by BZ · Sunday, April 13th, 2008
This year’s Boston Marathon, traditionally held on Patriots’ Day (the third Monday in April), will be on the second day of Pesach. The Associated Press reports on Rabbi Jonah Pesner and other Pesach-observant marathon runners, and how they are reconciling the Pesach diet and the marathon diet.
Passover begins just two days before the April 21 marathon, and the holiday’s strict dietary rules mean Jewish runners can’t eat bread and pasta, the normal staples in the days before the big race.
Besides matzoh, which is unleavened bread, Pesner plans to pound down foods such as potatoes during a rare “carb-load seder” the night before the race.
Pesner never considered breaking the dietary rules for the sake of the race, which he is running with his wife for an autism charity.
“For me, running the marathon is a very spiritual quest,” he said.
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by YehuditBrachah · Friday, February 29th, 2008
Sports Illustrated is covering a story about a boys basketball team that might be forced to end their playoff run because they are shomer shabbat.
If Herzl/RMHA makes it to the regional championship and refuses to play a Saturday game, another school would be chosen to take its place, CHSAA commissioner Bill Reader said.
Earlier this month, the Colorado High School Activities Association, which governs sports and other high school activities, rejected the team’s request for a schedule change.
The State Senate got into the action, too:
Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, said the CHSAA’s decision was ironic because it has a rule barring games from being played on Sunday for religious reasons.
Full story here.
by BZ · Thursday, February 21st, 2008
Step aside, Snood. Stand back, Seterra. Scram, Scrabulous. There’s a new addictive online game that everyone is playing! People are getting hooked by the Mandel Fellows in Jewish Education Game, sitting in front of their screens for hours.
There isn’t much in the way of instructions, but just start playing and you can figure it out pretty quickly. Not to toot my own horn too much, but I got up to Level 12. But then I got stumped. Has anyone figured out how to beat that level? Drop me a line if you do.
by masthead · Saturday, October 27th, 2007
A Jewschool exclusive, written by Rabbi Elie Kaunfer
It is clear to any baseball fan, and to anyone with a sense of history, that the Red Sox are the Jews, and the Yankees are Ancient Rome, Assyria, or pick your classic nation-state villain. The Yankees are a world-class dynasty, always pull it out, conquer the world with their braggadocio. And the Red Sox are the band of rebels that always find a way to come close to redemption, but blow it in the end. Think Bar Kochba: sure they attain independence for a few years (win the division title) but when it comes to restoring the monarchy (World Series), not a chance.
Until 2004. That year was “next year.†The first World Series victory since 1918. It was the year I got married, and my brother joked in his toast (in mid-July), that I am a true-believer, and “this is the year†for the Sox. But it turned out to really be the year: Johnny Damon and the Sox crew
pulled off the greatest baseball comeback of all time, down 3-0 against the Yankees, with perhaps the most exciting week of baseball yet.
Yet here we are, still living in an unredeemed world. How can it be? As a kid, religion and baseball were always intertwined. I got Bar Mitzvahed during the 1986 World Series, when the Sox lost to the Mets in stunning fashion. That was the year Peter Gammons wrote a column that began: “How will it feel if the Red Sox ever win?…How in God’s name will it feel?â€
It felt great. Incredible, in fact. Celebrating at a “Red Sox bar†in the heart of NYC, all the fans finally coming out of hiding. But what do you do afterward? This is baseball, after all, so shouldn’t everything change when the Sox win? I find myself wondering: Is it better to be crushed by the near-misses or to be lulled by victory?
There are those who are getting used to the Sox winning ways. Time to cast off the tragic New England mindset, and grow into a dynasty. But that ignores the essence of the Sox, their Jewish neshama. As Mike Barnicle once wrote: “Baseball is not a life and death matter, but the Red Sox are.†Are they, though, if they turn into Rome?
So I am watching this World Series with confusion. Of course I am pulling for the Sox, and I am astounded at their comeback against Cleveland. But when the New York Times publishes a column calling the Red Sox the new Yankees, all cannot be right. The cosmos seems out of order. One can only hope that true Messianic redemption will feel different.
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, a Sox fan living in exlile, is executive director of Mechon Hadar: An Institute for Prayer, Personal Growth and Jewish Study. Mechon Hadar has launched the first full-time independent egalitarian yeshiva in the United States: Yeshivat Hadar To see some highlights of our 2007 summer, click here.
by matthue · Monday, October 15th, 2007
From my Uncle Richie comes this story about Jews at a tailgate party in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
What’s really cool about the story, imo, is that it’s from a regular old perspective — it’s not a Chabad story, it’s not even really a story aimed at Jews. Hidden inside is the subtext of a Packers offensive lineman who became baal teshuva, but at the story’s heart it’s middle America seeing religious Jews as, hey wait!, they’re normal folks who do this instead of going to church on Sunday.
Check this out:
The group’s morning prayers include the use of a prayer book.
Pretty awesome, no? In the end, the article finishes on a high note: “‘I think it’s important to be proud of being Jewish,’ said Veingrad, the former Packers offensive lineman.” Word.
by YehuditBrachah · Tuesday, September 18th, 2007
It’s hard enough being a young female rabbi without inadvertantly offending the key master of the entire Boston Jewish community. [I'm late in posting this, I blame the holidays.]
For those of you who haven’t been following football, the uproar in Boston right now is over charges that Patriots coach Bill Belichick knowingly had a Patriots employee videotape opposition plays to get the scoop on their offense before the game. Belichick has been fined $500,000, and it’s pretty disgraceful for the Pats (who nonetheless creamed the competition on Sunday without videotape help, go Pats!). Many of you know the name Bob Kraft from Kraft stadium in Israel, from his great philathropic work in the Boston Jewish community and around the world. You should also, then, know that he is the owner of the Patriots and a davenner in Newton, MA.
Well, seems that on Rosh Hashanah, the rabbi at Kraft’s shul decided to use perhaps an unfortunate metaphor in her sermon — as covered by Jason Schwartz on the Boston Daily Blog of Boston Magazine.
Her main trope was that people should act as as though God is always watching them. Not a bad lesson, except that in making her point she must have made an endless number of references to acting like you’re being videotaped. This was awkward… The guy sitting next to my dad leaned over and whispered, “Does she even know Bob Kraft goes to this Temple?†and a hefty portion of the congregation craned their necks over to Kraft’s pew toward the front. To his credit, he didn’t have any sort of discernible reaction. But, about five seconds after that sermon mercifully ended, he was up and out of there. In fairness, it was toward the end of the service and plenty of other people were leaving too, but trust me, there was no hesitation in his step.
Funny in its own right. What isn’t funny are some of the posts in response. Mostly they are other members of the shul rebuking Schwartz for his opinion/for exposing the incident. Some good stuff there. Some, however, focused on the rabbi:
“Saul” wrote:
The more important question here is why the rabbi of your congregation is a woman. There’s no way a male rabbi would have not known about the sensitive situation Mr. Kraft is in. This is just another example of what happens when a woman does a MAN’s job.
And “Bob” (presumably not Kraft) wrote:
The blogger did not embarrass Bob Kraft - the rabbi did that all by herself. And the blogger didn’t embarrass the rabbi - she did that all by herself, too. After years of her silly sermons where she tries to find spiritual messages to share with the congregation in tales of her daughter’s poop-filled diapers, and all the other stories of her kids, her mother-in-law, her cooking, her…. on an on…. she is clearly beyond feeling embarrassment. This is not the first time she stumbled into inflaming the sensitivities of the community. Maybe next sermon she can talk about harming people through acts that are intentional vs reckless vs simpleminded and uninformed. That would make for a good Yom Kippur sermon, as long as she doesn’t include more stories about her kids.
Errr… Does this mean that all stories of family and home-based experiences should be left off the bimah, while sports analogies are encouraged as long as they are sensitive to the feelings of sports celebrities??
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Sunday, September 2nd, 2007
OK, I grant you, this isn’t exactly my usual territory, but I just had to share with you all. Salon contributor Jonah Keri writes about the 18 best Jewish ballplayers of all time. I’m not sure whether that’s exactly a special honor (I mean, how many are there total? He had to count people who didn’t even count themselves as Jewish, like Rod Carew) but in these last lingering days of summer, as I notice all the pools closing for the last time tomorrow, I am feeling the call of my old baseball summers, when I would listen to the Orioles on the radio, which is, IMO, the best way to follow a baseball game, if you’re not actually playing, yourself.
The best thing, of course, is to haul out to a field with a mitt and scare people into dropping their bats while the ball shaves their chest hair (if they’re guys).
14) Kevin Youkilis
In Michael Lewis’ bestseller “Moneyball,” Billy Beane famously referred to Youkilis as “the Greek God of Walks.” Not quite. The Red Sox first baseman has parlayed a great batting eye into a key role on baseball’s best team. But he’s actually Jewish, not Greek. He’s also the inspiration for the funniest Internet clip ever about Jews in baseball. “Where’s Mel Gibson now?! Where’s Mel Gibson now?! He’s in rehab, and Youkilis is at first base!”
by Josh Frankel · Monday, June 25th, 2007
3,112 fans from across Israel converged on the Baptist Village outside of Petach Tikva for the opening game of the Israel Baseball League. The baseball was real, the hotdogs were Kosher, and the kids had a great time. All around the diamond, children, many of whom at their first ball game ran around collecting foul balls, and getting anybody wearing a uniform to sign them. These players, many of whom were passed over in the recent draft got to feel like they were in the big leagues, or at least the Cape Cod league.
More »
by LastTrumpet · Sunday, June 17th, 2007
I tend to agree with Chomsky’s view of spectator sports, and I generally find many of my fellow Bostonian’s relationship to their team to be rather golden calf-ish, but I’m posting this anyway.
From the newest issue of AJL:
There are five seminal moments in the history of Jewish baseball players. Four of them involve the Boston Red Sox. Only one of them involves the New York Yankees. I really think you should do the math.
The history Jewish players have with the Red Sox is only the first reason why — please sit down now — Jews should not support the Yankees. It’s simple logic. The Yankees and Red Sox hate each other, or at the very least, Yankees and Red Sox fans hate each other.[1] Jewish players have a greater history with Boston. Thus Jewish pride demands some form of (at least) token support for the Red Sox, and any support of the Red Sox cannot exist alongside Yankee fandom.
Please do not try this. A Red Sox fan and a Yankee fan in the same body is a paradox of universe-obliterating proportions. Do you really want to be responsible for the end of all existence?
I’m offering this argument for your own good. I even traveled to the team’s spring training to meet Jewish Red Sox and bring you back their story, though that turned into an adventure all its own.[2] Too long have Jews paid homage to the Yankees and their pinstripes. It makes sense, the center of the Jewish universe being in New York[3], but we should be asking, “What have you done for us lately?â€
The answer is and always has been, “Not much.†In fact, the Yankees have on occasion screwed us out of our rightful due. I will explain everything to you, but first, the aforementioned seminal moments and why all Jews should love the Boston Red Sox and hate the New York Yankees:
Full story.
by EV · Thursday, March 29th, 2007
I hate you because I love you because I envy you because I hate you because I love you – you know what I mean.
“I’ve got big-time lawyers. I’ve got big-time Jew lawyers. … They know that in this country the Jews are running it if you really think about it. I mean, which is not a bad thing, you know what I mean? … They got a lot of power in this world, you know what I mean? Which I think is great. I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with it. If you look in most professional sports, they’re run by Jewish people. If you look at a lot of most successful corporations and stuff, more businesses, they’re run by Jewish. It’s not a knock, but they are some crafty people. Listen, they are hated all over the world, so they’ve got to be crafty.”
– Former Knicks and Nets player Micheal Ray Richardson
Full story.
by Mobius · Wednesday, March 28th, 2007
It’s been nearly four years since this segment was done on Dimitry Salita, the ba’al teshuva boxer (incidentally managed by his Chabad shaliach), otherwise known as the “Star of David.” Since its airing, Salita has remained undefeated, scoring 15 knockouts among his 26 victories. Despite his success, Salita’s been somewhat neglected as a fighter, thus far having been denied the chance to rise above his status as junior welterweight champion.
But perhaps that’s about to change. ESPN says he’s long overdue for a shot at the big leagues.
In the weird world of pugilism, where promotional spark is three-quarters of the battle, I have a theory. As long as Salita remains undefeated, his handlers and matchmakers can assure themselves a gate by hyping the story line of Great Jewish Hope en route to the top. It’s a guaranteed money maker: while Jewish people often struggle when it comes to slugging a baseball or dunking or knocking out a bully, we worship the chosen few among us who can.
[...]
But now, it’s time. When Salita inevitably defeats Wiley for his 27th win, he deserves — needs — a big fight. Give him Arturo Gatti. Give him Ricardo Torres. Heck, give him Ricky Hatton.
Yeah, maybe he’ll lose.
But at least he’ll no longer be Dmitriy Salita, the Jewish fighter.
He’ll be Dmitriy Salita, the boxer.
Full story.
by deitybox · Sunday, January 21st, 2007
Each year, an Israeli organization called Tsad Kadima (Step Forward) hosts the Hike for Hope (website will be updated this week), a three-day hike on the Israel Trail on May 2-4 to raise money for kids with cerebral palsy. They’re a great organization, and it’s a really innovative way to give to a good cause.
You register, then you work to get sponsored at least $1,000, so if they have 45 hikers, they’ve just made $45,000 to help kids with CP and you get an amazing life-changing experience. Win-win situation. The registration fee covers all hike costs – food, tents, mattresses, etc. Shared cabins are additional.
Tsad Kadima is hosting two informational meetings, one in Jerusalem and one in Tel Aviv. Go, bring a friend, get involved. If you can’t hike, consider co-sponsoring someone.
In Jerusalem:
Monday, January 22 @ 19:30
Kehillat Yedidya, 23 Nahum Lifshitz St., Baka, Jerusalem (contact marc {at} amav(.)net)
In Tel Aviv:
Monday, February 5 @ 20:00
17/3 Rechov Yishkon, Kerem HaTeimanim, Tel Aviv
(contact yonawise {at} 013(.)net)
For more details, call 02-654-0062 or email step {at} zahav.net(.)il
by TheBarkin · Saturday, August 26th, 2006
The NY Times has an article on the Mets’ newly acquired Jewish right-fielder Shawn Green. The story quotes lots of Jewish baseball experts and a kid with Jewish hair.
I gotta tell you… I’m a freakin’ huge baseball fan. And I’m a professional Jew. And I couldn’t care less what religion Green is. I didn’t even care when he was on the Dodgers (who lost tonite in extra innings… F%$*!).
Why are people obsessed with Jewish baseball players?
(In an unrelated note… at a party last night someone says to me, “You contribute to Jewschool, right? That is so cool.” Heh.)
by Ruby K · Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006
You probably shouldn’t get Mel Gibson Mets tickets anytime soon either.
Shawn Green’s career with the Diamondbacks has come to an end.
The veteran outfielder was dealt along with cash considerations to the Mets on Tuesday in exchange for Minor League left-hander Evan MacLane, the Diamondbacks announced Tuesday night.
Arguably the most prominent active Jewish ballplayer, Green’s arrival in New York (while not exactly the second coming of Sanford Koufax) is a smart pickup for the Mets, who try to shore up their outfield in time for the stretch run. But with the Mets making a serious run to the National League pennant, the chaggim located prominently in September/October, and with Yom Kippur day conceivably the Mets first playoff game, will Green sit the games out, Sandy style?? My hope is that Youklis, Gabe Kapler, and Theo won’t have to worry about that dilemma.
Somewhere in heaven, my Nanny’s excited Shawn Green is coming to Queens. But I still prefer my Jews for Jeter gear.
Update: our focus on the Jewish perspective scooped the AP wire:
As baseball’s most prominent Jewish player, Green said the opportunity to continue his career in New York was another factor that persuaded him to agree to the trade.
“It’s something that’s always intrigued me,†Green said. “New York is head and shoulders the largest Jewish population in the country, if not the world, and it will be an interesting and fun experience for me. I’m looking forward to being part of the Jewish community there.â€
by Mobius · Tuesday, July 11th, 2006
Have you ever noticed how much the words ollie and aliyah have in common?
Peep the first ever Jerusalem skate video, brought to you by the fine folks at Gili’s Skateboards, makers of the awesomely kitschy Tzahal skate deck.
They ain’t the greatest skaters in the world, but damn if they ain’t committed.
Note to parents and educators who want to spark their children’s interest in Israel: Kids eat this sh*t up.
by John Brown · Friday, July 7th, 2006
Ynet reports:
Two Israelis reach tallest point in the world as part of ‘Everest Climb for Peace’ expedition; one of them plants Israeli and Palestinian flags on summit as gesture to fellow Palestinian mountain climber who collapsed on way to top
Full story here
