Who is the player that you’d describe as the biggest “Maccabist”? Who was Maccabi’s greatest coach? And who was the best President in the Club’s history? Some of you will say it’s Eran Zahavi, Paulo Sousa and Mitch Goldhar, others may answer Avi Nimni, Avram Grant and Loni Hershkowitz and the veterans might name some others including Moti Ivanir, Giora Spiegel, Sheya Glazer and others.
However, there was one who filled all three roles to perfection and who helped make Maccabi the great Club it is today. It’s been twenty years since he passed away as we look back at the first “Maccabist” Moshe (Jerry) Beit Halevi.
Football family
Moshe Beit Halevi or better known as Jerry was the second of five brothers that were part of a football family that made Aliyah to Israel in 1920. His oldest brother Nachum was a referee, while a younger brother Avraham was a defender who played for Hapoel Tel Aviv and his youngest brother Alexander held various different roles at Maccabi Tel Aviv. Jerry began training at the Yellow & Blue Youth Department along with his brother because Maccabi was known to be the most organized and professional team at the time. Once Beit Halevi made it to the senior side, it was very difficult for him to earn a place in the Starting XI so he played at Maccabi Rechovot and Maccabi Hadera for three seasons. When he returned, the Maccabi Tel Aviv coach was Egon Pollack who had once played for Hakoah Vienna. The two connected almost immediately and Beit Halevi found his way into the starting lineup.
Beit Halevi’s playing career with Maccabi Tel Aviv spanned from the beginning of the 1930’s until 1945 where he spent the majority of the time as the Club’s captain while winning three league championships and two State Cups. One of the most interesting matches that took place during this time was in the middle of the 1930’s in a little Derby against Hakoah Tel Aviv, the smallest team in the city. The contest featured 2 players being ejected from Hakoah and one from Maccabi who was none other than Jerry. The referee who tossed him? His big brother, Nachum.
Over the next few seasons, Beit Halevi along with Maccabi Tel Aviv went to the United States and Australia as they did a tremendous amount of Hasbara, representation of the Holy Land to Jews around the world. His youngest brother Avraham stayed in Australia along with Menachem Merimovitch and volunteered in the Australian army during the Second World War but lost their lives in battle. Menachem’s brother Yosele, as one of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s stars during the period was the person who initiated the change in colors from blue and white to yellow and blue, yellow being used as a sign of solidarity with the Jews who were suffering the consequences of the Holocaust and forced to wear the Yellow Star.
An unexperienced pro
Jerry began his coaching career two years after his retirement following Egon Pollock’s decision to retire himself following 12-seasons as Head Coach. As Maccabi’s boss, Jerry won 4 league titles along with 5 State Cups and was considered a defensive coach, but one who helped mold the future of Maccabi Tel Aviv in becoming the biggest and best club in the country. One of the initiatives he did as coach was to institute a rigorous training regimen that included increasing the amount of training sessions from two to three times a week. Jerry was also able to convince management to pay the players for that third session, something that was out of the ordinary during those times. What Maccabi understood when Oscar Garcia was named coach in 2012, was already happening in the 1940’s under Beit Halevi when he was being updated as to the latest football methods that were being used across Europe. During a trip to Yugoslavia, he decided to start a young defender by the name of Sheya Glazer as a striker up front. The move which Jerry said he “Pulled out of his sleeve” helped Glazer become the club’s all-time goal scoring leader until Avi Nimni arrived on the scene.
Bloomfield
עם נבחרת ניגריה (אתר ההתאחדות) ()
In the second half of the 1960’s, Maccabi went through a financial crisis that almost forced the club to suspend activities when the players refused to play if they wouldn’t be paid. The club asked Jerry to manage the football operations and the first move he made in his new capacity was to leave the Maccabiah Stadium and move to Hapoel’s Bloomfield Stadium. At the time, many fans attended matches for free due to various connections that they had. Jerry was able to reduce the free tickets that were being given away and he was able to sell 14k tickets to Maccabi’s first match at Bloomfield. By the end of the season the deficit was reduced thanks to the successful stadium move.
Jerry was also a member of the Israel Football Association board and helped found the Toto in Israel.
First published on the Hazavit Website by Roni Alperon
