Israel, the United States and Lebanon

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the November 14, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

As Israel continues defending itself against the Hezbollah threat emanating from Lebanon and the United States explores ways to help defuse the conflict, I cannot help but think of another time — 41 years ago — when these three countries were linked in conjunction with an incident that became ingrained in the psyches of many Americans.

In this month’s installment of “Remember When,” we look back at our issue from the week of Oct. 27–Nov. 2, 1983, when a story by Wolf Blitzer titled “U.S. refuses Israeli aid for Marines” appeared on the front page.

In the aftermath of the deadly bombing on Oct. 23, 1983, in which a suicide bomber killed 241 U.S. servicemembers at the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut, the Israeli government offered the U.S. access to Israeli hospitals in relative proximity to the attack in order to help treat those wounded in the terrorist attack. According to Blitzer’s article, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens was “extremely disappointed” that the Reagan administration rebuffed Israel’s offer, choosing instead to fly the wounded servicemembers to medical facilities in West Germany and Italy, which were much farther away from the Israeli hospitals.

The article noted that Israel also offered the U.S. “sophisticated bulldozer and engineering equipment to help remove the rubble,” yet that offer was similarly rejected. The U.S. did accept “plastic bag covers for the bodies of the Marines” from Israel, according to the article.

Blitzer offered some context for the reasons behind the United States’ rejection of Israel’s offer of assistance.

“U.S. officials suggested that Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and some others were still extremely sensitive to any military or strategic relationship with Israel that was publicly seen as too close. Such steps, he is said to fear, would upset America’s friends in the Arab world.”

Officially, the White House said, “the U.S. deeply appreciated the Israeli offers for assistance but found they were not really necessary,” noting that “The Pentagon’s contingency procedures for the removal of the injured soldiers worked well.”

The article went on to quote President Ronald Reagan, who said the deadly attack was “a horrifying reminder of the type of enemy we face in many critical areas of the world today — vicious, cowardly and ruthless.”

Fast-forward to today’s post-Oct. 7 world, in which Hezbollah’s constant bombardment of northern Israel has led to the displacement of Israelis from their homes and forced Israel to undertake a military operation in Lebanon in an effort to neutralize Hezbollah’s relentless attacks. The U.S. is playing a central role in seeking an end to the current conflict, and it regularly meets with Israeli and Lebanese officials in pursuit of a peace agreement.

Second Gentleman Visits Montgomery County To Mobilize Jewish Voters

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the October 17, 2024, edition of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent:

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff at a Get Out the Jewish Vote event in Narberth on Oct. 13.
(Photo by Aaron Troodler)

With Pennsylvania playing a pivotal role in the upcoming presidential election, each campaign is making a concerted effort to mobilize voters. Montgomery County, with its sizable Jewish population, figures prominently into the equation, and the Harris and Trump campaigns are making their respective cases to local Jewish community members in the hopes of winning their support.

It was against that backdrop that approximately 175 people gathered in the Social Hall in Narberth Borough Hall on Sunday morning, Oct. 13, for a “Get Out the Jewish Vote” event organized by Kamala Harris’ campaign, which featured Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.

As attendees munched on bagels and sipped coffee, upbeat music, including “Eye of the Tiger” and “Born in the USA,” played on the sound system as the excitement built while the crowd awaited the arrival of the campaign’s special guests.

Katie and Frank McGlade of Ardmore have been following Kamala Harris’ career since she was elected to the Senate.

“She’s a tough inquisitor and she holds people accountable, and that’s why we’re voting for her,” Katie McGlade said in an interview. “This community is predominantly Jewish, and we feel very strongly that our community needs the right leadership.”

“In a race that’s a statistical dead heat, every single vote counts,” added Frank McGlade.

“I’m honored that they wanted to come and make sure we understand that the Harris campaign is very pro-Israel and is very protective of Israel’s right to exist and defend itself,” said Andrea Deutsch, who is the first Jewish mayor of Narberth, in an interview. “I’m very confident that the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz administration will do the right thing on behalf of the people of Israel. As a Jewish mayor and a Jewish citizen, I’m very comfortable with how they would represent us.”

Ellie Goluboff-Schragger, president of the Penn Dems, addressed the audience, as did Eva Wyner, the Harris campaign’s director for Jewish outreach for Pennsylvania, who noted that “the path to the presidency runs through PA,” adding that she attended preschool and had her bat mitzvah at the Kaiserman JCC and graduated from Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy.

Comedian and actor Alex Edelman then addressed the crowd, along with composer Benj Pasek. They were followed by actor Ben Stiller, who exhorted the crowd to get out and vote and to “tell our friends to vote.”

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., who wore a yellow ribbon on his lapel in support of the hostages, began his remarks by referencing Oct. 7.

“This has been a very difficult year for the Jewish community … We hope that this will be a good, sweet year where we can find peace and the hostages are returned,” said the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“I very much appreciate what she [Harris] and Doug [Emhoff] have done in bringing our Jewish traditions to the American public to understand our love of Judaism,” Cardin said. “They have taken our Jewish values, tikkun olam, to make this world a better place, and those have been their values.”

Cardin spoke about the efforts of the Biden-Harris administration and Emhoff to combat antisemitism and discussed Harris’ “commitment to the special relationship between Israel and the United States.”

“Since Oct. 7, she’s made it clear that Israel needs the support of the United States and that the United States has Israel’s back. She has said over and over again that Israel will get whatever it needs to defend itself from Hamas in Gaza, or Hezbollah in Lebanon, or the Houthis in the Red Sea, or Iran and its proxies … She recognizes that the United States will stand strong, must stand strong, with Israel.”

Jewish voters show support for the Harris-Walz ticket at an event in Narberth on Oct. 13.
(Photo by Aaron Troodler)

Emhoff’s presence at the event generated a lot of excitement.

“To me, this ticket with Kamala, and Doug being her husband, represents what America is supposed to be like. It’s like the ultimate melting pot,” Adrian Seltzer of Wynnewood said in an interview.

“It’s exciting,” Karin Fox of Narberth said in an interview about the prospect of Emhoff becoming the first Jewish first spouse if Harris is elected. “Of course, it’s exciting to have somebody Jewish in the White House. It’s awesome.”

Emhoff’s appearance at the event came on his 60th birthday, and as he took the stage, the crowd sang “Happy Birthday,” followed by “Yom Huledet Sameach.”

“I stand before you as the first Jewish principal ever in the White House, hopefully going to be the first first gentleman, the first Jewish first gentleman,” Emhoff said before turning to the one-year anniversary of Oct. 7.

“These weeks are heavy, but when you have Oct. 7 fall within the High Holidays for the first time, it just made this time particularly heavy, meaningful, emotional, raw … So many of us still feel this rawness, this rage, these emotions that will never go away,” he said.

Emhoff discussed some of the ways he and Harris marked one year since the Hamas attacks on Israel.

“Very meaningfully, the vice president and I planted a pomegranate tree to honor the victims, the pain, the hostages, but also as an act of hope, an act of resilience, something that’s permanent, something that’s going to stay at that residence [the vice president’s official residence] forever.”

Actor Ben Stiller speaks at the Oct. 13 event in Narberth.
(Photo by Aaron Troodler)

Emhoff spoke extensively about Harris’ connections to, and efforts on behalf of, the Jewish community.

“All the work that I’ve done fighting against antisemitism, which led to a national strategy to counter antisemitism, all the work that I’ve done since Oct. 7 and will continue to do, this is because of her.”

“She goes way back with the Jewish community, including in her childhood, when she used to collect money in those little blue boxes that some of us remember,” he said, ostensibly referring to the iconic Jewish National Fund tzedakah boxes. “She was doing that as a kid.”

“She knows how important Israel is to us and to me,” Emhoff said, noting that Harris “was the one who put the kippah on my head while we visited the Old City [of Jerusalem] for the first time.”

“She has been working relentlessly on the release of the hostages … she’s not going to rest until all the hostages are released and home … She’s always going to support Israel and its right to defend itself, especially as it fights Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and whatever else comes its way. She’s going to be there for them.”

In an interview, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) noted that she has “been up to Pennsylvania a couple of times for multiple days” to campaign for Harris and stated she believes that “the overwhelming majority of Jews will vote for Kamala Harris.”

“The reason I’m here in Pennsylvania instead of in Florida is because I feel so strongly about making sure that she becomes president of the United States because I’m a Zionist, because I’m a Jew, because I represent a district in Congress that has a large Jewish population, and I’m raising Jewish children, two of whom are in college,” Wasserman Schultz said. “So, if I want to make sure that we have someone we can count on in the White House, who’s going to have Israel’s back and who’s truly going to fight antisemitism because she not only talks about it but has done it, then it’s important that we make sure that we commit to, and put skin in the game, to help get Kamala Harris elected.”

A Resolute Voice for Israel in the US

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the October 10, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

Ambassador Michael Herzog
marking Yom HaZikaron,
Israel’s Memorial Day.
Photo by Shmulik Almany.

Service to the state of Israel is the Herzog family business. It’s therefore no surprise that Michael Herzog, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, has committed himself to representing Israel in Washington, D.C., throughout the U.S. and around the world.

His father, Chaim Herzog, was the sixth president of Israel. His grandfather, Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, served as the chief rabbi of Israel from 1936-1959. His uncle, Abba Eban, served as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, ambassador to the U.S. and Israel’s foreign minister. Another uncle, Yaacov Herzog, served as Israel’s ambassador to Canada. His younger brother, Isaac Herzog, currently serves as Israel’s 11th president.

“I’m very proud to be part of that family. I’m very proud of that heritage,” Ambassador Michael Herzog said, noting that “it also comes with responsibility.”

“We were all educated on public service, so most of our family members have been in public service in one capacity or another. We could have all gone into business or do other things, but we decided to devote our careers to public service and to me, representing the Jewish state here in America, our closest ally, is a big privilege.”

A retired brigadier general in the Israel Defense Forces, Herzog’s military service also includes a tenure as head of the IDF’s Strategic Planning Division, deputy head of the Strategic Planning Division and a member of the Intelligence Corps. Additionally, Herzog served in several senior roles in Israel’s Ministry of Defense.

Ever since his appointment as Israel’s ambassador to the United States in 2021 by then Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Herzog has been a resolute and respected voice for the state of Israel in the U.S. and beyond.

Like all Israelis, Herzog has been deeply touched by the barbaric attacks carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7, and he agonizes over the fact that Hamas is still holding 101 hostages one year later, some of whom already lost their lives.

“This is a very big issue and a very high priority,” he said, referring to the hostages. “We all understand that every day that passes by endangers their lives … We have to do our utmost to release them as soon as possible.”

Herzog spoke about the Israeli government’s continuing efforts to bring the hostages home, noting that “we’ve been working very closely with the U.S. administration about this.”

After discussing the various proposals that have been put forth to bring about a resolution, including the United States’ “final bridging proposal” in mid-August that Israel endorsed, Herzog stated that “Hamas is still not on board with the U.S. framework.”

Notwithstanding Hamas’ reluctance to reach an agreement, Herzog said Israel will keep doing whatever is necessary to secure the hostages’ release.

“I strongly believe this is an open wound in our society and remains so for as long as they are there and don’t get back home. It’s a very big and painful issue. But we are committed and doing what we can to bring about a deal.”

Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah has intensified significantly over the past several weeks, including the elimination of Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, and multiple efforts to neutralize the serious threat that Israel faces from its neighbors to the north.

In discussing the current circumstances, Herzog was quick to put the situation into what he called “the right context.”

“Hamas launched war on Israel on Oct. 7, and Hezbollah started firing on Oct. 8 in an unprovoked manner,” he said. “We didn’t provoke them. We didn’t take action against them. They just decided being part of the Iranian axis, that they want to support Hamas in Gaza and open fire.”

Referring to Hezbollah, Herzog said “they’ve been firing on a daily basis into Israel.”

“As a result of what they’ve done, tens of thousands of Israelis, over 60,000, had to leave their homes in northern Israel. Part of the area is deserted. You have ghost towns there. And this is an intolerable situation that no sovereign country can agree to accept. It infringes on our sovereignty and the ability of people to live their normal lives in their own country.”

As Herzog spoke about the people who had to flee the north due to the incessant rocket attacks from Lebanon and discussed Israel’s decision to increase the military pressure on Hezbollah, he emphasized that “people have to understand we did not start this war, and we cannot, will not, allow ourselves to remain in that situation for a very long time. We owe it to our citizens.”

Ambassador Michael Herzog visiting Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel after the
Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack. Courtesy of Embassy of Israel in Washington.

As Israel battles Hezbollah on the northern front, the fight against Hamas in Gaza rages on. According to Herzog, Israel’s ongoing war with a terrorist organization whose primary objective is the destruction of the Jewish state is achieving many of its military and strategic goals.

“After Oct. 7, when we were shaping our response to that invasion, Israel defined three major goals for Gaza. The first was to destroy the Hamas military machine that attacked us. The second was to, of course, release the hostages, and then to prevent a situation where Gaza can threaten Israel in the future, meaning we have to remove Hamas from power and seal the border with Egypt and make sure that either Hamas or anybody else in Gaza cannot regroup and pose a threat again and again. They themselves said that, if possible, they would like to carry out an Oct. 7-like attack again and again and again. That was our goal,” Herzog said.

“We have been very successful militarily,” he added, noting that Israel “dismantled almost all, I would say, of their organized force … an army of terror.”

While acknowledging that there “are still quite a few armed people in Gaza,” Herzog said, “We secured for ourselves freedom of action so we can go in and out whenever we see a terror or military threat in Gaza.”

“Now we have to implement the other goals, which are to release the hostages and to make sure that Gaza as an entity can no longer threaten Israel,” he said. “We have taken the corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border, and we are working on plans for what people call ‘the day after,’ meaning a transition to a post-Hamas Gaza, in which Gaza will be governed by local Palestinians with some kind of a regional, international umbrella. And in order to implement such a plan, you had to bring Hamas to a breaking point militarily, so that they cannot destroy whatever you try to build there. But we are nearing a point where I think we can present a plan and advance it with the U.S. government and with regional and international partners.”

As the world marks one year since Oct. 7, Herzog reflected on the horrific events that led to one of the darkest days in Israel’s history.

Recognizing that “we in Israel have to do a lot of soul-searching about what happened and how come we were surprised,” Herzog looked back at what has happened over the past year from a broader context and a strategic perspective.

“We found ourselves thrown into a situation, a challenge of existential dimensions, not because Hamas in and of itself threatens the existence of Israel, but because Hamas is part of the Iranian axis, and we have been confronted not only by Hamas in Gaza, but by the whole axis,” he said.

Herzog noted that Israel is now challenged on multiple fronts, including Lebanon, the Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen and Iran, which carried out an unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel in April 2023 and fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Oct. 1.

“On top of all of that, there is an international front, an international campaign against the Jewish state and the Jewish people to delegitimize Israel or question the right of the Jewish people to self-determination and to question, to criminalize, the right of the Jewish state to self-defense,” he said.

“Essentially, that’s what we are facing, and everybody has to wake up and understand,” Herzog added. “My own simplistic summary of what happened over the past year is that Hamas hit us to the point of bleeding, and our enemies smelled the blood and banded against us. That explains how come, hours after Oct. 7, there was an eruption of such an unprecedented wave of antisemitism. Think about it, the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust sparks an eruption of antisemitic waves. How can you explain that? And that was weeks before we launched our ground operation in Gaza. Nobody can say that is because of what we were doing in Gaza. So, I think we have to look reality straight in the eye and understand that and internalize that.”

Ambassador Michael Herzog lighting a memorial candle at the Israeli Embassy
in Washington, D.C. Courtesy of Embassy of Israel in Washington.

Over the past three decades, Herzog has played a pivotal role in Israel’s efforts to pursue peace agreements with Israel’s Arab neighbors. In 2020, we saw the birth of the Abraham Accords, which resulted in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan establishing ties with Israel. At the time, there was a sense of optimism that perhaps more Arab nations might normalize relations with Israel. Yet additional peace agreements failed to materialize, and last month, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman declared that Saudi Arabia would not recognize Israel without a Palestinian state.

However, Herzog remains optimistic and is proud of what has been accomplished thus far, despite some bumps in the road.

“If you look at the balance of what happened over the last year since Oct. 7 in terms of our relations with the region, with our new Abraham Accords partners and others in the region, I think you see a mixed picture, where on the one hand, because of the war and the political pressures and the pressures of public opinion, a lot of things slowed down between us and our peace partners and neighbors. There was a lot of eruption of public sentiment against Israel because of what they see on TV. And some projects were put on hold, and multilateral fora which we established before the war were frozen.

“At the same time, let’s not forget that all the peace agreements that we have withstood the pressures of this war — all of them. That below the radar there is a lot of cooperation on many issues, including security cooperation, because we all share similar interests, first and foremost against Iran, the biggest destabilizing force in the region.”

According to Herzog, “the fact that these countries now have relations with Israel also has enabled and enables them to play a role in Gaza,” whether it be related to humanitarian aid or serving as likely partners in helping to shape the post-Hamas Gaza.

As for Saudi Arabia, Herzog said, “the door for a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia is still open … There are several conditions that the Saudis need for that to happen, but it’s still open. It’s not closed. It would be a major game-changer in the region.”

As he serves as Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Herzog is acutely aware of the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship and part of his role is helping to successfully navigate the hyper-partisanship that has become so pervasive in American politics.

“It is our policy that we should keep Israel a bipartisan issue,” he declared. “The last thing we want or need is for Israel to become a political football. We’re trying to avoid that to the extent possible.”

Herzog was quick to recognize the tremendous support that Israel received from the U.S. after Oct. 7.

“I was positively surprised by the amount of support and solidarity that we have received from the American people,” he said. “We received important support from the U.S. administration. We received important support from Congress on both sides of the aisle.”

“The U.S. supported Israel … and stood with us when Iran tried to hit us and stood with us against the blood libels in the ICC [International Criminal Court] and ICJ [International Court of Justice] and many other arenas,” he added.

But for Herzog, the big story is the support Israel received from the American people. Noting the divisions and polarization in American society and the antisemitism we are seeing on college campuses and on social media, Herzog said, “if you look at the broad picture, I believe that most of the American people basically support Israel. Yes, there is a lot of noise and aggression out there against us. I don’t think that this is the majority of the American people. The majority support us, and that was one of the positive surprises for me over the last year.”

For Herzog, one of the notable and heartwarming things of the past year has been the open display of Jewish unity.

“When people see a threat of existential dimensions, they join hands and they get closer, and that’s what happened in Israel,” he said. “Yes, there are political differences and there are debates in Israel like in any democratic society, but I think the Israeli society has shown an amazing resilience over the last year. Part of that, I think, is the unity among the Jewish people, the solidarity. What happened after Oct. 7 is that many people here in the U.S. woke up feeling threatened, and a lot of them understood the situation, decided to be more active, either here in the U.S. or as relates to the U.S.-Israel relations.”

“People don’t understand how important this unity, solidarity and support of the American Jewish community is for the people of Israel,” he added. “Every delegation that comes to Israel, any expression of support in any way, people just need it, and it gives them strength. And I think what happened over the last year is that many in the community rose to the commandment of Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh (all Jews are responsible for one another).”

Rallying for Israel in the DMV During the Yom Kippur War

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the October 10, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

As we mark one year since Oct. 7 and recall the tragic events that took place last Simchat Torah as Hamas terrorists attacked Israel and left a trail of destruction and devastation in their wake, we cannot help but think back to an event that took place 51 years ago when another Jewish holiday was marked by the start of an intense war with Israel’s Arab neighbors.

In this month’s installment of “Remember When,” we look back at our issue from the week of Oct. 11-17, 1973.

On Oct. 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria led a coalition of Arab nations that launched a surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. Israel fought back, and a cease-fire agreement was reached several weeks later, thereby ending the fighting for the time being.

Our coverage of the Yom Kippur War included a number of stories relating to how people with ties to the DMV Jewish community were feeling and how they responded to the attack on Israel.

Alfred Groner, a former Washingtonian, offered his thoughts and perspectives from Israel through a narrative that enabled readers to feel as if they too were in Israel experiencing what Groner and others in the Jewish state were feeling at the time.

“Yom Kippur. It is a cool, bright day. Suddenly the rising and falling whine of the sirens. A few minutes later, we turn on the radio. The Voice of Israel on Yom Kippur. With a fist around our hearts we hear the Syrians and Egyptians have attacked. A full-scale massive offensive along the entire length of the cease-fire lines. Egged buses appear. The drivers careen down the streets, occasionally counter the one-way. Cares and small trucks go by in ever-larger numbers. Many of the drivers are wearing their green battle uniforms. Classical music over the radio, broken by announcements every ten minutes. Army radio cuts in. The characteristic buzz. Then the code for the units’ call ups.”

Among the other articles in that issue related to the Yom Kippur War was a story about an emergency meeting of leaders in the Greater Washington Jewish community in which a goal was set to raise $4 million to help Israel during what was a very trying time. Another article reported on “a tense and emotional rally” at Ohr Kodesh Congregation in Chevy Chase, where thousands of people gathered in support of the Jewish state.

A half-century later, as Israel is still defending itself against existential threats, the DMV Jewish community is still standing strongly and proudly with Israel in its time of need.

Katie Ledecky: The Most Decorated Female American Olympian of All Time

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the October-November 2024 edition of Montgomery Magazine:

Katie Ledecky left Rio de Janeiro as the most decorated female athlete of the 2016 Olympic Games, with four gold medals, one silver medal and two world records. Courtesy of Katie Ledecky.

For Katie Ledecky, Montgomery County will always be considered home.

The journey for Ledecky, who is among the greatest Olympic champions of all time with nine gold medals and 14 total Olympic medals, began in Bethesda, Maryland.

She started in Metropolitan Nursery School, went to Little Flower School from pre-K through eighth grade and attended Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart for high school. Her parents still live in the same Bethesda home she grew up in. “I loved growing up in Montgomery County,” Ledecky says.

Ledecky’s first foray into the world of competitive swimming came when she swam for the Palisades Porpoises Swim Team in the Montgomery County Swim League. “Those were my first memories in the sport of swimming … it was my first time being on a swim team.”

“We joined the Palisades Pool when I was six years old. My brother was nine, and we really didn’t know anyone at that pool, and so we joined the team to meet a lot of people, and by the end of the summer we had 100 new friends ages six to 18,” Ledecky says.

“We have a joke in the family that everything always comes back to MCSL … We seem to meet people all over that either swam MCSL or had a friend that was in the MCSL. So, it always comes back to Montgomery County,” she adds.

Ledecky credits her parents for her success, whether it be in the pool or in life.

“My parents have played a huge role in my journey. My mom swam in college growing up and was probably the first one to get me into the water, but she never pushed me into the sport. She never made me join the swim team—that always came from me. And then both my mom and my dad were just tremendous all the way through high school, driving me to and from practice, getting me to school — there were lots of early mornings.”

Katie Ledecky at 6 years old after her first swim race.
Courtesy of Katie Ledecky.

Ledecky recalls having to wake up at around 4 a.m. to get ready for swim practice at 5 a.m. and how her parents developed a routine to get both her and her brother to their respective swim practices. “They did a great job managing it all and supporting both of us in our goals,” she says.

Ledecky’s Olympic experience began in London in 2012 when she shocked the world by winning a gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle at the age of 15. She has not looked back since.

She competed in her fourth Olympic Games this summer in Paris where she became the most decorated female American Olympian of all time, winning a bronze in the 400-meter freestyle, silver in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay and gold in both the 800-meter freestyle and 1,500-meter freestyle.

Despite her incredible success, Ledecky is quick to credit those around her for the pivotal roles they have played in her swimming career.

“I think it’s a testament to all the people around me throughout this journey, not just the people I’m currently training with or being coached by, but everyone that played a role and supported me,” she says. “You don’t achieve something like that without doing it over many, many years. So that also involves many, many places and people that you’ve gotten to know and that have been a part of the journey. So, to me, it’s more about the journey than the end result or the records or where I stand in history. It’s about the process. It’s about working toward goals that excite me and drive me.”

“At the end of the day, I never imagined I would make it to one Olympics, so to have competed at four now, and to have found a sport that I just truly love and have enjoyed all these years, it’s a great, great feeling,” she says. “So, any of the medals and experiences that I’ve had on top of that, it’s just kind of icing on the cake. It’s amazing to get to represent your country on that big of a stage.”

There was not a particular point in time when Ledecky said, ‘I love this sport and I’m good at it, and I want to take my swimming to the next level.’ It was a process that happened organically, although a broken arm while she was in elementary school may have played a role.

“There wasn’t a single moment where I made some sort of decision that set me on that course. I think I just kept qualifying for bigger and bigger meets. I recognized that I was qualifying for some of these big meets at a younger age or earlier than some of my teammates or peers,” she says.

Ledecky was not exclusively swimming when she was younger—she was also playing basketball and soccer and taking piano lessons.

“I think around fourth grade was probably the turning point for me. I broke my arm in gym class playing basketball. So, basketball kind of took a backseat, because I realized during that time that I really loved swimming. I would put a plastic bag over my arm to be able to swim for those six weeks. I wanted to protect my swimming and put more into it,” Ledecky says. “I never went to my parents and said, ‘Hey, I’m going to quit basketball. I’m going to quit soccer.’ I just naturally found myself choosing swim practice over the other sports. And I think probably by age 12 or 13, I was focused on swimming as my sport and qualified for sectionals and junior nationals, senior nationals and ultimately Olympic trials. And once I qualified for Olympic trials, then I started to try to work my way up into the rankings to get into a position where I could believe that I could be an Olympian.”

Even though Ledecky is an Olympic veteran and one of the most successful Olympic athletes in history, each experience is unique and memorable. For Ledecky, having a medal hung around her neck on the Olympic podium, hearing The Star-Spangled Banner and seeing the American flag being raised is exhilarating every time.

“It does not get old,” she says, referring to the Olympic experience and winning a medal. “I think each time it’s pretty emotional, pretty exciting and it feels like the first time … I remember when I was a young kid watching those medal ceremonies, and whenever an American athlete won, we would stand and sing the national anthem at home. So, I always think back to those moments and think that there are probably some kids doing that back in the U.S. So that’s pretty special and it’s an honor to be in that position.”

Ledecky won a gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle at age 15.
Courtesy of Katie Ledecky.

Ledecky has cemented her legacy as one of the premier long-distance swimmers of all time. She won her fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle in Paris, becoming just the seventh Olympic athlete to win four successive gold medals in the same event. The only other swimmer to have achieved that feat is the legendary Michael Phelps.

Watching Ledecky compete in the 1,500-meter freestyle, which is 30 lengths of the pool, is a thing of beauty. She makes the grueling race look virtually effortless. In Paris, she set a new Olympic record with a time of 15:30.02, finishing the race more than ten seconds ahead of the silver medalist.

“I enjoyed trying the longer events from a young age … whenever my coach wanted me to try a new event, I would try a new event. And when I tried the distance events, I enjoyed them, and I recognized that that was different from some of my teammates who didn’t enjoy them. So, I kept doing them. I realized that that was my thing, that I was stronger at those events than the shorter events. I enjoyed putting in the work for those events,” she says.

“I’m able to come down to the 400 and the 200, but the 800 and the 1,500 are definitely my strongest events. And I’ve swum them a lot now, so I feel confident in my race strategy. I feel like I have a lot of experiences and tricks in my back pocket that I can rely on when the race gets tough … I use my experience as my advantage and I feel confident in those races, and I continue to enjoy putting in the work for those longer swims.”

At the age of 27, Ledecky often finds herself competing against and alongside younger swimmers, some of whom looked up to her before they began swimming at an elite level in pursuit of their Olympic dreams.

“I think at the end of the day we’re all competitors, and whether the person next to me is 15 years old or 35, I need to bring my best and compete against them, and I think my competitors do the same with me … It’s a sport that some swimmers come onto the scene from a young age and stick around a while … It’s been special for me to be on some relay teams with some people that I’ve known since they were seven years old. So, things like that are really special moments,” she says.

For Ledecky, spreading messages about positivity and perseverance are paramount, and she uses her platform as a swimming icon to try to inspire others, particularly young folks.

“Try to find something that you really love and you enjoy doing, whether that’s a sport, whether that’s a subject in school, whether that’s another activity, and try to be the best you can be at it and set some goals for yourself,” she says. “That’s how I started in the sport, and I’ve continued to love it and enjoy it. You just never know where things might take you. Swimming has taken me around the world and has given me opportunities I never imagined I would have. So, you just never know. You’ve got to just keep setting goals in the areas that you enjoy, and some special things can happen.”

The most decorated female American Olympian of all time is not done yet and looks forward to continuing her journey in the world of swimming.

“I would love to swim in LA [in the 2028 Olympic Games] … I’ll be training, doing a little bit of travel this fall, and then I’ll get down to business, get my work in and start the process to work on some new goals. So, I’m excited for what’s to come.”

Masai Russell: Confident, Committed to Excellence and Very, Very Fast

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the October-November 2024 edition of Montgomery Magazine: 

Masai Russell won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 100-meter hurdles.
Courtesy of USATF.

One one-hundredth of a second. “That’s faster than we can even blink,” says Masai Russell.

For Russell, it was a mere centisecond that changed her life when she won a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 100-meter hurdles by edging out France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela by one one-hundredth of a second.

The 24-year-old Russell was born in Washington, D.C., and went to high school at Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland. “Going to high school there, it was honestly an amazing experience,” Russell says. The choice to go to the Montgomery County school “ended up being one of the best decisions I made in my life.”

For the newly crowned Olympic champion, it was her parents that helped set her on a path that propelled her to stardom.

Russell’s mother, Dr. Sharon Russell, is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, while her father, Mark, is not only the CEO of her mother’s medical practice; he was also Russell’s first track coach.

“Both of my parents played a major role in my life, throughout my career,” Russell says.

Citing Sharon Russell’s ability to successfully juggle the responsibilities of taking care of her patients and running her medical office, Russell says she gets her work ethic from her mother.

As for her father, “he played a tremendous role in my track career,” Russell says. “He’s really the one that made it happen on the track.”

Russell believes that her involvement in track and the success she has achieved stems from “always being undersized and feeling like you have something to prove.”

She thinks back to her childhood and points to growing up with only brothers as something that continually motivated her.

“I was always doing my best to stay relevant with my brothers, and then when I ended up competing against people that were much bigger than me, faster than me, older than me, I always had a drive within myself to just become great, never stop and get what you want,” Russell says. “I always had a fire within me.”

Masai Russell. Photo by Erica Calhoun.

Russell went to the University of Kentucky, where she shone on the track and excelled in the classroom, including becoming the NCAA record holder in the 100-meter hurdles and earning a spot on the SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll multiple times.

“My mindset is if I’m going to be great, I’m going to be great at anything that I do. And academics always come first. Academics is the gateway to be able to compete,” Russell says.

“Track is going to end one day, and you have to have the knowledge in whatever space that you want to end up pursuing … without the education, without the knowledge, then you have nothing … One day, I’m not going to be a track runner, but I’m going to need be something else in life. And if you don’t have that knowledge, then you’re failing yourself,” she adds.

A first-time Olympian, Russell says, “it means the world” and is “pretty unreal” to have had the opportunity to represent the United States in Paris.

“It’s everything that I have dreamed of, everything that I’ve worked for my entire career … it’s such a blessing and such an honor to just compete and be among the best athletes in the world, to be on the boat with LeBron James and Stephen Curry. It’s just like, wow, this is the life that I truly believed that I could have one day, and the fact that I’m living it at such a young age, at 24 years old, when I didn’t even believe I could be an Olympian just three years ago, it’s just crazy. I just say it’s nothing but God.”

As she walked out of the tunnel and onto the Olympic track before the final of the 100-meter hurdles, Russell was incredibly focused.

“I was telling myself, it’s possible, it’s possible, it’s possible,” Russell says, recalling the moments leading up to the race. “I worked hard every day … this is my moment. This is my time.”

“When I walked out, I heard the crowd and I was just so locked in,” she says. “I was thinking, my life can change within the matter of the next 30 seconds … I was just so determined, and I was so poised.”

As she settled into Lane 5, Russell worked hard to keep her emotions in check and not get overwhelmed by the enormity of the moment, reminding herself that in front of her were the same 10 hurdles that are in every race.

When the race got underway, several runners were seemingly in a dead heat. In fact, Russell was not the first one to clear the final hurdle—that was France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela. Yet, Russell closed strong and surged ahead, crossing the finish line in a blazing 12.33 seconds in a photo finish. After a brief wait, Russell was declared the winner. Samba-Mayela won the silver medal, while Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico took the bronze.

“I came off that last hurdle, and I just sprinted to the line as hard as I could. And once I crossed the line, I knew I was in medal contention, but I didn’t know exactly where … I was just looking up at the board and I was like, ‘come on, come on, show me’ … It was about 10 to 15 seconds. So, it didn’t feel like a lifetime. But it was just long enough that I started to stress out,” Russell says.

“I have worked so hard my entire career and come up short every single time … I’ve never won an NCAA title … I’ve never won an outdoor SEC title. I didn’t win the USA Championships last year … It was like, I had to go through all those hardships, and I had to go through all those tough times to get to where I am now. Honestly, it was a dream come true … I just won the Olympics … no one can take that from me,” Russell says.

Russell competes in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Courtesy of USATF.

Before this track season began, Russell wrote down several goals: Break the indoor world record, become the indoor world champion, win the U.S. Olympic trials, win the Olympics and break the world record. Those are big goals, but for Russell, it is important to identify her objectives, aim high and work hard to try and achieve them.

“Setting goals means everything to me,” she says. “If you’re not striving to be the best ever, it’s just like, why are you doing it? Why are you selling yourself short? … I think the power of the mind, everything that you believe and think, you don’t notice how much of an impact it plays until you truly do it, have faith in it, work in it and manifest it.”

Russell has a huge presence on social media, with more than 1.2 million followers across her various platforms. The Olympic gold medalist believes her massive following is largely attributable to the fact that people appreciate that she promotes herself in a genuine manner that is consistent with who she is as a person.

“I just like to keep it super authentic to who I am … I’m glad that I feel like I do have such a positive impact on … the community … I’ve inspired so many people by just being myself,” she says. “I’m just showing people that even if the end of the tunnel does look dark, just keep going, because you’ll eventually see that light.”

For Russell, her gold medal win in Paris is not the end of her journey, but rather another step in her pursuit of excellence, and she is looking forward to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

“The goal right now is to get through world championships for the next two years and then do my thing in LA once again and try to get that title back. ‘Two-time Olympic champ’ has a great ring to it,” she says, noting that she will keep “trying to do the same thing I did this past Olympics, and just keep that good momentum going with a smile on my face and inspiring and impacting those people around me.”

The WJW Podcast: A Conversation With Dr. Michael Oren (9/26/24)

 Dr. Michael Oren served as Israel’s ambassador to the United States from 2009-2013.

A best-selling author, renowned historian and passionate advocate for Israel, Oren also served in various capacities in the Israel Defense Forces and as a member of Knesset.

On the WJW Podcast, Oren spoke about the various threats facing Israel, the efforts to bring the hostages home, the U.S.-Israel relationship and the rise in global antisemitism.