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Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

While US Open is missing Israeli players, local tennis up-and-comers grow their game, find their rhythm in lower-rung tournaments.

The dozen or so hard-core tennis fans who stopped by the Toto Tennis Center in Kfar Saba between August 1 and 7, or the Bnei Herzliya Tennis Club in nearby Herzliya the following week, were treated to a chance to see some of Israel’s best young tennis players in action – all free of charge. They may have even gotten a glimpse of Israeli tennis legend, Dudi Sela, quietly watching 21-year-old Sahar Simon in action at the M15 Kfar Saba Open.

Simon fought hard all week in the blazing August heat. He defeated Nitzan Riklis 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 in a second-round match that lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes. Simon eventually advanced to the finals, where he defeated fellow Israeli Ben Patael 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

The following week at the M15 Herzliya Open, Simon advanced to the quarterfinals before retiring with minor back issues while trailing Israeli Orel Kimhi 6-0, 2-0. Simon made a quick recovery and was in the main draw of the Aldershot, Great Britain, ITF World Team Tennis Tour. He lost in the first round to Filip Peliwo of Poland 6-3, 6-2.

Despite Simon’s successful past few months, he will not be playing in this year’s US Open in New York.

Simon, who trains with Sela at the Dudi Sela Tennis Academy in Tel Aviv, represents a crop of young talented Israelis who inhabit the lower rungs of the professional tennis world.

These young Israeli players range from No. 307 Yshai Oliel to No. 1,550 Yair Sarouk. They include such players as No. 425 Nicole Khirin, No. 435 Shavit Kimchi, No. 444 Daniel Cukierman, No.449 Ben Patael, and No.546 Edan Leshem.

Cukerman and Leshem have played on Israel’s Davis Cup team in past years.

While these players are better than millions of tennis players in the world, their current rankings – and the several hundred players ahead of them with even higher rankings – prevent them from competing in higher level tournaments with bigger payouts.

Fortunately, players have a mechanism to potentially advance and perhaps one day play in the US Open and other Grand Slams tennis events. Getting to that level requires perseverance, skill, luck and often the financial backing of parents and other angel investors.

Simon is currently ranked No. 651, an impressive jump from No. 803 one month ago. At the Kfar Saba Open, Simon and Sela spoke with The Jerusalem Post about such obstacles as lack of funding which makes it difficult for players to advance to the next level of professional tennis.

“This guy [Simon] pays for me, shoes and more,” noted Sela, indicating that his family supports his tennis career and that it is impossible for players who don’t have private funding.

Both laughed as they described how much it costs to enter the tournament (approximately 70 shekels) and how little the winner would take home.

“If you win Round 1, you have enough for hummus on pita,” Sela says, pointing to the nearby Hummus Eliyahu restaurant.

“If you win Round 2, you can have shwarma,” quipped Simon.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) Men’s World Tennis Tour is working to do its part to help players advance to higher level tournaments with greater prize money. But the process is a long one.

The ITF provides entry-level professional tennis tournaments and a pathway between the ITF Junior World Tennis Tour and the elite levels of men’s professional tennis. The results of ITF tournaments are incorporated into the ATP Ranking, which enables professionals to progress to the ATP Challenger Tour and ATP Tour, and ultimately the Grand Slams. The Tour offers nearly 550 tournaments in 70 countries. They offer prizes at two levels – $15,000 and $25,000.

The August tournaments in Israel were considered “M15 tournaments,” meaning these “Futures” tournaments distribute $15,000 among all singles and doubles players. Futures tournaments are also where players can earn their first ATP points and get their names on the rankings. Each Futures tournament has 20 main draw spots and 48 qualifying spots. The acceptance list is based on ATP ranking points. These tournaments have a chair umpire, one line judge and players retrieving their own balls.

While the two tournaments were taking place in Kfar Saba and Herzliya, 15 similar M15s were taking place simultaneously in such places as Tbilisi, Georgia, Decatur, IL, Nottingham, England and Agadir, Morocco.

For the next three weeks, the tennis world turns its attention to the US Open Grand Slam tennis event in New York.

The qualifying tournament got under way on Tuesday, with 128 players vying for the 16 remaining spots in both the men’s and women’s singles draw. For tennis lovers on a tight budget, attending the US Open main draw (August 29-September 11 may prove to be challenging and costly. But the qualifying event taking place this week is a well-kept secret which allows fans to see top-level tennis for free.

As fans cheer on players with names like Nadal, Kyrgios, Williams and Osaka, and recall that last year’s winners, Daniil Medvedev and Emma Raducanu, each took home $2,500,000, it is useful to remember the thousands of talented lower level players slugging it out at 15 futures and four Challenger tournaments taking place at the same time – in Thailand, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Poland, Korea, Brazil, Egypt, Tunisia, etc.

Perhaps next year, with perseverance, luck and additional funding, more Israel tennis players will find their way to the US Open.

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Original article published in the Jerusalem Post

Lina, 22, now ranked No. 215 in the world, is about to become the only Israeli female at the US Open Tennis Championships, taking place in New York from August 29-September 11. 

The Williams family was blessed with two tennis-playing daughters – Venus and Serena. The Glushko family of Israel is similarly blessed with two tennis-playing daughters, Julia and Lina.

Like the Williams sisters, the Glushko sisters have teamed up from time to time to play doubles, including in 2015 for Israel’s nationals and in 2018 for the Fed Cup in Athens versus Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luxembourg and Denmark.

But that seems like ancient history for 22-year-old Lina Glushko. In 2018, when she played Fed Cup with her sister, Lina was a recent graduate of the Ironi Gimel high school in Modiin, she was serving in the IDF as a sports standout, and she was ranked No. 838 in the world.

In contrast, Julia was established in her professional tennis career, ranked No. 196 and playing in such Grand Slam tennis events as the US Open. Now, Julia is 3, retired from tennis and living and working in Tel Aviv. 

Lina, 22, now ranked No. 215 in the world, is about to become the only Israeli female at the US Open Tennis Championships, taking place in New York from August 29-September 11. 

Glushkos’ statements

“It is closure,” said Lina Glushko.  “Julia is finished with her tennis career and focusing on other stuff. I am at the beginning!” 

Glushko will see action Tuesday or Wednesday in the US Open Qualifying tournament. She will start with a match against 27-year-old German Tamara Korpatsch, who is ranked 139th. The 128 entrants will be battling for the remaining 16 spots in the main women’s draw of the US Open. 

Julia Glushko is happy for her sister. 

“I’m just so proud of her. To see her growing as a player and as a person is just so inspiring. She has a big game, huge serve and very good attitude and I really believe she can play at the top level.” 

Lina has had a busy, confidence-building summer.  She concedes that this came after a rough few months which started in January when she got “really sick” with COVID-19 and “had no time to practice.” 

Glushko spoke this week to The Jerusalem Post in a phone interview from her hotel in New York City as she prepared for the US Open.

Israel’s No. 1 women’s tennis player, Julia Glushko (credit: NIR KEIDAR/ISRAEL TENNIS ASSOCIATION)

“I’ve been through a lot.  But every time I was going through tough times, I kept believing and knew it would end.” 

Glushko admits that she essentially deviated from the game plan set out by her beloved coaches and managers, which deemphasized focusing on earning points to qualify for major tournaments. 

“I was playing 25s in Israel and was ranked No. 270 in May and June and was thinking, ‘I need to do more to get in [to the draw of such major tournaments as the US Open].  There was a lot of pressure.”

She noted that her team was saying “we don’t look at rankings and points.  Do your best and work really hard and results will come.” 

“I lost my way because I was thinking about points and the US Open – and started losing in tournaments in Israel in the first round!”

Glushko lost to Shavit Kimchi in the round-of-16 in a 25K tournament in Ra’anana in June, then lost the following week in another 25K tournament in Ra’anana – this time in the round-of-32 to Maria Timofeeva.

As the summer progressed, Glushko turned things around.

“I was ready to let it go and stopped thinking about the qualies or the US Open.” 

One week after her disappointing Israel tournaments, Glushko was in Palma del Rio, Spain, where she reached the semifinals.   She continued seeing results at tournaments in Europe, the US and Canada. 

Glushko lost in the finals in Corroios-Seixal, Portugal and reached the round-of-32 in mid-July at a tournament in Guimaraes, Portugal.  She lost in the second round of the qualifiers of the WTA International in Prague, Czech Republic.  She retired in the round-of-32 at a Challenger tournament in Lexington, KY (USA) and lost in the qualifiers of the WTA Premier 5 tournament in Toronto in early August. She lost 6-4, 6-2 to world No. 85, Donna Vekic of Croatia.  Throughout Glushko’s impressive summer, she earned important ranking points. 

“I went back to my way,” reported Glushko, pleased that she got back on track as the summer progressed.

Glushko is pleased with her performance and appreciative of her team.  The kind, soft-spoken Glushko praises her team, consisting of Ronen Morali, Ofer Fadida and Coach Maria João Koehler, for all of the financial and professional assistance they have offered and lined up.  Morali serves as head coach and is Head of ITEC (Israel Tennis and Education Centers) Tennis Lovers Programs and serves as Israel’s Federation Cup coach.  

Morali is excited about Glushko, her game and her overall attitude.

“She is very special – intelligent, talented and fun to be around!”

Fadida serves as a sponsor and member of Glushko’s management team.  Support from two Israel companies and from the Israel Tennis Association has helped with the high costs associated with professional tennis  

Now, Glushko is set to represent Israel at the US Open, though she noted proudly, “I have been representing Israel since I was 10!”  

Lina was the only of the three Glushko children to be born in Israel.  Her parents moved to Israel from Ukraine a year before she was born. 

“Playing tennis is in the family,” said Gluskho, noting that both her parents were tennis coaches.  “They put me on the tennis court at a very young age, like 3 or 4. Before that, I was on the court – picking up balls and just sitting on the court!”  

Glushko is proud of being Israeli and she regularly posts about Israel on social media and has conversations with players on the tour about Israel. 

“I love Israel and am proud to represent Israel. 99% of the time I feel support every time I post.” 

But she is not afraid to engage detractors in open conversation.  She recalls a time when she had an “intelligent conversation” with a man who asked about her thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and asked about “occupation and killing children.” 

For now, Glushko is just happy to be in New York, preparing for the US Open. As one of Israel’s only representatives in Flushing Meadows, she is likely to have the support of the many New York-area Israelis and Jews who are known for cheering on Israelis at the tournament.

“New York is my favorite city. It is really intense. I couldn’t live here but I just love it. It is a great atmosphere and has a vibe too.” 

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Original article published in the JNS

“The aim of the organization is not just to reach a Jewish audience. Our larger goal is to reach an audience of the hundreds of millions of people who haven’t made up their mind about Israel,” says group founder Daniel Posner.

Since its launch at the end of 2018, Athletes for Israel has regularly brought high-profile athletes and sports teams to the country to compete in athletic events and get to know the Jewish state.

After their trips, the group’s founder, Daniel Posner, says many of the athletes play an important role in telling the story of Israel’s people, history, food, technology and culture.

The Division 1 Auburn Tigers basketball team, which won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship last season, recently participated in a preseason tour, affectionately referred to as “Birthright for College Basketball.” The tour was arranged in large part by the team’s Jewish coach Bruce Pearl, one of the more pro-Israel coaches in the NCAA.

Pearl, affectionately known to Jewish fans as “Mordechai,” is the founder of the Jewish Coaches Association which hosts an annual breakfast for Jewish NCAA basketball coaches at March Madness. Pearl has been to Israel many times. He served as a coach for the USA Team in the 2009 Maccabiah Games. His Tigers basketball team made it to the NCAA Final Four in 2019.

The mostly non-Jewish team from Alabama played three games in Israel—against Israel’s Under 20 National Team on Aug. 2 in Jerusalem, Israel’s All-Star Select Team in Tel Aviv on Aug. 7, and Israel’s National Team on Aug. 8 in Tel Aviv. The Tigers won their first two games with a 119-56 win over the Israeli U-20 team, and a 107-71 win over the Israeli Select All-Star team. The Israeli National team was joined by Israeli Deni Avdija, the Washington Wizards small forward who was drafted No. 9 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Avdija scored 25 points as the Israel team defeated Auburn 95-86.

Athletes for Israel founder Daniel Posner (left), a longtime hedge-fund and private-equity manager in Manhattan, and Auburn Tigers coach Bruce Pearl at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, August 2022. Credit: Courtesy of Auburn Athletics/Basketball.

Pearl and Posner of Athletes for Israel agree that the outcome of the three games was only one small way to measure the success of the 10-day trip. Pearl reports, “We’re here to see this country, get closer to God, and by the way, we have three games—that’s how we look at it.”

The team visited Yad Vashem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Mount of Olives, and some players elected to be baptized in the Jordan River. “The guys were just soaking it in, walking where Jesus walked,” said Pearl. The team also took part in a high-tech seminar in Tel Aviv.

Posner, a longtime hedge-fund and private-equity manager in Manhattan, initially started the organization to help share Israel’s vibrant food scene, high-tech landscape and overall positive Israel vibes with friends and colleagues. “I go to Israel often, and each time when I’d return, colleagues would say, ‘I want to go to Israel. Take me!”

He recognized that they had heard many of the negative buzzwords associated with Israel, including “the separation wall” and “the Occupied Territories.” “It was nerve-wracking—so much in the press is about the political side of Israel. It is all we hear about. I said, ‘We have to change the narrative.” He then offers an analogy from closer to home: “If people only heard about politics in the United States, they would never come to the Rocky Mountains or to the National Parks. We need to talk about the wonderful things about Israel!”

Posner decided to start changing perceptions by bringing athletes to Israel, explaining that “we wanted to bring superstar athletes, across different sports. We had eight trips scheduled, including a trip including three MLB All-Stars, basketball and football players. Some high-profile athletes who have come to Israel already include Mariano Rivera, Ray Allen, Eddy Curry and Rick Barry.

Posner is particularly proud of the recent Auburn trip, saying “it was very special. ‘ESPN’ covered the games and did a wonderful job producing them.”

“We have also gotten a lot of interest from major college powerhouses,” he adds.

Posner notes that 20 to 30 boosters (supporters) came with the Auburn teams and can only imagine the potential if other major college teams come to Israel: “We will have hundreds of fans coming with them!”

The idea of sharing Israel with a diverse audience is very appealing to Posner. As he explains, “the aim of the organization is not just to reach a Jewish audience. Our larger goal is to reach an audience of the hundreds of millions of people who haven’t made up their mind about Israel.” And he is clear about the goals of the program, noting that “we don’t want to debate Israel; we just want to bring a positive message about Israel’s culture, food, people, the tech scene and more!”

Auburn Tigers basketball teammates Carter Sobera and Lior Berman, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Credit: Courtesy of Auburn Athletics/Basketball.

‘Dispelling myths and fake news’

In addition to the Auburn visit arranged with the help of Athletes for Israel, a number of high-profile athletes and teams have also played in and toured Israel recently. Enes Kanter Freedom, who played for the NBA for 11 seasons, traveled all over Israel, praying at the Al-Aqsa mosque, visiting the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and touring the Machane Yehuda open-air market. He is opening a basketball camp for Muslims, Jews, Christian and Druze kids in the capital.

The Italian soccer team AS Roma and the English Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur, recently played a friendly pre-season exhibition game in Haifa. Before the game, Roma visited the Western Wall.

Two of the sports world’s biggest names—Lionel Messi and Neymar—were in Israel for a game between Paris Saint-Germain, or PSG. The game took place at Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium. Canadian-Israeli billionaire Sylvan Adams has brought the high-profile French soccer season-opener, known as the Trophée des Champions, or the French Super Cup, to Israel for the second year in a row.

Prior to the match, PSG met with the Israeli nonprofit Save A Child’s Heart, a humanitarian group that performs cardiac operations on children worldwide. Messi and Neymar have each visited Israel previously. Messi visited Israel in 2019 with Argentina’s national team for an exhibition match against Uruguay, and he had visited Israel once before with his former club team, Barcelona.

“ESPN” basketball analyst Jay Bilas puts a note in Western Wall in Jerusalem, August 2022. Credit: Courtesy of Auburn Athletics/Basketball.

Posner is proud of his organization while also acknowledging the work of other entities in bringing athletes to Israel. “Athletes for Israel,” notes Posner, “wants to do it in a more systematic way across different sports.” He is open to bringing athletes to Israel from sports as diverse as tennis and pickleball.”

Auburn Tigers coach Bruce Pearl touring Ir David, the City of David, in Jerusalem, August 2022. Credit: Courtesy of Auburn Athletics/Basketball.

David Wiseman, a co-founder of the 36,000-member Facebook group “Follow Team Israel,” explains that “the work Athletes for Israel does is so important for two reasons. First of all, it allows people here in Israel, especially kids, to be inspired by seeing world-class athletes in the flesh. But then, when these athletes go back to their homes, they’re going to tell everyone as well as their social-media followers what a wonderful experience they had in Israel. This isn’t to say the athletes are being coerced into saying something that isn’t true, rather they’re shattering myths and fake news that have taken hold vis a vis Israel.”

He also notes that they are “dispelling myths and fake news.”

Wiseman and his team at Follow Team Israel are devoted to sharing Israeli/Jewish sports with the world. He says “given these, we love to share the incredible work Athletes for Israel does so people know about it. It would be the biggest shame if the athletes came to Israel and went without anyone knowing about it.”

Posner and Athletes for Israel are steadfast in pursuing a fairly straightforward and simple approach: “Through positive messaging and experiences, we can change the narrative—that’s our goal.”

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Original article published in the Chabad

Thousands attend Shoreline Jewish Festival in Guilford Green, including Gov. Ned Lamont and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal

GUILFORD, Conn.—The green at the center of this quaint town on the Connecticut shore of Long Island Sound was once again bustling with Jewish life this week, bringing together the Jewish and general communities for five hours of Jewish music, crafts, storytelling, kosher food, Judaica and camaraderie—all on a picture-perfect midsummer Sunday sporting blue skies and low humidity.

The mother-daughter team of Sharon and Liat Feller were two of the many artisans displaying their crafts, including handmade jewelry and custom crayon party sets, at the Shoreline Jewish Festival. “We’re attracted to the Yiddishkeit of the festival and to the musicians,” says Sharon Feller. “We are fans of Greg Wall, who played at Liat’s wedding, and we are involved in Chabad in our town,” she tells Chabad.org.

Other booths displayed challah boards, jewelry, honey jars, mezuzah covers and Jewish books.

Elon Boms’s two daughters, Arden, 9, and Slater, 11, enjoyed decorating kippahs. Elon offers, “We live locally and came to support Chabad. We love the crafts and the Jewish music.”

Other arts-and-crafts projects for children included Jewish foil art, Jewish scratch art, designing a Jewish puzzle, beeswax Shabbat candles, Shema picture frames, challah covers and Jewish name bracelets.

Kids enjoy their midsummer sno-cones.

Many also came to enjoy a wide range of kosher foods prepared fresh at the festival, now in its 16th year under the auspices of Rabbi Yossi and Rochel Baila Yaffe, co-directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of the Shoreline. Dr. Peter Rogol of New Haven, a longtime volunteer with the Chabad center reports that “the food tent was busy,” but notes “the people are very nice and understanding.”

Rogol says that knishes were the best seller, though he had heard “the shawarma was very good. People came with good appetites.” Other menu offerings included Roni’s donuts, pulled beef, hot dogs and hamburgers, falafel and beverages.

Many also came to enjoy a wide range of kosher foods prepared fresh at the festival, now in its 16th year.

A Perfect Spot for a Festival

Like the greens in most quaint New England towns, the Guilford Green is the heart of the community. In the case of Guilford, it has served this role for four centuries. The 16-acre Green was established shortly after the community’s founding in 1639. It served as a pasture for livestock, and provided firewood and construction materials for homes and businesses, and became the center of religion, education and governance, and later a marketplace. Over time, the Green continued its evolution to become a beautiful recreational and gathering space—with lights, sidewalks, flagpoles and benches. Local high school graduations take place here, and each fall, the Guilford Fair parade encircles the Green.

And, thanks to the Yaffes, the Shoreline Jewish Festival takes place on the very same Green.

Rabbi Yossi and Rochel Baila Yaffe, co-directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of the Shoreline, started the festival 16 years ago.

“It started 16 years ago, when we moved from Branford to Guilford,” about nine miles to the east, explains Rabbi Yaffe, aware that Jews and Judaism were an unfamiliar sight in this area. “We wanted to create an open door, large portal, to make connections and to provide a window for non-Jews into the Jewish people and culture, so it would be unfiltered but accessible,” he said.

Residents and visitors alike mark their calendars each year. “People drove from Texas and from Maryland. People don’t want to miss our beautiful festival,” says the rabbi. Others came from throughout Connecticut, including nearby Shoreline towns, New Haven, Fairfield, Hartford, Stamford and East Haddam.

Arts-and-crafts projects for children included knitted kippahs, Jewish foil part, Jewish scratch art, designing a Jewish puzzle, beeswax Shabbat candles, Shema picture frames, challah covers and Jewish name bracelets.

Jewish Music, All Day Long

The music on the large stage was essentially non-stop throughout the festival.

Greg Wall and his “Zion New Wave” band, which included members of two of his well-known projects—Zion80 and Hasidic New Wave— were first up on the main stage. “The Jazz Rabbi” Greg Wall is a saxophonist and composer, and a pioneer of blending jazz with Jewish music. He also serves as a rabbi in Westport, Conn., and performs weekly at a local VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) hall. He completed his set with an upbeat jazzy rendition of “V’Shamru” from the Shabbat liturgy.

The music on the large stage was essentially non-stop throughout the festival.

Emmy- and Grammy-nominated singer Peter Himmelman, who is also Bob Dylan’s Jewishly observant son-in-law, performed next and slowed things down with his mostly acoustic performance. He kept the crowd engaged with his anecdotes, stories and observations. Himmelman performed solo, then was joined by talented musicians—most having never played with the guitarist before.

The final musical group of the day, Yoni Lorber, was joined on stage by a keyboard player, bassist and drummer. The band was in fine form jamming to the wordless “Tzippi,” which he informed the audience was written by his uncle and mentor, the late Yossi Piamenta, known as “the father of Jewish electric guitar rock-and-roll.”

Peter Himmelman kept the crowd engaged with his songs, anecdotes, stories and observations.

Connecticut Governor and U.S. Senator Join In

Lorber paused his performance as the several-thousand-person crowd welcomed the arrival of two special guests. “Shalom, Shalom. Thank you for coming! Thank you for all you do for this state,” Rabbi Yaffe exclaimed as he welcomed Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal. They enjoyed comfortably mingling with excited festival-goers and patiently honored requests for photos.

“I come to the festival because the people here are some of the greatest citizens of the State of Connecticut,” Lamont told Chabad.org. He recounted that he recently returned from a productive economic development visit to Israel in February. “We were the first state to go on a mission to Israel after the pandemic,” he reported proudly.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, center, with Rabbi Yaffe and Sen. Blumenthal. The governor said “I come to the festival because the people here are some of the greatest citizens of the State of Connecticut.”

Blumenthal said he was pleased to attend the festival, saying “I come every year. It is a time of joy, pride and inspiration for me as a Jew.”

And he notes the singularity of the event taking place each year: “To be on the Guilford Green … it goes back centuries to a time when people of our faith were not allowed here. It is an amazing thing. That’s what America is all about.”

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, left, said he was pleased to attend the festival, saying “I come every year. It is a time of joy, pride and inspiration for me as a Jew.”
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