Jewish Journal  Olympic Moments  Jewish athletes have a history
of competition filled with tragedy and triumph.  by George Eisen
September 14, 2000 | 8:00 pm  Jason Lezak, a freestyle swimmer
from Irvine.  Jason Lezak, a freestyle swimmer from Irvine.
That Jews have been prominent in the history of ancient and
modern sport, and specifically the Olympic Games, should not
come as a surprise. We tend to forget that one of the sparks
that ignited the Maccabbees' revolt was - as the Jewish
historian Josephus Flavius recorded some 2,000 years ago - that
some high priests in Jerusalem's Holy Temple neglected their
holy duties and instead, exercised in the nude, Greek style.
Josephus also recorded that Herod the Great [Herod The Wicked,
to some], King of Judea, saved the ancient Olympic Games from
bankruptcy by endowing them with gifts and revenues upon which
"he was generally declared in their inscriptions to be one of
the perpetual managers of those games."  The involvement of Jews
in athletics during the late 19