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Original Article Published On The JNS

For 24-year-old, Minor League pitcher Daniel Federman, the trip via Uber and airplane from the Baltimore Orioles spring training camp in Sarasota, Fla., to Team Israel’s facility in Jupiter three hours east across the state provided much more than just a chance to play baseball in another Florida city. It affords him the opportunity to reconnect with his Jewish roots and with fond memories of his paternal Jewish grandparents.

Federman, who grew up in the backdrop of Chanukah, Passover and Christmas, had two paternal Jewish grandparents and his mother Amy’s father is Jewish.

“My father’s Jewish side was not extremely religious, but holidays were family times. We got together as part of our heritage,” he told JNS.

The family’s Jewish connection “died out” largely when Federman’s grandparents died. “My father wishes he could but didn’t know how to do it, so it’s been a while,” the pitcher said of his father’s connection to Jewish ritual.

Federman’s father was kicked out of Hebrew school, so he opted not to subject his son to it, and Federman did not celebrate his bar mitzvah. His parents let him decide about his own religious affiliation and supported his decisions.

He played baseball and basketball at his local JCC in Davie, Fla., and almost played Maccabiah basketball before baseball took priority.

Federman said that he first learned about Israel’s World Baseball Classic team as a student at the University of Miami. His fellow baseball teammate at the university, Ben Wanger, pushed him to go on Birthright and to live a more Jewish life, and told him about the Israeli team. Federman has not been able to visit Israel yet, as he has been busy with college, the baseball draft and then his signing.

“I spoke to my mother, and she has been dying to go,” he said of an Israel trip. Ironically, they had decided to go before he got involved with Team Israel. He anticipates that they will make the trip after the baseball season.

Federman, No. 99. Credit: Team Israel.

‘Oh man, you are actually doing it!’

Peter Kurz, general manager of the Israeli team, told JNS that Federman is “definitely a pitcher with potential.”

Wanger’s recommendation of Federman to the team is the sort of thing that has been happening more after the team’s success at the last World Baseball Classic and at the 2020 Olympics.

“Many players came to us upon recommendations of others,” said Kurz. “That’s a major source of our players—simply word of mouth and recruitment by ex-players.”

Federman found out on Feb. 7 that Team Israel invited him to join the 30-member roster for the World Baseball Classic. The team’s first game is on March 11.

“It hit me: Oh man, you are actually doing it!” he said.

He has already had a chance to reaffirm his Jewish identity. The day after arriving at the team’s training center, Federman joined teammates to hear the Megillah on Purim.

With the blessing of the Orioles, he will spend two weeks with Team Israel before joining his Baltimore teammates for spring training.

“There are lots of great guys out there, and I am excited to meet them,” he said of his Team Israel colleagues. The teammates had communicated via group chat, which is par for the course in baseball. When Federman joined the Orioles organization, he also didn’t know anyone.

“The good thing about the baseball community is that there are a lot of mutual connections. You will always know guys you grew up with, and we are all there to play baseball,” he said.

He obviously hopes that he will make it to the major leagues someday, but even if he doesn’t, he thinks what he is experiencing with coreligionists is more than enough.

“Millions would trade with me. It will be unbelievable!” he practically gushed, adding that the World Baseball Classic is “the highest level of competition most will play in front of.”

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Original Article Published On The JNs

Still, it has its work cut out for it at the World Baseball Classic in Miami, where some of the best teams share its division, says Peter Kurz.

Team Israel is currently battling it out in the World Baseball Classic in Miami, where it’s part of a grouping with powerhouses the Dominican Republic, which many are picking to win; Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Nicaragua rounds out the five-team Pool D, whose games will be held from March 11 to March 15.

Still, the team’s coach and general manager are optimistic. “We will be the underdog like always, and we will be overlooked,” former professional baseball player Ian Kinsler, who coaches the Israeli team, told JNS. “I have a pretty easy message for the players. We are showing up to win, not just to participate.”

Peter Kurz, the team’s general manager, told JNS that he has a lot of confidence after Israel’s “incredible run” in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Israel was the lowest-ranked team “by far” to make the Olympics, and it won Israel’s first-ever Olympics team game.

It also came in second in the 2021 European Championship “on a team that was over 50% locally grown sabra ballplayers,” he said. “Those were incredible achievements, and they have certainly put Israel baseball on the map.”

This year, Israel’s team has 13 current or former Major League Baseball players and eight Minor League prospects, who might play in the majors next year. Ten hold Israeli citizenship.

“Team Israel will surprise a lot of people,” said Kurz.

Ian Kinsler, part of Team Israel, is playing in the World Baseball Classic in Miami from March 11 to March 15, 2023. Credit: Israel Association of Baseball.

‘It was a great trip for the family’

JNS reached Kinsler—himself one of the most decorated professional baseball players—in early March before he left his home in Texas to fly to Miami with his son, Jack.

A former four-time All-Star and holder of a World Series ring, Ian Kinsler won two gold gloves at second base during his 14-year career: eight with the Detroit Tigers. He won the World Series in 2018 with the Boston Red Sox. Throughout his career, he stole 243 bases, recorded 1,999 hits, belted 257 home runs and batted in 909 runs. In 2022, the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame inducted him.

Kinsler grew up in Tucson, Ariz., the son of a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. He has told reporters often that he did not grow up religiously observant but that playing for Israel, including going through the process of making aliyah in 2020 to be eligible for the Olympics, has connected him more strongly with his Jewish relatives.

He was one of five torchbearers at the Maccabiah opening ceremonies in Jerusalem in 2022 and threw out the opening pitch at a Maccabiah game. On that trip, he told JNS, he and his family spent Shabbat at the home of Jordy Alter, president of the board of directors of the Israel Association of Baseball.

“We got to experience Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,” he said. “It was a great trip for the family.”

Experiencing the history in Israel made Kinsler feel more connected, and it “brings out feelings of lineage and heritage—that it is really your people,” he told JNS. “The more you experience Israel, the more you feel connected.”

Kinsler’s 14-year-old daughter, Rian, felt like she was participating in a high school learning field trip, and his 11-year-old son, who answered every question with “King David,” ended up being right half the time, he said. At Israeli sporting events, Kinsler appreciated how relaxed it was.

The Israel team arrived in Miami on March 6 before nightfall and the start of the Jewish holiday of Purim. On Tuesday, Jordy Alter arranged a Megillah reading for the team, which also watched the 2022 film “Israel Swings for Gold,” about Israel’s baseball team competing in the Olympics in 2021.

After exhibition games on Wednesday and Thursday, the team will work out on Friday at the Miami stadium, take Shabbat off and play the first game on March 12 at noon against Nicaragua.

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Original Article Published On The JNS

Rimon Tubin, the founder of HackAustism, tells JNS the Start-Up Nation ought to be able to aid those with disabilities.

“I could have been rich,” Rimon Tubin tells JNS. “But I am enriched.”

Tubin worked in data and project management at Bank Hapoalim for 15 years before becoming chief technology and innovation officer at Pangea IT, a digital identity, services and security company. In January 2021, he quit to run HackAutism, where he is “founder, dreamer and performer.”

He decided to devote his professional life to the cause that was at the forefront of his personal life. His 22-year-old son Yuval is on the autism spectrum and Tubin wanted to help Yuval and others with autism worldwide, so he created HackAutism, whose mission is to encourage and facilitate the creation of innovative technologies to help people with autism and their families.

By some estimates, one in 44 children is on the autism spectrum. Tubin believes 200,000 Israelis have autism.

“If the Start-Up Nation is so good at technology, entrepreneurship and innovation, why can’t people with disabilities also benefit?” he asked.

Tubin seems to be seeing progress each year, particularly in the annual hackathon, which is now in its fourth year. So far, the hackathons—24-hour entrepreneurship competitions focusing on solving autism-related challenges—have produced 42 ventures, 15 of which have raised initial funding.

The annual process includes the hackathon, a startup accelerator and a demo day, with winners going on to incubator and investor evenings. What begins as 100 ideas gets winnowed down to 25 (the “semifinals”) at the hackathon.

Participants from various disciplines sit at a roundtable and think jointly about a challenge. After that, they present a product or service to the judges. Of the 25, 10 reach the finals, where judges then select three winners.

“The goal is for these three to raise funds and establish companies,” Tubin said.

This year, first place at the events, held recently at the College of Management Academic Studies in Rishon Letzion, went to Dive, an artificial intelligence platform that helps employers identify and hire workers with autism. Cristalix, a personalized, virtual, cognitive behavioral therapy platform to treat social and intellectual difficulties in children and adolescents won second place. And third place went to It’s Time To, which helps autistic children navigate stressful transitions.

The competition judges included academics and entrepreneurs, as well as Lihi Lapid, the president of SHEKEL, a community organization for people with special needs. She and her husband, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, have a daughter with autism.

Yuval Wagner, founder and president of Access Israel, which promotes accessibility and inclusion, was one of this year’s judges.

Life-improving technologies

“Access Israel chose to help the HackAutism organization and its founder, Rimon, because this organization focused on technologies and innovation specifically focused on solutions for autism,” Wagner told JNS. “We believe that the HackAutism hackathons and accelerators will bring life-improving technologies for people with autism.”

HackAutism also raises awareness about autism.

“Over the years, thousands of people have been involved in HackAutism. They include judges, mentors, volunteers and more,” Tubin told JNS. “Some had come into contact with autism in the past and were happy to use their knowledge, experience and entrepreneurship to help. Others had not been involved with people with autism and became involved through their participation.”

Tubin hopes, with support from the Foreign Ministry, to create an international HackAutism.

Benny Alon, CEO of the College of Management Academic Studies, was also a judge this year. At the event, he announced the expansion of the cooperation between the college and HackAutism.

“For the first time an innovative academic course for managers, the Start-Up Nation incubator, will be launched at the college, which will focus on entrepreneurship and technological innovation for people with disabilities,” he said. The course will be open to students from all disciplines, and will involve development of a product, he said.

Tubin always remembers that HackAutism began with inspiration from one person, his son.

“When Yuval was born in 2000, I told him that he was my gift to the world. When he was diagnosed with autism in 2008, we were advised to give him as much love as possible,” he told JNS.

There are challenges, but Tubin remains focused on doing what he can to help his son and others who have autism.

“I remain the father of a young child and will remain so forever,” he said. “We are not always asked if we want to do something or not. Sometimes we must live with it, or learn to live with it.”

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Original Article Published On The JNS

The Abraham Accords have made a major impact on international relations in the Middle East. They are also proving an ace for Israeli tennis.

Last month, young players and coaches from the Israel Tennis & Education Centers flew to Bahrain—the nonprofit’s second trip to the island kingdom, with which Israel normalized relations in Sept. 2020.

The Abraham Accords impacted the centers (ITEC) both domestically and abroad. First, ITEC decided after the accords debuted that its vision ought to include all Israeli kids. That included Arabs in Israel, who also ought to have “the chance to be winners in life through tennis,” Erez Vider, the group’s CEO, told JNS.

ITEC enlisted Alam Ibrahem, a resident of the Druze village Sajur in northern Israel, as Arab society coordinator to launch tennis programs in Arab communities.

At first, Ibrahem was nervous about teaching tennis, but Vider assured him that other ITEC staff, including coach Ronen Morali, would handle the tennis. Ibaham’s job was to teach the ITEC leadership and staff about Arab society.

“It is win-win,” Vider told Ibrahem. “Ronen knows how to teach tennis and you know the Arab mentality.”

Working with Israeli-Arab communities builds upon ITEC’s nearly five decades of work trying to strengthen Israeli society and foster piece through the sport. The nonprofit’s approach blends tennis playing, education, mentorship and support services for more than 7,000 children each week.

The nonprofit’s programs currently reach Arab, Bedouin, Christian, Druze and Jewish kids in Arad, Haifa, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Kiryat Shmona and Tiberias. Its Abraham’s Bridge empowers the next generation of Arabs to lead in their communities.

In a period of violence and unrest in May 2021, ITEC found its bonds were deep enough to host partners from Tayibe, one of Israel’s largest Arab cities, in its Ramat Hasharon headquarters for a day of cross-cultural discussion.

Again in Ramat Hasharon, ITEC leaders and colleagues from the Bedouin city Rahat convened in June 2021 for a partnership forum.

“The goal of Abraham’s Bridge is to help build a stronger society in Israel. At the core of that strength is human connection, which starts with our children–the next generation of leadership,” Vider told JNS. “We hope that providing children with opportunities to collaborate in a diverse setting will help nurture and celebrate new bonds that will lead to a better future for all.”

After doing some research—and with a bit of luck—Ibrahem, who had his sights set overseas, secured the phone number of Khalid Yusuf Ahmed Aljalahma, Bahrain’s ambassador in Tel Aviv. Ibrahem introduced himself and asked for a meeting.

“He visited my house with his family and children, and that’s how the relationship started—on a family level and not only in the field of tennis,” Ibrahem told JNS.

Last July, the ambassador visited ITEC headquarters. “From the first moment we met, there was an indescribable, strong click,” Ibrahem said.

“He came to Ramat Hasharon and saw Arabs from Tayibe with the Israeli flag, and Israeli kids with the Bahraini flag,” Vider said. “We are ambassadors of peace. He was emotional and impressed.”

“There is no limit to the fields in which Israel and Bahrain can build common

bridges, on which to walk together,” Aljalahma said.

The kingdom’s ambassador connected Ibrahem with the chairman of the Bahrain Tennis Association, and three months later, last October, Morali, the coach, joined an ITEC delegation to Bahrain. The group met the Bahrain Tennis Association chairman.

“They asked me to come for one week to train them for a Davis Cup event taking place in November,” Morali told JNS. “It was a very intense week, and a very productive week as well.” (The International Tennis Federation’s Davis Cup is a major team event; an Israeli team pulled off a come-from-behind victory against Latvia this month in Riga.).

The Israeli-Bahraini tennis bond has continued to yield fruitful volleys that score points.

Israeli coaches and players traveled to Bahrain last month to train with nine

local coaches, native-born Bahraini players and tennis-playing immigrants to Bahrain from the Philippines, Romania, Tunisia and Yemen.

Ido Samimiyan, 17, remains in touch with some of the new Bahraini friends he made on the trip and is excited some may visit him in Israel soon.

“They were good players and nice kids. We really bonded,” he told JNS. “We played together, ate together and played Davis Cup-style tennis.” (They spoke in English, but not about politics. Samiyan was proud of winning “by a lot,” and in awe that his new friends lived in a kingdom.)

Vider hopes ITEC will be able to offer scholarships to two Bahrani players to train in Israel.

“Sport is different from politics. You bring kids on a court, and they don’t care about color or religion,” he said. “It is amazing how fast they forget who they are playing with.”

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