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Original Article Published On The JNS

In addition to his ability to roll with the punches through numerous trades in his NBA career—the first for an Israeli—Casspi will be remembered as a goodwill ambassador for Jewish causes.

When Israeli basketball player Omri Casspi announced his retirement from professional basketball this week, fans and colleagues in the United States, Israel and the world of sports management were somewhat sad and a bit disappointed, though they weren’t totally surprised. Casspi, 33, the first Israeli drafted in the NBA, played 10 seasons with an assortment of NBA teams before returning to Israel to finish out his career where it all began—with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He has been suffering from a knee injury, which prevented him from being on the court for much of the last season.

At a press conference on Sunday, Casspi reflected on his career. “Basketball gave me a lot,” he said. “I’ve reached the highest heights—playing against LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, going to the White House. I worked very, very hard to achieve what I achieved, and I’m leaving with a sigh of relief and very great satisfaction.”

The 6-foot, 9-inch forward made his professional debut in 2005, at age 17, with Maccabi Tel Aviv. In June 2009, Casspi was selected by the Sacramento Kings as the 23rd overall pick. He played for the Kings twice and did stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, New Orleans Pelicans, Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies. While he was cut by the Warriors during their 2017-18 championship season, the team did present him with a championship ring.

In addition to his ability to roll with the punches through numerous trades in his NBA career, Casspi will be remembered as a goodwill ambassador for Jewish and Israeli causes. He attended Jewish and Israel events in the many communities in which he played, and he stayed after games to sign autographs and pose for selfies with any child who requested one. He also brought NBA and WNBA players, as well as other celebrities, to Israel to see the country, pray at the Western Wall and eat authentic Israeli food prepared by his mother. He runs the Omri Casspi Foundation, which sponsors these trips with the aim of showing the world what Israel is really like.

Israeli professional basketball player Omri Casspi attends a special basketball Workshop with Israeli kids in Ramla on Aug. 7, 2016. Photo by Avi Dishi/Flash90

In 2017, Casspi was one of seven athletes chosen to participate in the torch-lighting ceremony of the Maccabiah Games in Israel.

‘The way he carried himself was very special’

Liron Fanan, a close friend and colleague of Casspi’s from the world of basketball in both Israel and the United States, worked hard to collect her thoughts about his big announcement before sharing them on Facebook:

“Took me a while to find the right words for this post … this is way more than basketball. @omricasspi18 your journey is an inspiration. Your hard work, dedication and toughness are the true definition of motivation. Your passion for the game made you dream big. You made it to the highest level and inspired others to work hard, believe and dream as well. I want to thank you and your family for allowing me to be a part of the family and this incredible journey. … The trips, the people and all the adventures we experienced together. The things we dreamed of and made a reality. You pushed me to go harder and you are a big part of where I am today. This is just the start of a new chapter in your journey, and I can’t wait to see the next adventure … .”

Fanan is currently director of player development and a scout for the Canton Charge, affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. When she left her distinguished career with Maccabi Tel Aviv many years ago and wasn’t sure what next to do in the basketball world, she reports, “I was lucky enough to be close to Omri, and started working with him and managing him. I connected him with his American agency and managed everything he did off-court on the marketing side, and in his personal life. I did that for 10 years.”

Through her work with Casspi, Fanan decided to start her own agency, 2Talent Sports Management, where she served as an agent and player services professional. In that capacity, she placed 48 players in Europe each year, signing them to teams and handling all of their needs. Clients of note have included Amar’e Stoudemire, Kostas Papanikolau, Donta Smith and Shawn James.

Israel’s Omri Casspi, star of the Sacramento Kings basketball team of the NBA visits at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City. May 01, 2011. Photo by Kobi Gideon / Flash90

Matan Siman-Tov, the current owner of 2Talent Sports Management, also speaks highly of his friend. “To me, Omri means the world. He introduced me to the world of the NBA and to the world of being an ambassador, to the world of being a role model. Twelve years ago when I started the agency, I was privileged to have a partner, Liron Fanan; a guy by the name of Omri Casspi introduced us to the world of professionalism. The way he worked out, the way he carried himself was very special. Omri taught me a lot; he made me a better person and a better agent.”

In a video statement, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wished Casspi well. “Congratulations on a fantastic NBA career. Of course, you were the first player from Israel to play in this league and everyone in Israel is aware of that, but you’re not the last, of course. Many players have learned from you and followed in your footsteps. I know you will continue working with us at the NBA. You have so much to offer the game.”

And, being that he is only in his early 30s, the world as well. The Jewish, Israeli and basketball worlds eagerly await news of Casspi’s next pursuit.

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Original Article Published On The JNS

The famed race, which each year covers 3,413 kilometers (2,121 miles) over 21 stages in 23 days, featured eight riders wearing the Israel Start-Up Nation jersey.

When Belgian professional road and cyclo-cross racer Wout van Aert took the 21st and final stage of the Tour de France and Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar won the overall 2021 Tour de France on Sunday, there weren’t many Israeli riders in sight. Even without Israeli riders winning the race, this year’s Tour de France was an unprecedented victory for the Jewish state.

The famed race, which each year covers 3,413 kilometers (2,121 miles) over 21 stages in 23 days, featured eight riders wearing the Israel Start-Up Nation jersey. The Israel team, which included two Canadians, five Europeans and Israeli-born Omer Goldstein, put Israel and Israel cycling on the map in perpetuity.

Israel’s Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov was on hand at the finish line in Paris to greet the riders and show just how much Israel cycling matters.

“We are so proud to see an Israeli team carry the Israeli flag at one of the largest sporting events in the world,” he said. “Thanks to the partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, the team is promoting our brand of tourism to Israel throughout the race. Events of this kind are the biggest generators of tourism in the world, so it was important for me to come and learn about what is needed, and how it will be possible to bring major international sporting events to Israel on the day the skies open.”

Thanks in large part to the visionary leadership and financial backing of the team’s co-owner, Canadian-Israeli billionaire Sylvan Adams, the world is beginning to take note of Israel as a bike-racing country and as a tourist destination. In May 2018, Adams, known for bringing positive attention through such stunts as bringing Madonna to Israel for the Eurovision song competition, arranged to have Israel host the three-week Giro d’Italia bike race.

Israel Start-Up Nation rider leads the peloton at the Tour de France in front of the Arc de Triomphe, July 2021. Credit: Courtesy.

Adams is proud of Israel Start-Up Nation’s performance at this year’s Tour De France. “ISN’s second Tour represented another building block in the team’s growth. For the first time, we were on the podium, with Michael Woods earning the iconic polka-dot climber’s jersey,” he said. “We also had our share of bad luck, with terrible crashes destroying our GC hopes on the first day.

“But the team held strong and was cheered all along the roads of France, with shouts of Israel, Israel, Allez [Go!]! Also, allez Start-Up Nation in recognition of the team moniker and allez Chris Froome, in respect of our great four-time Tour winner. We have put the ‘Start-Up Nation’ on the world map. And a special mention of our Israeli Omer Goldstein for racing like a consummate pro, despite being in his first Tour de France.”

‘Quick to change focus and fight for new goals’

Israel Start-Up Nation boasted several noteworthy accomplishments throughout the three-week race, while also facing some challenges. It finished in the top 10 on nine stages and the top five on three occasions. Canadian Michael Woods took the KOM (red polka-dot leaders’ jersey with blue snowcapped mountains and the words “RIDE ON” at the base) after a big push on Stage 14. Woods finished both third and fifth during the Tour de France, while teammate Dan Martin of Ireland made the top five with an impressive performance on the final mountain stage.

Sports manager Rik Verbrugghe says the riders should be proud of the way they fought to overcome a difficult start to the race. On the first day, seven out of eight on the Israeli team were involved in several crashes. One was caused by a fan who stepped onto the course to unfurl a banner. “We had a challenging beginning, but we never lost morale, and the guys were quick to change focus and fight for new goals,” he said.

Canadian-Israeli billionaire Sylvan Adams (center) poses with other members of Team Israel Start-Up Nation, July 2021. Credit: Courtesy.

The Tour concluded three weeks later in Paris with the traditional finish on the Champs-Élysées. The Israeli team finished with a strong performance as André Greipel of Germany sprinted to fifth place. The final stage—Stage 21, 67 flat miles (108 kilometers) from Chatou to Paris at the Champs-Élysées—concluded with Israel riders Omer Goldstein in fifth place, Rick Zabel 23rd and Guillaume Bovin 29th.

Greipel had recently announced that this would be his final Tour de France. His teammates, mindful of what this race means to him, positioned him near the front for the sprint and at the end.

“This was an emotional day, knowing that I would take on my last Tour de France stage. In the sprint, due to the new finish, everybody gambled a bit in the headwind, and I guess I gambled a bit too much,” reported Greipel, who vocalized wishing he finished even higher in the pack. “I would have liked a better result, so there is some disappointment now but also relief as I could finish another Tour de France.”

Goldstein spoke more succinctly and playfully at the finish line. “It was the hardest and most enjoyable race of my life. What do I want now? To rest, and leave the bike … ”

This year’s Israel Start-Up Nation consisted of Guillaume Boivin, Chris Froome, Omer Goldstein, André Greipel, Reto Hollenstein, Dan Martin, Michael Woods and Rick Zabel.

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Original Article Published On The JNS

“It is just good news after good news; who wouldn’t want that, especially in times like this?” according to David Wiseman and Shari Wright-Pilo, who created a Facebook page to chart the journey of Israeli Olympic athletes and their designated sport.

Nearly 10 years ago, just before the 2012 London Olympics, new immigrants to Israel David Wiseman and Shari Wright-Pilo noticed a lack of what they considered to be much-needed English-language news and content about the Israeli Olympic team. They decided to do something about it; they created the Facebook group “Follow Team Israel” to share stories about the Olympics, as well as stories about Jewish athletes and sports teams from around the world. Now, nine years later and days away from the start of the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Olympics set to take place July 23 to Aug. 8, their page has 21,282 followers and is considered the premier English source about Israeli athletes.

“The page was created out of a shared love of two things: Israel and sport,” reports Wiseman, who made aliyah from Australia in 2005. “With most of the athletes playing sports that are ignored or neglected by traditional sports media, the page strengthens the connection between the fans and the athletes.”

Wiseman and Wright-Pilo, an immigrant from Toronto, Canada, have one goal. “It is just good news after good news; who wouldn’t want that, especially in times like this?” poses Wiseman, who feels that these hardworking, talented athletes deserve attention. “We do it because we want the athletes to know all they do for us, and that all their sacrifices aren’t in vain.”

Follow Team Israel continues to post a wide range of stories each day, covering such topics as Israeli windsurfer and Olympian Katy Spychakov; the two Orthodox American Jews drafted to Major League Baseball teams (Elie Kligman by the Washington Nationals and Jacob Steinmetz to the Arizona Diamondbacks); and Israeli Yam Madar, drafted by the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association. While the site posts only sports-related stories, Wiseman observes that the appeal is to a wider audience who cares about Israel.

David Wiseman and Shari Wright-Pilo. Credit: Courtesy.

“The irony is that most of them aren’t sports fans—couldn’t care less about it—but they love Israel, and they love to see people passionate about what they do/representing Israel,” says Wiseman.

The Jerusalem-based Wiseman, who works in digital branding and online reputation management, is excited about the upcoming summer Olympics, even if they will mostly be held without fans as a precaution against contracting and/or spreading COVID-19.

When asked to offer three to five Israeli athletes to keep an eye on at the upcoming Olympics, he had a hard time limiting himself. He reluctantly stopped at seven, noting, “It’s like picking a favorite grandchild.”

Wiseman’s list includes:

  1. Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, Marathon
  2. Israel’s baseball team, Team Israel
  3. Linoy Ashram and Nicol Zelikman, Individual rhythmic gymnastics (there is also a team)
  4. Judo (six men and six women, one in each weight division)
  5. Anat Lelior, Surfing
  6. Avishag Semberg, Tae kwon do
  7. Sagiv brothers, Triathlon (Ran and Shachar Sagiv will both compete; they come from a connected Israeli Olympic family. Their father is Olympic marathon runner Shemi Sagiv.)

Israel is planning to send 89 athletes to the Olympics (54 men and 35 women) to complete in 15 sports—nearly double the number of athletes who represented the Jewish state at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The numbers are unusually high, in part, since 24 of the 89 are on Israel’s baseball team.

Linoy Ashram. Credit: European Gymnastics (https://www.europeangymnastics.com/).

Israel has won nine Olympic medals since it first participated in 1952. The first came in 1992 in the sport of Judo when Yael Arad won a silver medal. She was followed a day later by another judoka, Oren Smadja, who won bronze. Gal Fridman is the only Israeli to win a gold medal (windsurfing, Athens 2004) and so far the only Israeli to win two medals (bronze, Atlanta 1996).

This year’s Olympics will feature Israel’s first-ever archer (22-year-old Itay Shanny), surfer (21-year-old Anat Lelior) and equestrian team. The team of four show jumpers includes an eclectic group: Mexican-born Alberto Michan, who is in his third Olympics but representing Israel for the first time; Teddy Vlock, a 23-year old jumper who reportedly trains with Yale University in New Haven, Conn.; American-born 36-year-old Danielle Goldstein Waldman; and Ashlee Bond, whose father is Shlomo Goldberg/Steve Bond, the Israeli-born American model and actor.

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Original article posted on the Camp Ramah Northern California website.

When the idea of including campers with disabilities in Ramah camp was proposed in the late 1960s, there was a great deal of pushback. Fortunately, we have come a long way since the first Ramah camp began including people with disabilities through its Tikvah Program in 1970. Following in this Ramah tradition, Ramah Galim was founded with inclusion as a core value with Tikvah as part of our camp from the beginning — and we get more inclusive each summer.

This year, we began in-depth discussions about inclusion—for people with disabilities and for everyone—during staff week. The Tikvah staff led a Shabbat afternoon program consisting of stations where we learned texts, discussed benefits and challenges of inclusion, and shared concrete strategies for facilitating inclusion. The Tikvah staff also modeled spirited musical Tikvah davening (prayers) for the camp over Shabbat. The entire staff was more excited than ever before to genuinely include and model inclusion for their campers.

Ramah Galim has reached new levels of inclusion. Inclusion is no longer a “program;” rather it is a mindset and an attitude that reflects our values. Two of the 12 campers who started the summer in Tikvah selected Ocean Exploration as their maslul (specialty track), which they seamlessly attended daily with campers from other edot (divisions). The rest of the Tikvah campers rotated through such activities as kayaking, biking, wall climbing, gardening, and performing arts with peers from other divisions. Additionally, each day, Tikvah joined Bogrim and Nachshonim for morning prayers. I have lost track of the number of Friday afternoon, and Shabbat day and weekday evening peulot erev (evening groups) that have included Tikvah and another edah.

The most wonderful part is that inclusion is no big deal. Campers with and without disabilities participate in camp activities daily—from maslul, to meals, Havdalah, singing and dancing, and Yom Sport. 

In this very special summer, when children have been apart for so long, it is a delight to see all campers playing, learning, and enjoying being Jewish together, in their special home, just a short walk from the waves of the Monterey Bay. May we continue to grow our naturally inclusive Ramah Galim community.

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