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n. Color war / intra-camp competition in a Jewish summer camp.
n. International Jewish sports competition, known as the Jewish Olympics, held (mostly) every four years since 1932; smaller regional competitions held in Jewish community centers around the world.
"We stayed up all night making the banners for the maccabiah break-out." (Jewish summer camp)
"Having grown from 390 athletes from fourteen countries to nine thousand athletes from seventy-eight countries, the Maccabiah Games (or the “Jewish Olympics,” as it has come to be known) continue to gain popularity." (source)
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The name of the international Jewish athletic competition was based on the ancient Maccabees, plus the -ia suffix common in Modern Hebrew, which is influenced by Ladino / Judeo-Spanish. The use of "maccabiah" for color war at camp was adopted by American Hebraist/Zionist Jewish camps in the 1940s, including at Massad Poconos, based on the international competition.
maccabia, macabia, makabia, makabea, maccabiya, maccabiyah
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