Welcome to the Greater Long Beach
and West Orange County Jewish Community

With a Jewish Community of nearly 20,000, the Greater Long Beach area
has become a thriving metropolis and a significant part of the philanthropic landscape.

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July 29, 2022

From the Desk of Zach Benjamin

CEO, Jewish Long Beach & Alpert JCC

This Sunday, I will join the Alpert JCC’s delegation of volunteers, colleagues, and athletes in San Diego for the first national JCC Maccabi Games since the onset of the pandemic. This also marks my first-ever Maccabi experience. Maccabi is a cornerstone of the JCC movement and a tradition that, for thousands of Jewish youth around the world, is transformative in the development of their Jewish identity, pride in Jewish peoplehood, and commitment to Jewish values.

The intersection of sports and Judaism has always fascinated me. As a chronic sports fanatic and committed advocate for the Jewish people, I have come to understand that the experience of the sports fan is unmistakably Jewish in nature. The weight of expectations, the sense of responsibility to those on whose shoulders we stand, and perhaps a consistent low-grade neuroticism that occasionally rises to an uncomfortable but oddly thrilling crescendo all exist in equal measure in both Judaism and sport. Change, evolution, and metamorphosis are also realities shared by Jews and sports fans throughout the millennia-long histories of each. Read More.