Queen Esther has a new name - opinion

We’ve had a rough couple of weeks with Hamas rockets and folks all over not being bashful about telling the world how they feel about Israel and Jews. 

Yesterday, the yet another ceasefire with Hamas was put in place until the next time it isn’t anymore. Saturday night we were treated to not just the Eurovision finals but the European Swimming Championships. Going into tonight we had contestants in both, historically, hopes in one and no hopes in the other.

The current European Swimming Championships and primer for the postponed Summer Olympics are being held in Budapest this year. Hungary has been among very few countries that were vocal in giving support to Israel during the last two weeks of Hamas rockets. In comparison the annual Eurovison contest was held in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, not such a friendly place for Israel these days.

In any given year if we were going to win one of these our odds winning a subjective European song and dance competition would be far greater than an objective European competition measuring our athletic prowess. This year was no different, we had an especially talented young woman representing us in the Eurovision contest.

As for swimming. I missed watching the race in real time and when I was able to watch the replay, I knew the results and I couldn’t get home fast enough to watch the replay. I was a serious swimmer, skipped swimming in college to make Aliyah instead. Years later I coached my old club swim team, then I coached high school swimming then NCAA Division 1 University swimming. Full disclosure, I’m biased, I can’t sing but I can still swim.

 

Let me back up. During the introductions for the finals of this event I was pumped. All eight of the finalists were announced one by one and marched out to their starting blocks. An Israeli swimmer ("we"), after competing in the preliminaries and semi-finals was seeded first in the final of the women’s 200-meter Individual medley. The event is 200 meters in total, 4 lengths of 50 meters of each of the four strokes in a race that takes a little more than two minutes. This grueling event is usually dominated by the best all-around swimmers in the world.

Swimmers are called to the starting blocks, and the starting gun goes off. At the end of the first length of 50 meters of butterfly “we” were 7th out of 8th but close. Touching the wall then flipping onto their backs is the next length of 50 meters of backstroke. At the half way point of 100 meters “we” were now in 1st by 3 one hundreds of a second over a Hungarian swimmer who happens to be one of the greatest ever in this event.

The next 50 meters is of breaststroke finishes and at the 150-meter mark “we” are in 2nd, trailing the new race leader from England by 31 one-hundreds of a second. I’m going crazy, screaming at the computer screen. It makes no matter that I already knew the results an hour earlier I am still yelling “Go! Go! Go!” “Pull!” and every swim coaches favorite “kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick!” One length of 50 meters of freestyle to go and “we” are trailing in second place and we have that Hungarian, one of the greatest ever in this event, in fourth just a fraction behind, who happens to have one of the deadliest finishes in the sport.

 

The one thing as a coach you can’t teach is winning. That comes from deep inside a person. Mark Spitz, winner of 9 Olympic Gold Medals, in a recent podcast said his secret was he trained to win the race not to be the fittest athlete or have the best technique. His training was strictly focused on winning the race, on what he said was reinforcing his neural pathways.

We were getting beat, yes it certainly would have been ok to lose, to finish second, third whatever, still a heroic effort. No. “we” refused to lose and won the race by 4 one-hundreds of a second. I’ve come up with at least 20 metaphors for those last 50 meters. “Like a Lion of Judah” sticks out. In the last hour I’ve watched this race 6 additional times. Maybe part of me is making sure the antisemites don’t sneak in and change the ending. Each time “we" won.

We have an answer to Iranian trained, funded and inspired Hamas missiles. Queen Esther has a new name tonight and it’s 17-year-old Anastasia Gorbenko, Gold Medalist 2021 European Swimming Championship Women’s 200-meter Individual Medley.

Take a moment and say these words out loud:

 

European Champion and Winner of the Gold Medal, Representing Israel, Anastasia Gorbenko

Now Hatikvah is played. As I’m watching the replay of the medal ceremony, I can actually hear the Israeli delegation in the stands singing along to Hatikvah, hell I’m also singing along to Hatikvah, am I the only one crying at this point?

I’m sitting here at my desk, full blown tears down my cheeks sobbing crying, the kind when someone you know died crying. This isn’t about the gold, swimming or again finishing in the middle of the pack in Eurovision. The last two weeks have reminded us how precious life can be. Tonight, also gave us the opportunity to send a message: We are going to continue to live our lives no matter what. Don’t ever make the mistake of doubting us on that.

A few years ago, I was working with an organization in the Jewish community. One day an older woman came into my office. She introduced herself as Rose and she wanted to talk to me. Rose was in her 90s, 4 foot something with blonde hair and red lipstick, a huge smile, a beautiful woman. I didn’t even notice the walker.

Sitting down with her in my office I asked her “Rose, what is your story?”

She looked at me, smiled and with steel cold eyes and in a still very Eastern European accent said the following: “I was in Lodz and then I was sent to Auschwitz.” Everything, I mean everything in the world around me suddenly went quiet. I sat in silence, goosebumps all over my body, my mouth dry. She looked in my eyes and asked me if I knew what she was talking about. Unable to speak I simply nodded my head.

Rose said she was worried about her grandchildren and her great grandchildren. She paused and said “they must have a strong connection to Israel, can you help me?” My father, who as an American soldier helped to liberate a concentration camp, had that same look in his eyes when he talked about Israel so I was curious. We spoke for almost two hours and honestly, I remember very little, it all went blank after she said “I was in Lodz and then I was sent to Auschwitz.”

At the end I was spellbound by this little old lady, blonde, put together meticulously and with red lipstick. Blown away by her life story and her ferocious desire to live I asked her one last question “Rose, what is your secret?” This tiny woman had spoken about her large family, about the life and death challenges during the war, the struggles and failures in life after the war then the successes and her big beautiful family. She came to see me that day because even at 90 something she was not leaving anything to chance. She needed my help.

Rose may be the last survivor I may ever have the opportunity to speak with so candidly like this. Her passion for life, her huge family, where did she get her lipstick, I couldn’t help myself, I had to ask “Rose, what is your secret?”

She looked at me dead cold eye to eye, leaned forward and with her crooked arthritic little finger motioned me to come closer. In her heavy accent my 90 something Rose said the following…

“My secret, you want to know my secret?  I say Fuck you Hitler, that is my secret.”

The author is the founder of Olympicchoices.com, an international educational project to honor the memory of the 11 Israeli Athletes murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. His story “They’re all gone” was featured in an HBO documentary.