Published: 2 August 2018
Last updated: 4 March 2024
THE AWARD-WINNING film Chariots of Fire depicts Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian runner, who refuses to compete in the hundred-meter preliminaries in the 1924 Paris Olympics because the race takes place on a Sunday, the day of rest and worship in Christianity. The story of Eitan Zeliger, an Israeli religious Jew, resembles that of Liddell.
Zeliger's daughter, an excellent synchronised swimmer, refrained from participating in the Israeli championship finals three years ago, because they took place on the Sabbath. Eitan Zeliger's every attempt to change the date of the competition was in vain, so he promised his teenage daughter that that would be the last competition she would have to miss for honouring her faith.
In 2016, Zeliger, along with other parents and religious athletes, established the Sabbath Team, an organization that seeks to enable all Sabbath-observant athletes to compete in the official competitions of the State of Israel. The organization has fought the swimming association, most of whose competitions take place on Saturdays.
FULL STORY The Sabbath revolution shakes Israeli sports (Al-Monitor)
Photo: Wales' Gareth Bale (C) takes part in a kick-about with Jewish and Arab children in the northern city of Haifa, March 29, 2015 (Reuters/Gali Tibbon)
