David Max Court Named in Honor of Longtime JCC Advocate and Supporter

June 25, 2024 Staff Report

David Max is flanked by JCC Chief Executive Officer Barak Hermann (right) and Larry Plant, JCC board chair. (Provided photo)

For decades, Stevenson resident David Max has left his mark on the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore. In return, last Wednesday, June 19, the JCC held a dedication ceremony at the Owings Mills JCC to celebrate the grand opening of its recently renovated David Max Court.

The new court will enhance the JCC’s pickleball and basketball offerings as well as increase opportunities for J Camps, Stoler Early Childhood, JCC Maccabi and other recreational activities.

A commercial realtor, David Max has been an integral part of the JCC since his teen years. He later became a board member, then board chair, and for the past 20-plus years served as chair of the Building Committee.

Among the attendees at the ceremony were some of Max’s friends and family, as well JCC staff members.

In an interview with the JCC, Max said he first started frequenting the Park Heights center as a high school student.

“I used to come every week, on weekends and evenings,” he said. “They would open up the gym, and I’d come to play basketball. I made a lot of friends. It was an important part of my life, and after that I never left the J.”

Max said he still meets up with old friends at the JCC to work out.

“I used to play basketball and workout in a little room that was the whole fitness center,” he said. “I made friends and it just felt very comfortable to be there. Some of my friends are still there working out. My first date with my wife was playing racquetball at the J 42 years ago.”

Max joined the JCC’s board while in his late 20s, encouraged by the late local entrepreneur Samuel Boltansky. “He told me I could be impactful and that I could voice a younger person’s opinion,” Max said. “I was around 30 at the time.”

Among those who were influential to Max during his years at the JCC was the late president and chief executive officer Louis M. “Buddy” Sapolsky.

“The JCC thinks they got a lot out of me, but I think I got a whole lot more out of the J because of Buddy,” Max said. “He was so great at teaching you how to become a leader, getting everybody to come to a consensus on what we were all working on. It was never about him; he always made it about everybody else.

“I was close to Buddy until he passed away [in 2022]. We would go out for lunch every month and talked all the time. We always joked that when we both retired, we were going to buy a snowball stand at the beach and only offer chocolate snowballs. … He was a special person.”

Max served as chair of the JCC’s board from 2003-2005.

Of the new gym built in his honor, Max said he is humbled by the gesture.

“I love the J. It’s a great place,” he said “I just wanted it to be there forever for everybody else. That was probably the biggest reason why I got so involved, because I know what it meant to me, and I want to make sure it is there for everybody else.

“It doesn’t matter how religious you are, and you don’t have to be Jewish either,” Max said. “It’s putting different people in an environment where they can have fun together and learn from each other. In today’s world, that’s big.”