Knicks President of Operations and Head Coach Isiah Thomas

Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv to play NY Knicks to help Jewish youth

An elite Israeli basketball team is slated to be the first-ever international team to play an exhibition game against the New York Knicks in Manhattan's Madison Square Garden next month

Aaron Klein|Published: 09.17.07 , 15:54

Israel's Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv will face off October 11 against the Knicks in a private game to raise money for American Friends of Migdal Ohr representing the Jewish state's largest youth village which provides crucial support and housing to more than 6,500 orphaned, abused, and underprivileged children and is widely credited with transforming the lives of thousands of youth.

"This game will provide us with the unique opportunity to play a quality opponent while benefiting a worthwhile cause,” said Knicks president of operations and head coach Isiah Thomas.

“Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv has long had a renowned international presence in the game of basketball and has demonstrated the ability to compete with teams in the NBA; we look forward to the match-up.”

Maccabi became the first international team to win on North American soil in 2005 when they defeated the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. Now they're going up against the Knicks, whose only previous game versus international competition took place overseas in Barcelona in 1990.

Mighdal Orh is running an entire week's worth of festivities centering around the Israel-New York match up game for which over 12,000 tickets have already been sold. The organization's "Hoops and Dreams Week" is geared toward the New York-area Jewish community and includes receptions to honor the players and a special on-court ceremony celebrating the memory of former Knicks coach and New York Jewish basketball icon Red Holzman.

All proceeds from "Hoops and Dreams Week" will directly benefit Migdal Ohr, which is Hebrew for "Tower of Light." The organization runs schools, camps, housing centers, and food and emotional help programs for children and teenagers in need in Israel.

Thousands of children live in Migdal Ohr youth villages or benefit from its schooling and other programs. Many youth come from situations of family abuse, drug use, poverty, crime or extreme overcrowding, and later credit Migdal Ohr with changing their lives.

The organization also runs new imigrant programs, festival food drives and camps for kids who live in Jewish communities near the Gaza Strip, which have been battered by deadly rocket attacks the past few years.

Last summer Migdal Orh organized camps and programs for thousands of civilians from the Israeli north, struck by over 3,000 rockets during the Jewish state's war against the Lebanse Hezbollah militia last July and August.