NEW HAVEN — For New Haven residents Dov and Nechama Langenauer, this Israel trip will be different from all previous trips Dov will be viewing Israel from his bike, and Nechama will be supporting riders on the Wheels of Love International Alyn Charity Bike Ride. The ride will take place November 9 – 13 and will benefit Alyn Hospital, Israel’s premier Pediatric and Adolescence Rehabilitation Center.

The Langenauers, Westville residents for 43 years and grandparents of seven, have a very strong connection to Israel. They have an apartment in Jerusalem, and many family members who live in the Jewish state, including an adult son studying in yeshivah.

“My parents came to Israel after the Holocaust,” notes Nechama, “I was born in Israel and lived there until I was nine. It was always my parents’ dream to go back.”

For Nechama, this trip will be a poignant one. Her father, Rabbi Avraham Eliezri, died in January, 2007 and was buried in Beit Shemesh, and her mother, Shalva Eliezri, died just fifteen months after later. Her three siblings and many other relatives will be in Israel for her mother’s unveiling, which will take place several days following the bike ride.

Dov, a child psychiatrist, who works at Saint Frances Hospital in Hartford, and serves as medical director of the adolescent inpatient unit at Hartford’s Mount Sinai Hospital, playfully explains why he is participating in this years’ Alyn ride. “I love bike riding, and I love Israel. It is a way to combine two of my three loves!” He then remembers that his wife will be joining him as a volunteer and corrects himself, noting that he can combine all three of his loves. Langenauer adds, “It is a chance to help and support a tremendous hospital, devoted to children with severe disabilities.”

With Nechama leaving for Israel ahead of her husband, Dov can focus on training for the ride, and continue getting sponsors. “I am working on building my distance,” he reports.

If the experience of fellow bike rider, Rabbi Joel Levenson of Congregation B’nai Jacob in Woodbridge is informative, perhaps Langenauer should focus on the hills as well. “I rode my bike from Jerusalem to Eilat with the 2004 Hazon/Arava Israel bike ride. On our way out of Jerusalem, we made our way up Nes HeHarim – Miracle of the Mountain. After cycling to the top, we said to each other that the ‘miracle’ was that we made it to the top!” Levenson notes.

Langenauer remains very upbeat and excited. “Riding in Israel always gives one the feeling of being both in the present and the past. Each view, each landmark is a connection to our religious and national past”.

Those wishing to sponsor Dov Langenauer’s ride and support Alyn Hospital may send a check made out to “American Friends of Alyn Hospital” to Dr. Dov Langenauer, 2115 Chapel St., New Haven, CT 06515. For more information, visit: http://www.alynride.org

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NEW HAVEN — For two Jewish tennis players, New Haven is a great place to stop by on the road to the U.S. Open. American Jesse Levine, the 106th ranked mens player in the world, and Israeli Dudi Sela, ranked 75, spent last week at the Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament at Yales Connecticut Tennis Center in New haven, before heading off to New York to take their place in the main mens draw in the U.S. Open, which kicked off on Aug. 25.

Levine, 20, was born in Ottawa, Canada and moved with his family to Boca Raton, Fla. when he was thirteen, training at the Chris Evert Tennis Academy and at the Bollettieri Academy. The 5 9 Levine attended the Hillel Academy, a Jewish day school in Canada. He keeps a kosher home, often wears a Magen David around his neck. His successful juniors career included winning the Wimbledon doubles championship in 2005, and reaching the quarterfinals in singles that same year. Levine briefly attended the University of Florida in 2007, where he was 24-1, but withdrew in August 2007 to turn professional.He moved up in the rankings from 483 a year ago, to his current rank of 106. This year, he advanced to the second round at both Wimbledon and the Australian Open, and he won a Challenger event at Bradenton, Fla.

Levine was lucky in New Haven. He did not initially secure a spot in the main mens draw; Levine, playing sick in the qualifying rounds, was ousted in the second round of the qualifiers. Once Juan Martin Del Porto withdrew from the tournament, Levine was given a lucky loser spot, which entitled him to a spot in the main draw and a bye in the opening round. He went on to win his second round match against Spains Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-0, 6-3. Levines luck continued in the third round when Steve Darcis of Belgium withdrew due to back problems. He advanced to the quarter finals against American Mardy Fish, number 35 in the world. While Levine was defeated 6-3, 7-6, he was delighted to make it to his first quarterfinals of a major tournament. Jesse is a good young junior with a bright future, noted Fish.

Levine has enjoyed his involvement with Israeli players and members of various Jewish communities while on the professional tour.I have a lot of contact with the Israeli players, like Ram, Erlich, Sela and Levy. They sometimes ask me when I will play for Israel in the Davis Cup, he said.

He also appreciates the Jewish fans who cheer for him. At the tournament in Washington last week, they cheered and said things like, Come on, man, your opponent hasnt even had his bar mitzvah yet!

Israelis Moving Up
While Israeli Noam Okun lost in the qualifying rounds and did not make it in to the Pilot Pen main draw, Israeli Dudi Sela, won his first round match against American Donald Young, 6-4, 6-2. Sela lost in the second round to hard hitting left hander, Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

Sela, the first Israeli man in seven years to break in to the top 100, is proud to represent Israel in tournaments around the world. And he has enjoyed the support he receives from Jewish communities around the world. It is always very good to see Jews supporting me. I won a recent tournament in Vancouver because the Jewish community came out to support me! he said. Sela, and fellow Israelis Andy Ram, Yoni Erlich, and 24th-seededShahar Peer will play in the upcoming U.S. Open.

Though upset that he was not invited to play for Israel in the Olympics, Sela is particularly proud of his two recent matches in the David Cup which each lasted more than five hours and resulted in victories against Chile.

It was a very good experience for me, and for my career – hey were my biggest wins so far, and they gave me a big push he said.

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Bruce Beck had to sing in order to get a world exclusive with Israel’s only Olympic Gold medalist.

Every Jewish man remembers his bar mitzvah. Some even remember parts of their haftarah. Rarely does this ‘feat’ get them anywhere in life. Not the case for New York’s NBC TV sports anchor and reporter, Bruce Beck. Bruce grew up in Livingston, New Jersey, 25 miles southwest of Manhattan. Following a traditional, pretty much unremarkable, bar mitzvah in 1969, he attended Ithaca College in upstate New York and became a sports broadcaster. Beck has been the weekend sports anchor for News 4 New York for the past 11 years. As part of Beck’s “dream job,” he has covered Super Bowl XLII, the World Series, the NBA finals, the Stanley Cup Finals, The US Open Tennis Championship, the US Open Golf Championship, the NCAA Final Four and the Kentucky Derby. Nothing, however, he maintains, compares to his’s coverage of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, when windsurfer Gal Friedman became the first Israeli to ever win an Olympic gold medal. “I was down at the windsurfing venue trying to get an interview,” reports Beck. “The way it works is that you wait in the mixed zone, a little control area behind fences, with all of the international reporters.”

Beck was waiting patiently when all reporters were told that Gal Friedman would not be coming through the mixed zone. After the 1972 Munich massacre, Israeli athletes simply do not grant en-masse interviews. But Beck was determined. He called Jerusalem and got a hold of Israel’s press liaison in an attempt to find out where in Athens the Israeli delegation was staying. He was then given the name of the local Israeli press secretary in Greece. After a lot of schmoozing, and his revelation of the fact that he was Jewish, the pleasant, persistent reporter was given the name of the hotel. When Beck arrived at the location, the prospects of meeting Friedman seemed slim. Again, all the reporters were waiting behind a fence. “I just needed to get in to interview Friedman. What could I do? I couldn’t speak or read Hebrew very well. I wasn’t a very good Hebrew school student. But I have a very good memory. I am a reporter. And to this day, I remembered my entire haftarah by heart. “So I started singing my haftarah, the special one for Machar Chodesh – the lovely story of David and Jonathan – for the Israeli press secretary. He was so moved that he said, ‘Bruce, come in, we want you to talk to Gal.'” And Beck got the exclusive – he was the only reporter in the world granted access to Gal Friedman. “Gal knew the whole story. He knew that I sang for the press secretary. He laughed. We talked about Munich, the fight for survival of Jews in their homeland, what it would be like to hear Hatikvah that night as he received his gold medal, etc.”

Beck looks back fondly on the story as a rare moment when a reporter’s religious background actually opened an important door, and when the reporter became part of his own story. “Journalists from all around the world wanted to know why Gal Friedman was such a big story, and how I was picked to interview him.”

“Here I was in Athens, Greece – 4,500 miles from home, in the cradle of Western Civilization – never prouder to be an American – never prouder to be a Jew.”

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Original Article Published on The Jerusalem Post

Every Jewish man remembers his bar mitzvah.

Some even remember parts of their haftarah. Rarely does this ‘feat’ get them anywhere in life. Not the case for New York’s NBC TV sports anchor and reporter, Bruce Beck.

Bruce grew up in Livingston, New Jersey, 25 miles southwest of Manhattan. Following a traditional, pretty much unremarkable, bar mitzvah in 1969, he attended Ithaca College in upstate New York and became a sports broadcaster. Beck has been the weekend sports anchor for News 4 New York for the past 11 years.

As part of Beck’s ‘dream job,’ he has covered Super Bowl XLII, the World Series, the NBA finals, the Stanley Cup Finals, The US Open Tennis Championship, the US Open Golf Championship, the NCAA Final Four and the Kentucky Derby.

Nothing, however, he maintains, compares to his’s coverage of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, when windsurfer Gal Friedman became the first

Israeli to ever win an Olympic gold medal.

“I was down at the windsurfing venue trying to get an interview,” reports Beck. “The way it works is that you wait in the mixed zone, a little control area behind fences, with all of the international reporters.”

Beck was waiting patiently when all reporters were told that Gal Friedman would not be coming through the mixed zone.

After the 1972 Munich massacre, Israeli athletes simply do not grant en-masse interviews.

But Beck was determined. He called Jerusalem and got a hold of Israel’s press liaison in an attempt to find out where in Athens the Israeli delegation was staying. He was then given the name of the local Israeli press secretary in Greece.

After a lot of schmoozing, and his relevation of the fact that he was Jewish, the pleasant, persistent reporter was given the name of the hotel.

When Beck arrived at the location, the prospects of meeting Friedman seemed slim. Again, all the reporters were waiting behind a fence.

“I just needed to get in to interview Friedman. What could I do? I couldn’t speak or read Hebrew very well. I wasn’t a very good Hebrew school student. But I have a very good memory. I am a reporter. And to this day, I remembered my entire haftarah by heart.

“So I started singing my haftarah, the special one for Machar Chodesh – the lovely story of David and Jonathan – for the Israeli press secretary. He was so moved that he said, ‘Bruce, come in, we want you to talk to Gal.’”

And Beck got the exclusive – he was the only reporter in the world granted access to Gal Friedman.

“Gal knew the whole story. He knew that I sang for the press secretary. He laughed. We talked about Munich, the fight for survival of Jews in their homeland, what it would be like to hear Hatikvah that night as he received his gold medal, etc.”

Beck looks back fondly on the story as a rare moment when a reporter’s religious background actually opened an important door, and when the reporter became part of his own story.

“Journalists from all around the world wanted to know why Gal Friedman was such a big story, and how I was picked to interview him.”

“Here I was in Athens, Greece – 4,500 miles from home, in the cradle of Western Civilization – never prouder to be an American – never prouder to be a Jew.”


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