Fencing+with+Yuval+Freilach

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=**ID**= Full name: Yuval Frielich Parents' name: Gaby & Rachel Year of birth: 1995 Where born: Israel Place of work: training in fencing club in "maccabi Jerusalem" Location: Europe Profession: fencer What he is famous for: because he is successful in sport and observes the Jewish religion.

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= ** Article **  =

What can a religious boy do if he wants to represent Israel in the Europe championship in fencing, but he can't compete on the weekends? There is one boy that found a solution:

Yuval Frielich, age 13, was born in 1995 and lives in Neve Daniel which is in Gush Etzion. Yuval is training in a fencing club in "Maccabi Jerusalem," in addition, he travels to Europe to compete. (And win!). He is famous because he is successful in sport and observes the Jewish religion.

In the beginning he tried to overcome this problem. He used to sleep in hotels next to the place where he had his competitions.

Yuval decided not to give up, after he had a competition that was postponed to Shabbat in the last minute. Due to this, he submitted a claim to the High Court of Justice against the minister of science, culture, sport and the organization of fencing in Israel. In the claim, he requested that it be possible for religious athletes to take part in fencing competitions which means that there won't be any competitions on Shabbat.

The organization responded that since most of the competitors are students or soldiers having these competitions in the middle of the week, causes them to miss a lot of school. Furthermore, it's difficult for the coaches and the referees since they are committed to other jobs.

The High Court of Justice decided that the organization can't discriminate an athlete in light of his being religious. Due to this decision, Yuval got a technical win in a competition that he was prevented from competing in. This decision will be applied to all future competitions that take place on Fridays and Shabbat. In the words of the lawyers: this is the first time in the sport history of Israel, that the Court of Justice prohibits an organization of sport to hold competitions where religious athletes can't participate. This decision influences all the sports in Israel. Yuval says that he doesn't want to win any technical victories, he wants to compete and win due to his own abilities. He says that his war isn't finished, he will continue his fight.

Speech Good evening ladies and gentlemen! First of all I want to say thank you to the "Organization of the Religious Rights in Israel" for the great prize they awarded me, I'm very excited about this occasion.

I want to tell you how all this started. I started to get interested in fencing when I was eight years old, I chose fencing because I wanted to combine the softness that is in ballet with a martial art- and fencing contains both of them. Later when my coaches saw that I'm a successful fencer, and that I can succeed in the big world, they sent me to competitions. This is the point that all this "mess" got started.

When I had competitions on Shabbat that I couldn't take part in, it got me very upset, since it would harm my chances to succeed. I petitioned the High Court of Justice and I sued the Organization of Sport in Israel.

This is the place to thank my parents who helped me and supported me the whole way, also gave me the feeling that I'm right, and that my struggle isn't for nothing. In addition they told me that what I'm doing isn't only for myself, but for all the religious athletes who want to compete in competitions.

Furthermore I want to thank my lawyer who did a great job and led me to where I'm standing today. Finally, I want to say another few words to all the religious athletes, if you ever have problems because of religion, never give up, fight for your rights!

Rationale Yocheved: I chose to write about Yuval Freilich, because I really like sports and I wanted to do my project about someone who changed something in sports. In the newspaper my friend and I found that Yuval is fighting for the religious athletes. We are enthusiastic about him because he is only 13 years old; it shows us that you don't need to be famous or grown up in order to change something. We wanted to write and show how a 13 year old boy can change sport organizations on account of his religion.

Naomi: I chose to write about Yuval Frielich due to his action. He did something that I wanted to do, but I didn't have the courage. It always disturbed me that a religious person can't participate in sport in Israel. Furthermore, I became connected to this situation because I was an athlete a long time ago, and I had cases were I couldn't take part because the competitions were on Shabbat. In addition, my brother is an athlete and when he complained to his couch, he answered him that the sports organizations don’t want to make an effort for athletes who can't compete in Europe. I think that it's wrong. In Israel we also have to consider the religious, even if they can only participate in Israel and not in Europe Freilich made the first step. I hope that he will succeed and sport in Israel will be open to religious sportsmen, too.

=**Reflection**=

Yocheved: I want to tell you what I have learned from this project. I learnt that also ordinary people who aren't famous can stand up for their rights and get what they want by working hard, believing in themselves and showing every body that it is very important for them. This is the way to get what you want. I also learnt that from this project that you need to be proud of your religion, and never be stopped because you are religious, even if it is hard sometimes.

I also learnt from this project how to research better and I expanded my vocabulary. I learnt new things about using the internet I saw how helpful it could be, even when it was hard, annoying and when it stopped working but in the end we finished.

Naomi: I so much enjoyed studying, learning and writing about Yuval Frailich. Yuval was an amazing person who taught me so much! He taught me lessons I know I will use in my day to day life! Yuval knew that being religious was an honor, nothing to be embarrassed of! This gave me strength, made me realize that even being religious you can get what you want Even out there in the big world. Nothing in this world comes easily (something I am starting to learn in my young life) but from Yuval I saw that if you work hard, try your best, and really put your mind to it you are unstoppable!

I also learnt from this project how to use English correctly, not just in music or movies… I also expanded my vocabulary, I had a lot of experience writing without mistakes. Another important thing is, I learnt how to work with a friend, to research sources and to translate from Hebrew to English. Now that I finished the project I have a wonderful filling of accomplishment.

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=** Interview **= = =

1. Q. What age did you get interested in fencing? A. I got interested in fencing when I was eight years old.

2. Q. Why did you choose fencing? A. I chose fencing because I danced ballet, and I didn't join sport teams like basketball and football… I think fencing is elegant like dancing.

3. Q. Why can't you compete on Shabbat? A. I can't compete on Shabbat because every time the swords touch each other it creates an electric current, and its outcome.

4. Q. Why is it so important to you to compete? You can just practice! This way your problems have been solved! A. At the beginning I was too small to compete but as the years went on, I wanted to compete because you can't advance without competing.

5. Q. Can you tell us about a time you had a problem competing because you are religious? A. I remember that one year ago, I was competing in Ashkelon, I got to the final! But the competition was on Friday, and it continued in to Shabbat. So I had to leave in the middle.

6. Q. What did the "High Court of Justice" decide about your problem? A. The "High Court of Justice" decided that also religious people can participate in sports – also if they cant compete on Shabbat.

7. Q. When you realized that you had made a "technical victory" how did you feel? A. When I got a technical victory I said I want to compete! I don’t want them to give me my victory for free!!

8. Q. What is your high aspiration? A. My high aspiration is to win in the 2012 Olympics.

9. Q. What do you want to tell to all the religious teenagers that are involved in sport? A. I'm calling the religious people to go and compete IN SPORTS!! You have high motivation! You can see it in the big numbers of religious soldiers in the top quality units!!

10. Q. What do you think about this entire story? A. I think that it will be good if different parts of the Israeli people will meet on the sports field and not in court.

= = Bibliography = = בורשבסקי, דני. "יובל פרייליך". מקור ראשון, 10/03/09 טאוב, עמיאד. 26/10/2008 . 22/03/09 .[|< http://www.datili.co.il/index.php?id=26883]>

נחשוני, קובי."איגוד הסיף נכנע: יובל יתמודד במוצ"ש", 11.11.08, 22/03/09   .[|

נחשוני, קובי"יובל לא רוצה ניצחון טכני". 27/10/08. 22/03/08 .<[]>

מילון מורפיקס .[|< http://milon.morfix.co.il >] שלזינגר, ליאת. "מצחצח חרבות לא בשבת", 29/10/2008, 22/03/08 .<[]>