The refusal by Iran’s world judo champion to compete against Israelis in Athens is part of the Jewish state’s long tangle with political hostility on the playing field. In ancient times, the period of the Olympic Games was a time when enemies laid down their arms and chose sportsmanship over war. "If you are looking… More ▸
Olympic teams from countries outside of Israel and the United States will be notably short on Jewish athletes during the Athens Games. Still, from weightliftinglifting to soccer to table tennis, several Jewish athletes will be displaying the colors of their respective countries during the competition in Greece, which gets under way Aug. 13. Following are… More ▸
Jewish baseball players will be celebrated at baseball’s Hall of Fame. The celebration will take place Aug. 29-30 at the Hall of Fame museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. The event was spurred by the publication of a 143-card set of Jewish major leaguers developed by Martin Abramowitz, a baseball fan and executive at the Boston Jewish… More ▸
They are the sleeping giant of American Jewish life. JCCs reach 800,000 homes with 1.7 million Jews — one-third of the entire U.S. Jewish community — surpassing even the burgeoning Reform movement’s membership rolls, according to a new report for the JCC Association of North America. Yet few Jews realize it. “JCCs need to be… More ▸
In a 1991 episode of NBC’s game show “To Tell the Truth,” a bearded Orthodox Jew named Arthur Shugarman had the show’s celebrity panel stumped: Was his job to help people get rid of their New York accents, or was he the nation’s only maker of rabbi trading cards? Back then, few had heard of… More ▸
Yael Kolett got goosebumps when elderly Uruguayan Jews at the Jewish Home for the Aged in Montevideo sang Hava Nagila with her, tapping the table with their spoons. Ashley Goldberg nearly cried when a thin girl held her hand at Ieladeinu, a Buenos Aires home for Jewish children at risk. Rachael Kansas remembered what she… More ▸
Anti-Semitic remarks during a basketball game between two prestigious New York City private schools are causing controversy. Several students at Trinity School chanted anti-Semitic slurs at a Jewish player from Dalton School during the Jan. 31 game, according to The New York Times. More ▸
A baseball pitcher and a former top-10 tennis player are among six people named to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Steve Stone, who won the Cy Young Award with the Baltimore Orioles in 1980, and Harold Solomon were recently named to the hall, which has its museum in Netanya, Israel. More ▸
A Jewish baseball player has the beginning and end dates of the Holocaust tattooed on his right leg. Gabe Kapler of the Boston Red Sox also has a Star of David on his left leg, according to the Boston Jewish Advocate. “I’d like to be recognized as a baseball payer first, but that’s out of… More ▸
Like millions of New Yorkers, David Vyorst grew up worshiping the Knicks. His basketball gods were named Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Walt Frazier and Willis Reed. His temple was Madison Square Garden. When Vyorst’s father spoke reverently of Nat Holman, he “thought it was just some guy my dad was babbling… More ▸
