humani
tarians had joined hands.
It was thanks to a meeting
with Major and Mrs. Wellesley
Aron—the Major is Pan Ameri
can World Airways representa
tive in Israel—at his garden
sanctuary-home in the north
ern section of Tel Aviv, once
the German village of Sarona,
that the opportunity arose for
me to v isit the Spewack Sports
Club for the Handicapped in
Ramat Gan. The Major’s son-
in-law, Arthur Broza, vice-
chairman of the Club’s nation
al committee, was present dur
ing the pleasant visit and he
offered to drive me to the
Institution.
What I witnessed at the
Club, originally endowed by
Bella and Sam Spewack,
American librettists, was most
heartening and encourag
ing, Hundreds of handicapped
boys and girls, previously help
less, unhappy and without any
vocations, had found a new
lease on life. Thanks to Ger-
shon Huberman, an expert
counsellor i n physiotherapy
and director of the Club, these
children had been transformed,
some almost miraculously, into
happy, agile and alert young
sters mastering useful Occupa-
t i on s such as draftsman
ship, 'metal work, carpentry,
mechanics, etc.
But even more important,
they had all taken to sports
with great enthusiasm, basket
ball being their favorite,
and in this they have made
history. The Spewack Club
Wheelchair Basketball team
has won many trophies at in
ternational contests for the
handicapped held in London,
in Rome and in Tokyo, events
known as Special Olympics or
“Paralympics.”
In 1963, the Spewack Club
team invited the Pan Ameri
can World Airways team of
wheelchair athletes, the Pan
Am Jets, to Israel. More than
9,000 Israelis turned out to
watch the series of games
which were played in the ma
jor cities, in desert outpost-)
and in communal villages. The
idea behind the competition
was to demonstrate the ability
of the handicapped to rise
above their disabilities.
Pan Am, which gladly ac
cepted the Israeli invitation,
did so basically to prove, as the
company’s Harvey L. Katz
stated at the time, “that abil
ity not disability, counts, and
to demonstrate how the handi
capped can rise above their
physical limitation."
The games made front page
news all through Israel. The
Pan Am Jets had been invited
by the Spewack Club to play
its team with the view of pub
licizing the hiring of handi
capped and to let the world
know of the Club's phenomenal
success in the work of rehabili
tation. It was revealed during
the visit that Pan American it
self employs , some five hun
dred physically handicapped
peoplb, “not in the spirit of
compassion,” as the company’s
Comptroller, John S. Wood-
bridge, stated at the time, “but
because we know that it is to
our mutual advantage to do
so.”
Despite a tight budget, the
Spewack Club has managed to
lay the groundwork for the
construction of a huge swim
ming pool so necessary for the
health and healing of the
handicapped. Half-completed,
it begs to be finished, and
Gershon Huberman, as well as
lovely Aliza Jacob, represent
ing the Ilan-Israel Foundation
for Handicapped Children, the
roof organization of a whole
network of Israeli rehabilita
tion centers, expressed high
hopes that Americans will
open their hearts and lend a
hand in the completion of the
pool.
llan. which has its head
quarters at 9 Gordon Street.
Tel Aviv, and whose executive
council chairman is Mordecai
C. Stern, operates a network of
(it) branches throughout Israel
and is manned by 12.000 volun
teers. It makes its services
available to some 10,000 handi
capped children, particularly
those disturbed by neuromus
cular ailments—polio and cere
bral palsy—who require large-
scale and diversified care and
The Spewack Club Pool That Begs To Be Completed
16
The Southern Israelite