Gold-medal winning US gymnast Aly Raisman — whose floor routine was set to Hava Nagilah - has proved an inspiration for many ordinary Israelis.
Dan Yagudin, a member of University of Haifa Hillel, wrote and circulated a tribute letter to the gymnast.
The letter said: “I want to tell you how you became the hero of a gym full of Israeli soldiers, the same ones who serve two to three years of their lives because we have to; because there’s no one else who would do it, because our neighbourhood sucks.”
Mr Yagudin went on to praise Ms Raisman for picking Hava Nagilah to accompany her dance routine: “It’s that song that drew almost everyone to the TV as soon as the report about you came on the news.