Legal Issue(s): NA
Case Description
In the movie classic “Chariots of Fire,” Olympic hopeful Eric Liddel finds himself with a difficult choice—compete in his strongest event, the 100-meter dash, or observe his Sabbath and miss his opportunity for the gold medal.
Unfortunately, such conflicts continue to appear. In March, the Center received a legal request through our website from a desperate father, Dan Hoffman. Dan’s 11-year-old daughter, Nessa, won the 2024 Florida State championship for her age in gymnastics and has been training hard since then to compete again this year with a chance to advance to Regionals (and beyond).
Nessa and her family are observant Orthodox Jews, and the annual Florida state competition is scheduled over Passover, which begins at sundown on April 12. Dan and his wife knew this could become an issue and, eight months earlier, formally requested and received assurance from officials that Nessa would be able to compete before her Sabbath and before Passover and that her scores from that Friday morning competition would fully count. Nessa had drawn a Sunday session to compete (still Passover) and successfully asked to switch with someone for a Friday slot, which completely avoided any conflict.
Unfortunately, a week before the competition, the Hoffmans were informed that Nessa’s scores on Friday would not be counted, eliminating any chance of her advancing to Regionals.
The Center jumped into action, drafting a letter to the Florida USA Gymnastic State Committee and reaching out to our friends at the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. Together we jointly signed the letter asking the Florida USA Gymnastic State Committee to reconsider its decision. We asked that they allow Nessa’s Friday scores to be considered equally with all other competitors over the Passover weekend.
In a fast-moving turn of events, the Hoffman’s heard back from USA Gymnastics announcing that, after a swiftly called meeting March 31, they decided to grant a full waiver for all athletes, nationwide, celebrating Passover. Any Jewish athlete may now compete at modified times and have their scores count!
If only the Center had been around during the 1924 Olympics!
