SubscribeThe next best thing to Disney World: Judaism and Baseball retreat
Surely you remember these. But for me, going to “Judaism and Baseball” at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT, next weekend will be even more fun.
The program, which runs from Friday, June 29, to Sunday, July 1, features a number of speakers with whom I have become well familiar since taking over sports at the paper, as well as others I look forward to meeting for the first time.
Among the All-Star lineup of folks who will be shepping nachas about the National Pastime:
* Martin Abramowitz, creator of the Jewish Major Leaguer card set;
* Ambassador Dan Kurtzer, who served as commissioner for the short-lived Israel Baseball League;
* Ira Berkow and Aviva Kempner, each of whom has worked on prominent Hank Greenberg projects;
* authors Howard Megdal (The Baseball Talmud), Peter Levine (Ellis Island to Ebbets Field: Sport and the American Jewish Experience), Rabbi Rebecca Alpert (Out of Left Field: Jews and Black Baseball), and Arthur Kurzweil (Torah for Dummies);
* Rabbi Michael Paley, who appeared in the documentary Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story;
* sportswriter Stan Hochman of the Philadelphia Daily News;
* former JML Bob Tufts and former pro ballplayer Justine Siegal;
* writer/performer Mikhail Horowitz;
* Bob Ruxin, a consultant to the IBL and author of An Athlete’s Guide to Agents.
The program features such thought-provoking topics as:
* “If the Talmud Contains Everything, What Does the Talmud Say About Baseball?”
* “Yom Kippur on the Diamond from Greenberg to Braun”
* “The Mystical Connections Between Judaism and Baseball”
* “Baseball as the Great Assimilator: Is it still that way?”
* A plenary on “Why ask ‘Who’s a Jew?’ in baseball”
* “Jewish Women as Baseball Fans”
* The Responsibility of Jews in Baseball”
Also on the schedule: an interactive mock draft of Jewish baseball players, a rendition of “Yiddishe Casey at the Bat,” a concert of baseball songs by Dan Bern, and a screening of the feature film The Yankels.
There are still some spots available, so if you’re as fascinated with the topic as I am, I expect to see you there.
Looking forward to seeing you at the retreat Ron. This event has been circled on my calendar for quite some time. I hope to chat with you about the Red Sox 1945 tryout attended by Jackie Robinson 2 years before the Brooklyn brought Jackie to the majors. This event was brought about through the efforts of a Jewish city councilor who was all about social justice. Had the Sox followed Muchnick’s lead, rather than being the last team to integrate, Boston could have been the first. Think of the possibilities. That’s why we are working on debunking the curse. Paul