Original Article published on the Jewish News Syndicate

Washington Wizards head coach Scott Brooks started Wednesday’s pre-game media session with great news for Israel’s Deni Avdija. The 6-foot-9-inch Israeli forward, drafted No. 9 by the Wizards in the recent NBA draft, would be in the starting lineup in the Wizards’ first regular-season game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

“Deni has done a great job throughout camp. He has shown us a lot,” said Brooks. “I know he is only 19, but he plays with a passion and determination that I like. I like his toughness. It wasn’t a given. He really earned it.”

Avdija was likely a mix of energy and excitement before the game, telling his coach that “it doesn’t seem like a regular game with no fans.” Unlike last season, which took place in the NBA bubble in Florida, teams will play this season in arenas across the country, mostly without a live audience.

Avdija saw a lot of action in his NBA debut. He played 28 minutes and hit two three-point shots for a total of seven points and four rebounds, and made many passes to teammates in his NBA debut. The Wizards held on to a narrow lead throughout most of the game, but the nail-biter turned sour for them. The game was tied at 103 with 1:28 left. Even three-point-shot master Avdija couldn’t turn the game around when he entered for the final time with 42 seconds left on the clock. The Sixers closed out the season opener 113-107.

Brooks was disappointed with the loss though thrilled with Avdija’s performance. “We slipped up in the fourth quarter and gave up 40 points. We turned the ball over so many times—20 turnovers are a lot.” But he’s quick to point out about his rookie, “I thought he was fantastic,” despite some nervousness. “There were some butterflies. He cares, he is passionate, and he wants to do good. I think he played well. He makes winning plays and he cares about winning.”

Avdija denied the butterflies, reporting he “didn’t have any nerves. It is great playing in my first NBA game, regardless of the loss. To complete is a dream come true.”

He told media in a post-game press conference: “I am glad I came from Israel and the whole country is behind me.” He also thanked Israeli fans for staying up until the middle of the night to watch the game, and in Hebrew said, “Thank you, I love you!”

Avdija is already beloved by his teammates; stars Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal have taken him under their wings. Brooks reports, “Brad and Russell coach him a lot.”

And they certainly seem happy with what they see. Westbrook told reporters that “Deni’s going to be good. My job is to constantly stay on him and challenge him to be great!” Beal has reassured Avdija that he will have “good, bad and in-between games,” before adding, “I like his competitive spirit. He doesn’t back down.”

Avdija on the court, December 2020. Credit: Courtesy of the Washington Wizards.

‘Opportunity to give back to the community’

Westbrook is also looking after Avdija’s education off the court. Avdija, who has a Jewish mother and a Muslim father, spent this past Monday after team practice delivering Christmas presents in the local community. Brooks playfully told reporters how Westbrook told Avdija and fellow rookie Cassius Winston: “Take a shower, and let’s go! You guys are coming with me.”

Westbrook notes that “when you get in this league, you need to understand how the community supports the team and how important it is to be able to give back in the difficult times we are in. They are rookies, so it is their first round of community events. I wanted to make sure they had an opportunity to do something and give back to the community.”

Coach Scott Brooks during a Washington Wizards game versus the Charlotte Hornets, Dec. 14, 2016. Credit: Keith Allison/Flickr via Wikimedia Commons.

Avdija spoke with reporters in a car while en route to deliver Christmas presents. He spoke candidly about his time in D.C., as well as his teammates. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic, coupled with his personality, has made it difficult to experience his new hometown.

“I am not a party guy and am not going out a lot, but I enjoy having fun,” he relates. “I’m not experiencing it much right now because of COVID. The city is kind of closed. Hopefully, things will go back to normal.”

Still, Avdija is finding ways to experience American culture nonetheless. His first meal in the United States was at Chipotle, and in a playful series of Tweets, the Wizards acknowledged, “Yes, Deni was on Chick-fil-A duty,” purchasing food for his teammates. He is also getting practice driving, though he admits to not yet feeling confident behind the wheel.

And he’s enjoying getting to know his teammates. “Everybody’s good with me,” he says, a bit reluctant to name players he is closest to. When pressed, he added, “I can say two guys came from the same situation as me, Cassius Winston and Anthony Gill. Cassius came from college, and Anthony came from Europe. We need to be there for each other and support each other. I think we’re going to be great friends throughout the season.”

Avdija has so far sung “Happy Birthday” in Hebrew to a teammate and publicly lit Hanukkah candles. He acknowledges “talking a lot about the great things about Israel,” though feels he hasn’t yet “brought my culture” to the fore. He says he hopes to share “food, songs and habits” of Israel with his teammates soon.

For now, the hardworking player will return to practice. As he told Brooks and Westbrook before the recent Christmas event, “I have things to do. I want to do more shooting!”

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Read the original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

The Brooklyn Nets have opened the National Basketball Association season at the Barclays Center (capacity: 17,732) in front of no fans. In contrast, Amar’e Stoudemire – the Nets’ new player development assistant and former NBA, Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv star – performed in front of 2,000 fans on Monday night, December 21. The crowd assembled on Zoom for a UJA Federation New York-sponsored discussion, “Amar’e Stoudemire: His Practice On and Off the Court.”

The likable Stoudemire, a six-time NBA All-Star, NBA Rookie of the Year with the Phoenix Suns in 2003, and a bronze medalist with the USA Olympic basketball team in 2004, recently returned to New York after many years living in Israel. Stoudemire is a co-owner of the Hapoel Jerusalem basketball team and he was the playoff MVP for Maccabi Tel Aviv as it secured the 2020 Israeli championship.

Stoudemire is also a proud Jew, deeply committed to combating antisemitism, and works to strengthen relationships between the Jewish and African-American communities. He shared his intriguing journey to Judaism and Israel with the event attendees.
From a young age, Stoudemire’s mother said: “You should keep the laws of Moses. We are from the tribe of Israel, brought here [to the United States] as slaves.” Stoudemire admits that he “didn’t know what she meant by that.”

At age 14, he reported, “I started davening to the Torah.” He continued his Bible studies through high school and continued his studies when selected ninth overall in the NBA draft at the age of 18. When he was 24, he “began gravitating to Judaism. This is what I was searching for, but I was doing it on my own. Judaism gave me structure.

”Stoudemire first visited Israel in 2010.“I came to learn Torah and discover my Hebrew roots, to see what I was reading.”

Stoudemire was always intrigued by the prophets of the Hebrew Bible.

“I loved how they carried themselves and how they were righteous and wondered, ‘How do I get to that level?’ It was over for me. I was hooked.”

Stoudemire and family moved to Israel in 2015. Coming to Israel meant a drastic lifestyle change.

“It was a truly humbling experience. I went from traveling on an NBA private jet to using buses. I was an A-list celebrity who went to fashion shows, the Met Gala, Jimmy Kimmel and David Letterman. I was living the dream!”

Stoudemire feels the move to the Middle East was worth it.

“I made the decision for the sake of Torah.”

Stoudemire signed a two-year deal with Hapoel Jerusalem in 2016 and helped the club win the Israeli Basketball League Cup that year. In June 2017, he helped the team win the 2016/17 Israeli Basketball Super League. He retired briefly in 2017, considered a return to the NBA in 2018, only to return again to Hapoel Jerusalem for the 2018/19 campaign, when he had a standout season.

In 2019, Stoudemire signed with the Fujian Sturgeons of the Chinese Basketball Association and played 11 games before returning to the US.

In January 2020, Stoudemire was back in Israel, and signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv with whom he won the championship. When asked about his preference for Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, Stoudemire, who lived in Jerusalem for three years and Tel Aviv for one year, offered a thoughtful reply.

“Jerusalem is a great place. I was able to study and go to yeshiva on a consistent basis. And Shabbat is elevated 20 times in Jerusalem. Tel Aviv has a coastline with beaches, and beautiful places to hang out. And it is closer to basketball. I love both equally,” said Stoudemire diplomatically.

Stoudemire recently returned to the United States and was hired in October 2020 by Steve Nash, his former Suns teammate and the new head coach of the Nets.

Back in America, Stoudemire continues to be a proud, committed Jew and lover of Israel, and he is involved in combating antisemitism.

He reported that his Hebrew is “not bad,” noting that it is “a little rusty” but that “[I] can still carry my weight.”

He is founder of Diversity U, “an organization and educational platform I started based on eradicating antisemitism. It teaches the attributes of Torah.”

Before the start of the NBA season, he was living in Miami, where he is pursuing a master of business administration (MBA) degree at the University of Miami.

“I also learn Mishna and daven [pray] at the Miami Beach Kollel,” he reported.

Now in Brooklyn, he said he has “a couple of chavrusos [learning partners] in Flatbush, and I study Mishna online.”

In addition, he speaks fondly of his Zoom learning partners in Israel.

“They are hard-core – they stay up til 4 a.m. [Israel time] to learn with me.”

Stoudemire recently had the opportunity to see his old friend and teammate, Deni Avdija when the Nets and Washington Wizards faced each other at a December 13 NBA pre-season game. Israeli Avdija was recently drafted by the Washington Wizards in the ninth overall pick.

“My guy, Deni – we were both ninth picks – we share that. And we played together last year on the Maccabi Tel Aviv championship team. We have been close friends since then!”Avdija is fond of Stoudemire as well.

“Amar’e was a big part of me, a big part of my game. The amount of experience and knowledge he gave me is [through] the roof.”

Stoudemire is 38, old enough to be 19-year-old Avdija’s father.

“He was a professional. He always came first to the gym,” Avdija said. “We were always talking about things. I was always asking about the NBA and he always answered me, no matter what the time or no matter how tired he was or angry he was, he always sat with me and answered my questions.”

On Monday, Stoudemire was introduced to the UJA Zoom event by Ido Aharoni (Aronoff), Israel’s long-time consul-general in New York. Aharoni first met Stoudemire many years ago when he attended a New York Knicks game with Israel basketball legend Tal Brody.

The two became dear friends and Aharoni introduced Stoudemire to the late Prime Minister Shimon Peres. The Zoom crowd shared Aharoni’s positive feelings about Stoudemire. Aharoni described Stoudemire’s many professional, educational and charitable accomplishments in the US and Israel.

“He has a huge heart.”

And that is an attribute that always plays well, on or off the basketball court.

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Admittedly, the Abraham Accords and Israel’s exciting new relationship with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco is big news.  50,000 Israelis have reportedly traveled to UAE alone in recent months.  But the biggest feel-good Israel story coming out of Israel in recent weeks is… Deni Avdija!

For those who have been living under a rock—or simply don’t follow the National Basketball Association, Deni is a 6 foot 9-inch basketball player—only 19 years old—who was drafted #9 in the NBA draft by the Washington Wizards.  Avdija is the son of a Serbian Muslim father who played professional basketball both in Serbia and Israel, and an Israeli Jewish mother.  He played with Maccabi Tel Aviv and just completed his shortened Tzahal (Israel Army) service where he had the status of a “sports standout.” 

Following a very shortened NBA pre-season, where Deni was super successful, he stands a chance of being in the starting lineup in the Wizard’s first regular season game this Wednesday against the 76ers in Philadelphia.  Head Coach Scott Brooks has started him in 2 of 3 pre-season games, and watched him successfully play off the bench in the other game. He was nearly perfect in his first game—hitting several field goals and 3 point shots, and last night, he lead both teams in rebounds with 10.  Deni played 31 minutes and 38 seconds—more than any other Wizard including NBA legend, Russell Westbrook.   At last night’s post-game media session, Westbrook had only amazing things to say about Deni.  Westbrook has been acting like a coach and mentor to Deni.

It is remarkable how far Deni has come in such a short time.  I have enjoyed watching him and asking questions at the media sessions.   Yes—he will miss family, friends and the beach.  Yes, he will be in search of good Israeli chumous, which another reporter pointed out he can get very near to the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. And yes—he is very young!  When I asked which of his NBA idols he was most looking forward to playing with or against, he said he didn’t have any actual idols, but he was looking forward to playing in person with guys he had only played against in video games!  Wow, that is young!

I am confident that Deni will have as much class as two previous Israelis who played in the NBA—Omri Casspi and Gal Mekel. They took the job of representing Israeli very seriously—signing autographs, participating in Jewish community events and, in the case of Omri, bringing fellow NBA players to Israel. 

I hope to write a lot about Deni this season—he is the best story coming out of Israel and he is great for Israel hasbara.  There is even a Washington Wizards Twitter feed in Hebrew!

The three articles I have written so far are here!

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When Ross Kriel, President of the Jewish Council of the Emirates, invited Rabbi Yehuda Sarna to give a shiur (class) during Chanukah in 2016, Sarna immediately knew what he would teach.  Sarna would address the question of Jews are to place the Chanukah menorah.   At the time, Sarna shared that the preference is to light it outside, though we are permitted to light inside out of fear.  Now, Sarna tells several hundred on today’s UJA Federation New York-sponsored “Celebrate Hanukkah with the UJA” Zoom meeting, “Chanukah menorahs are all over town.  It is quite a dramatic transformation.”   Kriel adds, “You can also hear Hebrew spoken, see kipot and tzitzit (ritual fringes) out, and kosher restaurants.  “We have taken leaps, not steps since the signing of the Abraham Accords.  It has intensified all over the city!”

Rabbi Elie Abadie, former rabbi of Manhattan’s Safra Synagogue, recently relocated to the region to become the Senior Rabbi in Residence of the Jewish Council of the Emirates.  “Every night, I have lit the menorah in a different place,” recounts Abadie, as he lit the menorah over Zoom for the several hundred participants who were eager to learn about the Jewish community of the UAE and what appears to be a “warm peace” ahead as the result of the recently signed Abraham Accords.  “In the UAE, you can feel the enthusiasm of the people!”  The panelists proudly reported that there is now a Chanukah menorah standing outside the Burj Khalifa, Dubai’s tallest building, which is which 2,717 feet tall and contains 209 floors  

Abadie will be a true asset to the community.  He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, grew up in Mexico City, and is fluent in seven languages including Arabic. His language skills will likely come in handy in the UAE. 

Jeff Schoenfeld, immediate past president of the UJA-Federation and a frequent business traveler to the Middle East shared in his opening remarks that the UAE consists of “one million locals and is dominated by 9 million expats who live and contribute to the vitality of the UAE.   Abadie is also a physician and a scholar of Sephardic Jewry.  Several years ago, Abadie was invited to see what he describes as the “nascent community.”  He was pleased to be the sofer who completed a sefer torah in UAE which was presented as a gift to the leaders of the UAE.  “I believe that, given the Abraham Accords, we are at a historic moment, we are at the crossroad of history.”  He appreciates the tremendous responsibility he will have and adds, “I felt religiously compelled to take the opportunity, to step up to the plate and build up the beautiful community.”

They are off to a good start.  When Kriel, a lawyer, arrived from South Africa 10 years ago with his wife (who at the time was the only kosher caterer in the UAE) and family, the Jewish community was small, with members of all backgrounds worshipping in a small villa.  “We were inclusive and created a beautiful ethos of comradery and love of Israel.”  He hopes to carry these core values forward as the community expands. “We are 300 Jews, and we expect to increase to 3000 families in ten years.”  He expects this will require a lot of “ramping up.” 

Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, the Chief Rabbi of the UAE, who commutes between Manhattan and the UAE, is also the Executive Director of the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at New York University and the NYU university chaplain.  He first came to the UAE in 2010 as part of an NYU team sent to interview high school students from around the world who were seeking admission at NYU’s Dubai campus.  “This visit was transformative,” reports Sarna.  “I had to confront stereotypes of Arabs in the region.” 

During his once or twice a year visits, Sarna began addressing the needs of Jews in the UAE.  “There were Jewish administrators, professors, students and some Israelis.  Some were just discovering that they were Jewish.  We had an ad hoc Jewish culture club, we put up a sukkah, and had Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services.”  

Sarna continues to be an even more integral part of Jewish life and an important representative of the Jewish community.  He described how visitors are “moved to tears” when they witness the Prayer for the State of Israel, followed by the Prayer for the Welfare of the UAE and its Army.  “Most Jews could have never imagined a prayer for an Arab army!”  Sarna feels the Abrahamic Accords are very different from past accords as they represent a warm peace.  “A warm peace is a peace between people.”

Hamdan al Kindi Al Mara, the founder of the UAE-Israel Business Council, is a fluent English and Hebrew speaker.  “When I started learning Hebrew for myself, I expected it would be dead for me because I couldn’t practice.”  Now, he describes the level of excitement in both Israel and the UAE and notes that trade has already started.”  He adds, “Bloomberg predicts there will be $6 billion in trade between the two counties.”  He has already observed Jews coming to the UAE from Israel and such countries as France.  People are purchasing real estate, there are kosher restaurants and Jewish ceremonies at hotels and he notes, “I saw 50 people with kipot in a mall just today!” 

Hamdad envisions the UAE importing technology including cybersecurity, high tech and agritech from Israel.  He notes that “the first ships from Dubai have already arrived in Haifa!”  He predicts, “We will see billions in trade in both directions.   This is just the beginning.  Let’ all hope for the best and an expanded people with the people of the world.” 





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