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Hello and happy September! It’s been a solid season for the orthodox pitching contender Jacob Steinmetzwho scored the first win of his pro career this week with Arizona Diamondbacks single-A affiliate Visalia Rawhides.
A Washington Post article details how the 20-year-old, an Orthodox minor-league Jew, navigates his way around—from flying in kosher groceries from Los Angeles to walking to the ballpark on Shabbat.
Your Jewish Guide to the New NFL Season
From left: Michael Dunn, Jake Curhan, Greg Joseph and AJ Dillon. (Getty Images/Design by Mollie Suss)
Football fans rejoice: Week 1 of the NFL season begins on Thursday evening.
There are four Jewish players to watch at the start of the season, along with a few free agents and other Jewish storylines to keep an eye on.
Here are the Jewish players starting the season on the NFL rosters:
- Jake CurhanOffensive tackle by the Seattle Seahawks
- AJ DillonGreen Bay Packers running back
- Michael DunnOffensive player for the Cleveland Browns
- Greg JosephMinnesota Vikings kicker
Read our full preview of the NFL season here.
mid-term report
GOLDEN. Israel won two gold medals at the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Spain last weekend, including in the all-around group category – the country’s first gold medal at the tournament. “We are really happy that we managed to get this medal and that we had the chance to shout the anthem from the podium,” said the team captain Romi Paritzki.
FORBIDDEN. Iran has banned one of its weightlifters for life after he shook hands with an Israeli athlete at the 2023 World Champion Weightlifting Championships in Poland.
MORE THAN A GAME. In 1983, campers at a Canadian Jewish summer camp played a basketball game against a group of children who had been students of a notorious Holocaust denier. Forty years later, the experience remains formative Hart Snider, who created a short film and comic book memoir about it. Snider recently returned to camp to celebrate the game’s anniversary.
THANKS? Jewish golfer Max Homa is expected to compete in its inaugural Ryder Cup, the biannual competition involving teams from the United States and Europe, later this month. When the US team was announced this week, Zach Johnson also jokingly named Homa the roster’s “prom king” – an honor that was met with confused enthusiasm by the 7th-ranked PGA golfer.
THAT’S ENOUGH. Israeli UFC fighter Nathan Levy He told TMZ he constantly takes a stand against anti-Semitic messages online, including many Holocaust denials. (Levy recently challenged an online troll to a fight.)
Yummy. Legendary Katz’s Deli announced it is collaborating with WNBA superstar Sabrina Ionescu on a new “Triple Double Stacker Sandwich” featuring corned beef, brisket and pastrami in honor of Ionescu’s three triple-doubles in one season and her new Nike shoe – the company’s first-ever unisex signature footwear collection. (Ionescu is not Jewish.)
Is the pen mightier than the bat?
Veteran catcher Ryan Lavarnway has written a children’s book about his experiences playing for Team Israel. (Getty; book page courtesy of Ryan Lavarnway)
Ryan Lavarnway, a journeyman catcher who played for eight teams in ten MLB seasons, officially retired from professional baseball earlier this year. In addition to his new role as TV analyst for the Colorado Rockies, Lavarnway has just released a children’s book about how playing for Team Israel brought him closer to Judaism.
The book follows Lavarnway’s baseball journey from childhood to the pros and examines how an offer to play for Israel transformed both his career and his life.
“Playing for the World Baseball Classic team in 2017 was a really life-changing experience for me,” Lavarnway told me. “I didn’t feel any great connection to my Judaism, to any religion, or to the community at all. It was when I played for Team Israel that I felt it for the first time.”
Read more about the new book here.
This weekend you can see Jews doing sports
🎾 OPEN IN THE US…
The US Open is underway in New York and some Jewish (or Jewish neighboring) players are still fighting. Aslan Karatsev, who was born in Russia but moved to Israel when he was three years old, meets Ben Shelton in the third round of men’s singles at 12:15 pm ET today. Ukrainian star Elina Svitolinawho had a Jewish grandmother will face Jessica Pegula in the third round tomorrow, scheduled for 11am ET. Madison Brengle, Camila Giorgi And Diego Schwartzman – who has been going through a difficult period lately – all lost in the first round.
⚾️ IN BASEBALL…
Max Fried takes the mound for his Atlanta Braves against the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight at 10:10 p.m. ET. Harrison Baderwho was fired by the Yankees and then acquired by the Cincinnati Reds this week, could make his debut for his new team in the series against the Chicago Cubs. Garrett Stubbs and the Philadelphia Phillies go head-to-head Rowdy Tellez and the Milwaukee Brewers while Zack Gelof and the Oakland Athletics meet the Los Angeles Angels and the substitute Kenny Rosenberg.
⚽️ IN FOOTBALL…
Mansion Solomon and Tottenham meets Burnley at 10am ET on Saturday Matt Turner and Nottingham Forest take on Chelsea at the same time. Solomon hasn’t seen much playing time in Tottengam’s Premier League games but the Israel striker played 81 minutes in Tuesday’s EFL Cup game against his old squad Fulham. Turner, meanwhile, has started all three games for Nottingham and has saved 73.7% of his shots so far.
🏎️ IN THE RACE…
Lance Stroll is on Sunday at 9am ET for this weekend’s Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix. It has been confirmed that the Aston Martin driver will retain his spot for next season.
tires for a good cause
Children attend a basketball training session in Philadelphia on August 27, 2023. (Courtesy of Jared Armstrong)
Last weekend Jewish basketball player Jared Armstrong, who plays professionally in Israel, ran a free clinic in Philadelphia to promote black-Jewish relations. Here’s a photo from Armstrong’s camp. For more information, see this interview Armstrong conducted with Philly’s local ABC News affiliate during the event.
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