The summer has been all about Barzel and Sports
- Brian Spivak
- Jul 26
- 1 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
by Brian Spivak
This summer, sports quietly became one of the biggest threads running through Barzel's work, and a few moments stood out.
We were invited to the Maccabiah opening ceremony as a special guest of the MC, Michael Harpaz, and later invited back for the closing ceremony as well. Being present for both bookends of an event that big, in a community that means so much to us, was a privilege we don't take lightly.
Around the same time, I was invited to the EU Ambassador's residence for a panel and meetup on sports and culture, hosted by the Center for Jewish Impact. That conversation turned out to be the catalyst for something even bigger. I had the honor of facilitating and hosting the EU Ambassador to Israel, Michael Mann, to drop the puck at an IEHL game, his first hockey game ever. Watching someone with that kind of diplomatic weight step into an arena and take part in something as simple as a puck drop was a reminder of why events like this matter. Sports and culture open doors that formal meetings sometimes can't.
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