Original Article Published On The JNS

“It is a crazy business,” said the shortstop’s father, Steve. “It is extremely stressful all of the time.”

After 21-year-old Nicaraguan pitcher Duque Hebbert struck out three of the four batters he faced—all-stars Juan Soto, Julio Rodríguez and Rafael Devers—at the World Baseball Classic in Miami, a Detroit Tigers scout offered him a Minor League contract on the spot. But for most players, including most of Team Israel’s roster, who may never reach the big leagues, the World Baseball Classic could be the largest crowd before which they will ever play.

When JNS caught up with Michael Wielansky, 26, ahead of Israel’s blowout loss on March 14 and asked what will be next for him after the competition, Team Israel’s shortstop, who lives in St. Louis, allowed that was a good question.

“I hope I’ll get a call from an [MLB] affiliate, or I’ll play independent ball,” he said. The latter refers to a league that is outside the Major League Baseball-run Minor Leagues.

One possibility is finishing up his last year of a bachelor’s degree in business and economics at the College of Wooster in Ohio.

“The whole journey is really crazy,” Steve Wielansky, the player’s father, told JNS.

Michael Wielansky. Photo by Howard Blas.

‘A great hitter and fielder’

Growing up in St. Louis, Wielansky celebrated his bar mitzvah and confirmation at Temple Israel. “My parents did a good job instilling a love of Judaism in me,” he said. “I learned a lot about Judaism.”

Steve and Linda Wielansky reported that their son was a good athlete who played soccer and basketball, as well as baseball. It was difficult to juggle sports and Hebrew school, but the family made it work.

For Wielansky, who stood 4-foot-9 inches at his bar mitzvah, professional sports seemed a remote possibility. He was only 5 feet tall when he entered high school but 6 feet by his graduation—and he did not stop there. Today, Wielansky stands at 6 feet 2 inches.

“He was a great hitter and fielder, but he couldn’t get recruited,” his father said.

After graduating from Ladue Horton Watkins High School in St. Louis, Wielansky attended College of Wooster in Ohio, where he hit .425 and won a gold glove award for his stellar defense at shortstop on the baseball team. The summer after his sophomore year in 2017, he was the most valuable player at the prestigious Valley Baseball League collegiate program, where he topped the league in on-base and slugging percentages, hits, runs and doubles.

In 2018, Wielansky hit .401 and broke Wooster’s career records for assists and triples. He was named a first-team all-American and, in both 2017 and 2018, a Mideast Region position player of the year. In the latter year, scouts started paying attention, including his hometown St. Louis Cardinals.

The Houston Astros drafted Wielansky as the 552nd overall pick, which came in the 18th round in 2018. He was a junior.

When her son was drafted, Linda said their rabbi lost a joke from his repertoire when he nudged students to exert themselves in their studies.

The rabbi told her that Wielansky’s draft really messed things up for him. She asked why. “I always tell the kids, ‘It’s not like you’re going to be a professional athlete or anything,’ ” he said. “Now I can’t say that anymore.”

Steve and Linda Wielansky with their son, Michael Wielansky, at the World Baseball Classic in Miami in March 2023. Credit: Courtesy.

‘My father and grandfather were my role models’

Wielansky’s paternal grandfather, Norman, pitched in the St. Louis Browns and Baltimore Orioles organizations in 1950, 1951 and 1954. Norman Wielansky, a right-hander, was part of a combined no-hitter on May 3, 1950. He was especially proud of his grandson but didn’t get to see Wielansky in his recent performance in Miami. He died at the age 88 in 2019.

“My father and grandfather were my role models,” said Wielansky. “They got me into baseball.”

Norman Wielansky was 6 foot 3 inches and 200 pounds, while his grandson currently weighs in at 190. The Astros wanted him to be 210, said his father, Steve. Wielansky bounced around the Astros organization for several years, playing for the Minor League teams Tri-City Valleycats, Quad Cities River Bandits, Fayetteville Woodpeckers, Corpus Christi Hooks, Sugar Land Skeeters and Sugar Land Space Cowboys.

The Astros elevated Wielansky to triple-A in 2021 but released him on March 27, 2022. “They didn’t have room for him,” said his father, Steve. Wielansky signed with the Long Island Ducks that April. But he didn’t play for that independent league team, and in May, he was traded to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.

In January 2023, Wielansky’s career found him in Panama and as part of the Caribbean World Series. In February, he learned he would play for Israel in the World Baseball Classic. Wielansky found a lot of success in the Panamanian league, which his team won and where he hit .347.

Representing Israel, whose team “instills a culture,” in March was a great experience for Wielansky, who particularly enjoyed playing with other Jewish athletes. The team came together to hear Megillah on Purim, for Shabbat dinners and to learn about the Israeli national anthem—for which players stood, many with kippot under their hats—and had Israel emblazoned on its jerseys.

He played in Israel’s first game, a victory over Nicaragua, and he went 2-4 and raised his World Baseball Classic average to .400, in Israel’s 5-1 loss to Venezuela. (He did not play in the mercy-rule losses to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.)

His parents, sister and girlfriend told JNS that they enjoyed watching him play. “The atmosphere was so electric, with all that screaming,” his father said. “It was really fun.”

The Wielanskys hope a Major League affiliate picks up their son, who has returned to St. Louis. “It is a crazy business,” said Steve. “It is extremely stressful all of the time. It has been a phenomenal journey, and you hope your kid will do well on this great, long journey.”

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Access Israel has partnered with the Nippon Foundation to provide support for disabled people and their families who wish to or have evacuated from Ukraine to neighboring countries.

When the war in Ukraine broke out just over a year ago, Israeli nonprofit Access Israel and its collaborative partner, Accessibility Accelerator, sprung into action. 

The Israel NGO, which addresses issues of disabilities access and inclusion worldwide, quickly realized that the estimated 2.7 million people with disabilities in Ukraine and the elderly would have an especially difficult time fleeing the war zone and accessing necessary services. Train stations, shelters and vehicles and information in general are often not accessible.

Access Israel CEO Michal Rimon recounts, “I got a call on Shabbat from a blind woman in desperate need of dialysis who was on a train to Lviv with her elderly mother. Due to bombings, the train changed course and was going to Chelm. No one knew she was coming. So she turned to me. I made some calls and was able to help her but I realized that there is a need to help these people. If I had a vest – it would make it simple to start to get help.”

“I got a call on Shabbat from a blind woman in desperate need of dialysis who was on a train to Lviv with her elderly mother. Due to bombings, the train changed course and was going to Chelm.”Access Israel CEO Michal Rimon

Within days, Access Israel created the Purple Vest Mission and spent three weeks at the Poland/Ukraine border assisting refugees with disabilities. While the initial goal was to provide accessible solutions for those experiencing difficulties in the Ukraine, their larger mission is to raise global awareness to the importance of inclusive, accessible preparedness in times of emergency. 

Access Israel has partnered with the Nippon Foundation to provide support for disabled people and their families who wish to or have evacuated from Ukraine to neighboring countries. They also provide accessible humanitarian aid to people with disabilities and to the elderly who choose to stay in Ukraine. 

ATTENDEES OF the Access Israel ‘Future of Accessibility’ conference visit the Old City in Jerusalem. (credit: HOWARD BLAS)ATTENDEES OF the Access Israel ‘Future of Accessibility’ conference visit the Old City in Jerusalem. (credit: HOWARD BLAS)

“The Nippon Foundation contacted us and offered six months of funding, which we made last for eight months,” Rimon reports.

The idea for the Purple Vest campaign came in large part from the established practices of buildings worldwide – from the Roman Coliseum to Manhattan’s Empire State Building – lighting up in purple on December 3, the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities. 

To date, the Purple Vest Mission has evacuated more than 4,000 people with disabilities, elderly and their families and provided humanitarian aid to an additional 10,000. Access Israel and the Purple Vest’s efforts continue in Ukraine, Turkey and throughout the world. While Rimon is proud of her organization’s work, she notes that they have learned some important, eye-opening lessons that can better help countries prepare for future emergencies.

James Lassner, executive director of Accessibility Accelerator, who with his wife has served at the Poland/Ukraine border, elaborates, “We have rescued and rehoused thousands of people with disabilities from horrors of the past year in Ukraine and continue to so. As forward global thinkers, we are proceeding with individual and corporate Purple Vest Mission training to ensure that hopefully we can assist in evacuation and before and if necessary during and after disaster [hurricanes, war, etc.] strikes,”

There are much larger ideas here, Rimon says. 

Looking in the mirror

“First, we need to look in the mirror – we shouldn’t just talk about over there. We need to remember next time it could be us. Second, we need to not just hear, we need to listen to what the people are asking and telling and make the needed adjustments. Third, we need not reinvent the wheel. There are amazing people doing great things but we need to help each other fine tune it. As an example, there was a plan in place to transport the people of Ukraine, but when they stopped 2 km. from their destination, they didn’t think about how people with disabilities and the elderly would walk the final 2 km. And fourth, we need to connect the dots. We need to continue connecting people, like the Ukrainian person who was relocated to Norway. We connected him to an Israeli there who came by to bring a cake and a warm hug.”

The organization is continuing in its efforts at the Poland/Ukraine border and will return after Passover to continue in-person work. In addition, Rimon is offering a three-part online Purple Vest Training Course starting March 15 for people around the world who are interested in acquiring skills to assist the elderly and people with disabilities in the event of an emergency or severe weather. 

“More than 100 people from Ukraine, Turkey, Africa and other parts of the world are signed up,” Rimon reports. “We want them to be the first ones there to know how to assist.”

ACCESS ISRAEL and Accessibility Accelerator were recently recognized for their work in Ukraine and for their Purple Vest Mission with a Zero Project Special Award at the February 2023 the Zero Project Conference at the UN building in Vienna. The Zero Project works to promote a world with zero barriers. The work to find and share solutions that improve the daily lives and legal rights of all persons with disabilities.

“We knew we were going to be one of the 70 organizations honored for best practices,” offers Rimon, who admits she was both proud and a little uncomfortable to be singled out. “After all of the awards were given, a special award in the shape of a purple vest was created for us. They understood the importance of spreading the word and getting people to sign on to this campaign. When they called me to the stage, part of me felt uncomfortable, but the reaction by the people who were inspired remind us that you can’t sit aside – it was worth it.”

Rimon, who is a graduate of Manhattan’s Ramaz School, continues to be inspired by her teacher, Rabbi Haskel Lookstein. 

“When I was a student, he took us to the UN to stand up for [refusenik Natan] Sharansky. He taught us to do good, stand up for others, not sit aside and be our brother’s keeper.

“I am glad Purple Vest has been an inspiration internationally.”

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Original Article Published On The JNS

“We love baseball, and we love Israel. What better way to spend time than cheering on Jewish sports,” Jeff Goldstein of Toronto, who went to see the players with his whole family, told JNS.

Much ink has spilled on the players and officials who make up Israel’s baseball team, which finished 1-3 at the World Baseball Classic in Miami. Israel competed often in front of crowds that were overwhelmingly rooting for—and drumming and trumpeting vuvuzelas on behalf of—Israel’s rivals. But those who made the trek to Florida to cheer Team Israel on are as die-hard fans as they come.

When Jewish baseball fans heard Team Israel would play in the World Baseball Classic, many rearranged their schedules to make the pilgrimage from Chicago, Toronto, Hartford, San Antonio and Atlanta. Some came from relatively “nearby” Jacksonville—five or six hours south down I-95 or I-75, depending on traffic.

Some brought their kids, others their parents. Some ditched their wives and kids to continue a 30-year tradition that predated their marriage. One clergy member bought tickets for any congregant willing to meet him in Miami and join him for dinner at Ben’s Kosher Delicatessen Restaurant & Caterers.

Brian Yancelson, a recent college graduate, and his mother Melody came to Miami from San Antonio, Alamo City, to create different sorts of memories. 

The baseball-obsessed pair—who have visited all 30 MLB stadiums and 29 minor league stadiums, and have been to a 2017 World Baseball Classic game in San Diego, Field of Dreams and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown—is already planning a baseball trip to the Dominican Republic.

Brian Yancelson and his mother, Melody, from San Antonio. Photo by Howard Blas.

Originally from Mexico City, the Yancelson mother-and-son duo felt like it fit in with both the Jewish and Latino fans. Israel was in a pool with Venezuela (4-0), Dominican Republic (2-1), Puerto Rico (2-1) and Nicaragua (0-4).

“It is really cool for Israel and Jewish people to see you don’t have to be in a little lane; you do everything at the highest level and represent the Jewish people, even if you are not so religious,” Brian, a play-by-play broadcaster and reporter, told JNS. “Being Jewish can be a lot of things for a lot of people.”  

Brother-and-sister Andrew and Jennifer Small hail from Connecticut. He now lives in Manchester and she in Hamden. They have both followed Team Israel from the start. Although both of their parents are Jewish, they joke about coming from a “mixed” marriage between a Yankees fan and a Mets fan.

Andrew, who proudly sported an orange shirt with “Tigers” written in Hebrew, allowed that it could be confused for the Detroit Tigers, though he intended it to boost 44-year-old Shlomo Lipetz, who pitched for the Netanya Tigers in the 2007 season.

“I’ve been rooting for Team Israel since the World Baseball Classic qualifiers in 2017 when they captured my imagination and interest,” he said.

He went to a pre-Olympics exhibition game in Hartford and recounted, “I can’t describe how emotional it is just hearing ‘Hatikvah’ every time.”

When Israel played in the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, Andrew stayed up late every night to watch them. “Seeing them win the Nicaragua game on Sunday was amazing,” he said.

Jennifer is glad Israel automatically qualifies for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

“It means so much as American Jews to see us on the international stage and to see legit Jews like [Jacob] Steinmetz,” Andrew said of the Orthodox pitcher.

Brother and sister Andrew and Jennifer Small of Connecticut. Photo by Howard Blas.

‘We are all Zionists’

Jared Green and a half-dozen friends have a 30-year tradition of visiting ballparks that dates back to when they were fellow staffers at Camp Ramah in Canada.

The lead organizer is Mark “Liebs” Lieberman. “Please be advised that I will be out of the office participating in the 30th Annual Baseball Road Trip commencing on Friday, March 10, 2023, until Wednesday, March 15, 2023,” the Toronto law partner’s out-of-office message reads.

“Our trip is ultimately about friendships,” he told JNS. “For this year, our 30th annual baseball road, seeing Israel play made it extra-special.”

“While there wasn’t much to cheer about during the game itself, just being there together to witness Israel participating in the event itself was a great way to culminate our annual trip,” added Lieberman. “It will certainly be an experience we will all remember.”

Green, a Toronto native who lives with his family in Chicago, told JNS that the group goes to a different city each year. “We have been to every city with an MLB team,” he said. “We went to Oakland last year and went to Buffalo the COVID summer when the Blue Jays didn’t play in Toronto.”

Jeff Goldstein of Toronto come to Miami with his wife and three sons: Michael, 11; Alex, 8; and Brayden, 4. Photo by Howard Blas.

Coming to Miami made sense since one member of the crew—hailing from Toronto, Hamilton (Canada), Chicago and Jacksonville—has a daughter who celebrated her bat mitzvah in Jacksonville. The group got to attend those festivities and catch Team Israel.

“We are all Zionists. We thought it would be fun to cheer on Team Israel,” said Green.

Not only did Jeff Goldstein of Toronto come to Miami with his wife and three sons (Michael, 11; Alex, 8; and Brayden, 4), he brought his parents as well.

A kidney specialist, Goldstein took a break from his medical practice, figuring that it would be an important part of his children’s education, even though they missed a few days of school.

“We love baseball, and we love Israel. What better way to spend time than cheering on Jewish sports,” he told JNS.

Draped in Israeli flags and singing ‘Hatikvah’

Jesse Holzer, a cantor in Jacksonville, recalls staying up late to check Team Israel’s scores when it competed in Asia. He was pretty sure he was the only person in the 29,000-seat stadium wearing a Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp kippah. That may sound like an unkosher oxymoron, but the Jumbo Shrimp are a Jacksonville Minor League team. (Team Israel catcher Ryan Lavarnway played for the Shrimp in 2022.)

Holzer also donned a blue-and-white Israel soccer jersey with “Hazzan” (“cantor”) emblazoned on the back. He had hoped to wear a Team Israel jersey, but it didn’t arrive on time for the World Baseball Classic, so he had to improvise. The team has become so popular that he can no longer find game-worn Team Israel jerseys on eBay, as he used to be able to.

Cantor Jesse Holzer of Jacksonville, Fla. Photo by Howard Blas.

“They are nowhere to be found,” he stated.

Watching batting practice before the March 13 game against Puerto Rico on the field, Holzer could hardly contain his excitement. “To be here, to experience the moment of Jews draped in Israeli flags and singing ‘Hatikvah’ in this country, post-COVID,” he said. “To be here to support Team Israel is bashert” (the Yiddish word for “soulmate”).

At the synagogue where Holzer works, they joke that the rabbi, a Yankees fan, stands on one side of the bimah while Holzer, a Red Sox fan, is on the other. He also brings sports, which he calls “my second love,” into his work. For example, if people ask him whether it is a day to receive tachanun—a sobering prayer that is skipped on certain festive days—Holzer answers that depends on whether the day’s sports news is good or bad.

Team Israel being in town—just a five- or six-hour drive from Jacksonville—brought out the cantor’s generosity. He bought 18 tickets (a lucky Jewish number and a chai in Hebrew, meaning “life”) and offered to subsidize any congregant willing to come to Miami.

“It is mostly retirees—people who love baseball and kosher food,” he said. Holzer enjoyed dining with fellow congregants at Ben’s Deli, and, in line with stadium policy, was able to bring one deli sandwich into the game.

A Jewish cardinal (fan)

Robyn Faintich of Atlanta is a lifelong fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. An education consultant, she uses baseball and Judaism in her work, and thinks that Jewish educators can find teaching fodder in Israel’s participation in the World Baseball Classic.

When Israel played Puerto Rico, she had a dilemma, as the latter’s manager is former Cardinals legend Yadier Molina. Her love of Israel prevailed, she told JNS.

Having watched two films about Team Israel’s World Baseball Classic and Olympics runs, Faintich was drawn to the way players were connecting for the first time with their Jewish identities.

“They guys had to trace their lineage, which they had never considered. They were discovering and figuring out their heritage and relationship to Israel—and all of a sudden were making aliyah,” she said.

“This part of the story is a major piece for kids without a major connection. They can see all of these players on MLB teams as a case in point,” she added.

When Kevin Youkilis, a Team Israel coach, took off his cap during the Israeli national anthem to reveal a Team Israel kippah, Faintich saw a teachable moment. 

“It tells the story of taking Jewish heritage and turning it into an expression of Jewish identity,” she said. “These players are good role models for Jews who may be disconnected.”

Robyn Faintich of Atlanta. Photo by Howard Blas.

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Original Article Published On The JNS

There was no “mercy rule” needed in this game though.

Despite an extreme lack of hitting the past couple of days, Team Israel forwent batting practice on Wednesday, ahead of its game against Venezuela. The players looked sufficiently rested after playing three games in three days—two of them shortened “massacres” due to the so-called mercy rule.

The day with no batting practice helped Israel outhit and outscore its prior two games but its nine hits came up one short—and more important, four runs short—of Venezuela, which won 5-1. The daytime crowd in Miami was small at 18,277.

Ian Kinsler, Team Israel’s manager, reflected after the loss on the team’s experience as it exited the World Baseball Classic.

“We competed. We had a good time,” Kinsler, a four-time All-Star second baseman, two-time Gold Glove winner, and a member of the 2018 World Series champion Boston Red Sox, said. “That first game was obviously a good way to start the tournament. Then it was pretty tough for us, but we played hard as long as we could.”

Whether Kinsler’s future includes another World Baseball Classic with Israel remains to be seen. His family and his day job—working with the Texas Rangers—are his priorities. “We’ll see where that leads,” he said.

Compared to the previous games, Wednesday’s ended unceremoniously after nine innings. Israel sent up six pitchers, with Robert Stock, who gave up three runs on three hits (and a wild pitch) in the first, getting the loss.

Venezuela, which came from behind to beat Nicaragua 4-1 on Tuesday, has a lineup with some big league standouts: second baseman José Altuve (Houston Astros), outfielder Ronald Acuña (Atlanta Braves) and pitcher Edwin Escobar (Yokohama DeNA BayStars). Yet Stock settled down, retiring all three in order in the second and giving up a hit in the third.

The mini, two-out rally Israel strung together in the second, on back-to-back singles by left fielder Alex Dickerson and third baseman Danny Valencia, was more hits than it recorded in its 15 prior innings.

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