Subscribe“Jews for Giants” in the NJ Jewish News
It doesn’t happen that often that there’s any kind of local angle, so we decided to make the Super Bowl our cover story in the print edition this week.
Because, you know, it’s all about the Jews.
Ron Kaplan
Ron Kaplan is the sports and features editor for the New Jersey Jewish News. Drop him a line at rkaplan (at) njjewishnews (dot) com.
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giants’ linebacker may be jewish; he’s certainly eligible for aliya. from espn (http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/7526225/super-bowl-2012-new-york-giants-mark-herzlich-encourages-others-stricken-cancer):
The Herzlichs were tough people from tough stock. Mark’s grandfather, Eric, was 4 years old in 1939 when his parents fled Austria because, Eric said by phone, “it was a great time to get out of Austria if you were Jewish.”
Eric’s father, Morris, left nearly everything behind to escape Nazi persecution, made it safely to England, and eventually boarded his family on a ship bound for New York, the same ship that carried Mark’s maternal grandmother to the States before it was sunk by a German submarine on the way back.
Morris arrived in New York with $10 in his pocket, and started building a new life for his family by selling neckties in the street. So no, generations later, the Herzlichs were never conditioned to accept life’s worst-case scenarios. They were fighters, achievers, people accustomed to winning.
A youth lacrosse coach, Sandy played lacrosse and football at Wesleyan University . A high school squash coach, Barb had been a three-sport star at Wesleyan and had been inducted into the school’s inaugural Hall of Fame class with none other than Bill Belichick.
According to a story in the New York Daily News,
Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Mark isn’t Jewish, but it seems unlikely.
Many thanks to eagle-eyed Bob “Day by Day in Jewish Sports History” Wechsler for the link to the Daily News piece.
Well, as a Jets fan, I have decided supporting the Patriots is the lesser of two evils here. At least the geographical distance makes it less likely to run into braggarts. As for the Jewish angle, I’ve noticed some outlets still bringing up the Julian Edelman story. Dennis Miller even predicted that Edelman would be the first “half-Jewish” MVP of a SB on the O’Reilly Factor show last night. Not to say I disagree with Ron, who if I remember correctly contacted the Pats front office regarding his heritage, and was told he grew up practicing Christianity, but if he is in fact at least acknowledging his connection to Judaism that’s good to hear, and maybe enough for some to include him on the MOT list. He’s an exciting player to watch and it’s pretty cool that he’s able to play on both offense and defense, as well as special teams, in this day and age.
I guess the other Jewish theme with the Pats is the Kraft family, probably the best known and most successful Jewish owners in the NFL. They have another chance to add a fourth SB title to their legacy. It’s also kind of nice that New England has dedicated the season to Myra Kraft, Bob Kraft’s late wife. Reading their comments, you could tell many of the players genuinely cared for her and it’s not just lip service. Finally, Andre Tippett, a HOF player for NE in the 80s and a great defensive end also converted to Judaism from what I understand, and I believe he holds a position in the front office. On the other side, the Giants are also 50 percent owned by Jews via the Tisch family, and I guess you can throw in the Herzlich nugget now too.
Ze marriage announcement of his parents
http://www.nytimes.com/1983/06/26/style/miss-martin-has-nuptials.html
Mother not Jewish – Mark’s parents married in a church.
P.S. as for that guy Dylan Axelrod – discussed elsewhere on this blog, his paternal grandfather was Jewish, his other grandparents were not. But maybe you saw that already.