Sport

Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

“I didn’t think about how I was making history as the first Israeli athlete to play in Dubai.”

When Israeli tennis legend Andy Ram learned in August that Israelis will soon be able to fly directly to the United Arab Emirates, he was shocked and pleased and had a déjà-vu moment.

Ram’s illustrious doubles career, mostly with fellow Israel tennis player Jonathan “Yoni” Ehrlich, included three Grand Slam championships, multiple opportunities to represent Israel at the Olympics and the Davis Cup, and some exciting and harrowing behind-the-scenes dealings with the then-unfriendly Arab nation. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP, the leading international men’s tennis organization) once paid Ram to not play tennis in Dubai, then one year later reversed course and exerted pressure to grant permission for Ram to play there.

Ram, who retired from professional tennis six years ago, reflected on his tennis career, current projects and Dubai experiences during a recent Zoom “Lunch and Learn” session for 70 people with the Israel Tennis and Education Center (ITEC).

Ram’s tennis career began when he wasn’t allowed to play soccer. Ram’s Israeli father was injured and endured three surgeries during his years playing professional soccer for Beitar Jerusalem. His father then went to Uruguay on shlichut (as an emissary), where he met Andy’s mother.

“Because of his soccer injuries, he didn’t allow me to play soccer.”

The Ram family moved back to Israel when Ram was five. At that young age, he started playing tennis at the Israel Tennis Centers in Jerusalem and was hooked immediately.


“I was jealous of the kids who were playing tennis at (the main center in) Ramat Hasharon.” Ram moved to Ramat Hasharon and to the Wingate Institute at age 14 for more intensive training.

Ram turned pro in 1996 at the age of 16 and began practicing regularly with future doubles partner Yoni Erlich. The two actually first met when Ram was 10.

“I was three years younger. I had a dream to play with Yoni and I asked him to play together in the juniors.” The two did not compete in a Grand Slam tournament until 2001, when they played doubles at Wimbledon.

Ram has spent most of his career playing both men’s doubles and mixed doubles. In 2003, Ram and Erlich entered the prestigious Wimbledon tournament through the qualifiers and reached the semifinals. That same year, Ram and Anastasia Rodionova of Russia reached the mixed doubles finals, losing to Martina Navratilova and Leander Paes.

RAM CONTINUED to experience success in both men’s doubles and mixed doubles throughout the 2000s. In 2003, Ram and Erlich won both the Thailand Open and a tournament in Lyon, France. Ram won the mixed doubles title with Vera Zvonareva at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships. He then won the mixed doubles title at the 2007 French Open with Nathalie Dechy, and the men’s doubles title at the 2008 Australian Open with Erlich.

Following Ram and Erlich’s Australian Open victory at the end of January 2008, the pair wanted to play in March’s Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship.

“There were lots of points and big money to be won there,” Ram tells the people on the ITEC webinar. “Under sports law, they must let all people play in this tournament, so we applied for a visa and we got tickets. The Dubai government didn’t let us go.” Ram then shared the shocking story of how the ATP “didn’t let us go. The ATP convinced us – after we got our tickets – not to go. They gave us $10,000, paid for our canceled tickets and suggested we play in the February Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. We said okay!”

Ram and the ATP took a very different approach in 2009 when the idea of playing in Dubai resurfaced. “Yoni was injured, and I needed to earn and defend points. I told the ATP with two months’ notice that I have the right to go.”

In February of the same year, Israeli tennis player Shahar Pe’er was denied a visa by the UAE for the Dubai Tennis Championship. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the main organizing body of women’s professional tennis, fined Dubai Tennis Championships organizers a record $300,000. US tennis star Andy Roddick said at the time that he wouldn’t defend the title he won there in 2008.

According to Ram, “The ATP said, ‘If there is no visa for Andy Ram, we will cancel the tournament.’ Dubai said they would give me a visa.”

This is where Ram’s circuitous, wild Dubai adventure begins.

“There were no flights. And the Mossad called. I don’t know how they knew I was planning to go! They are the Mossad. They said, ‘We know you want to go. You can’t!’”

Ram and the Zoom audience laughed.

“I flew to Paris. I was at the counter three hours before the flight. The lady said, ‘You can’t go.’ Seconds before the flight was to take off, they let me on the flight. I thought they [would all want] to kill me – so I started to speak Spanish! When we landed, I became like the prime minister. Some 15 people took me off the flight and took my bags. We stayed at a bulletproof hotel. We were the only ones there; all of the other players stayed in a different hotel. They blocked off the whole floor and I had 24/7 bodyguards, and I had to use the name Mr. Smith. Later, I realized my hotel was only two minutes from the tennis center; they had driven me around and around for two hours to get there!

“And when we went to a restaurant with 60 people, 50 people left with me! They were all part of our entourage. At my matches, there was one court just for me. Only 100 people were allowed to watch, and no phones. The name ‘Ram’ appeared but no country.”

The Zoom audience was mesmerized, clearly hearing this story for the first time.

“When I look back, this was the most important thing I have done in my career. It was a statement about what I was fighting for!”

RAM’S PERSEVERANCE in 2008 and 2009 seems to have paid off. Israeli tennis players and other athletes will presumably have no trouble traveling to Dubai from now on. In the recent deal, Israel and the UAE agreed to exchange ambassadors, enhance commercial ties here, enable medical tourism with Sheba Medical Center, create security relationships and much more. They will also allow direct flights between the two countries – something Ram would have enjoyed. The UAE will become only the third Arab country to have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Ram is still making sense of the news and its implications.

“When I was playing tennis, I didn’t think about it. I didn’t think about how I was making history as the first Israeli athlete to play in Dubai. Now, to see the skies open to Dubai is unbelievable. I never thought it would happen!”

As the always-gregarious Ram looks back on his 30-year career, he reports nostalgically, “What I got from tennis, I can’t describe in words. Everything I have in life is through the Israel Tennis Centers. I met my wife through tennis at age 10, had my first kiss at age 16, and now have three kids! What I received from tennis, you can’t get from other sports.”

Ram continues to be loved and respected throughout Israel and the tennis world. Kevin Green, ITEC international chair, reports, “We are so proud of Andy and what he has accomplished in his career; from representing Israel in his Davis Cup victories, to winning major titles at Wimbledon, the French Open and the Australian Open. Beyond his professional accomplishments, Andy’s work ethic, humility and warmth make him an inspiration to all of us. He sets a shining example that when you have a dream, work hard and focus, anything is possible. He is an international treasure and a celebrated global ITEC ambassador.”

Erez Vider, global CEO of ITEC, adds, “Andy Ram is a legend for tennis in Israel and for the ITEC’s children since he won three Grand Slams in tennis. He is a living example that everything is possible. Dreams can come true if one has the will and will get a fair chance. Anyone can become a winner in tennis and in life through our programs.”

Despite his status as a tennis legend, Ram is much like any Israeli parent these days – dealing with the uncertainly of school starting up and finding ways to keep his children occupied in the age of COVID-19. Andy, wife Shiri, and children ages 11, 9 and 5 live in north Tel Aviv. Ram is enjoying the extra time he gets to spend with his family.

“We make the best out if out – the same as it was when I was on the court – trying to look on the good side of things.”

DESPITE PLANNING to not work in tennis after his retirement, Ram has found his way back. In 2015, Ram became CEO of Pulse Play, a wearable tennis technology app startup. (He reports he closed the company about one year ago.) And he started a foundation within the Israel Tennis Centers in memory of his father “to help kids with their dreams of becoming pros.”
Ram has become passionate about helping young Israelis reach the top levels in professional tennis. And he has the reputation, personality and finesse to bring together the Israel Tennis Centers, the Israel Tennis Association and other key players to achieve this goal.

“I really believe that in a few more years, we will see the next Dudi (Sela) and Shahar (Pe’er). This is the reason I started it.” He points to Mika Buchnik, 13, and Israeli Bedouin Karin al-Touri, 14, as two female players he sees on track to achieve tennis greatness.

In addition to his efforts to produce the next Israeli Roger Federer or Serena Williams, he teaches classes at Ono Academic College, his alma mater, and gives motivational speeches and presents workshops for Israeli companies.

While Ram played his last US Open in 2013, he still stays abreast of news of the Grand Slam event, which took place August 31 to September 13 in New York – with no fans present.

“It is such an operation. It is one of the biggest sports events in the world, next to the Olympics. It is two weeks and big money. It will be interesting to see how they get back and manage to pull it off; the rest of the sports world will follow. I am really looking forward!”

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Original Post Published On The Jerusalem Post

After two straight US Open quarterfinals, Jewish-Argentine knocked out early • Djokovic cruises • Gauff ousted

Cameron Norrie of Great Britain battled back from two sets down and two match points to stun the US Open’s Argentine No. 9 seed, Diego Schwartzman 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 in a four-hour first-round match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Monday night.
Schwartzman, the No. 13 in the world, experienced cramps on several occasions and took a fall up 3-2 in the fifth set that required treatment on his left hand by the trainer. The gregarious, proudly Jewish 28-year-old is a three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist. He reached the US Open quarterfinals in both 2017 and 2019, but couldn’t pull out the match against Norrie.

“I had a very bad day,” said Schwartzman after the match. “I was far from playing at the level that I showed many times here at the US Open. I took advantage of the early chances, but I was giving a lot physically and I started to get tired and cramped up a couple of times. In a normal year, when I am playing a lot, I do well, but it is much harder going a long time without competing. It was a very bad tournament for me and all I can do is try to improve for what is coming.”No. 76 Norrie spoke to the British media after the match.“I just had a phenomenal attitude and stayed patient with myself,” said Norrie. “I think my attitude won it for me today and my legs got me through it.”  Norrie had eleven aces to one for Schwarzman. The match broke a US Open record with 58 break points.Norrie advances to play Argentinian Federico Coria in the second round.  Players in the main draw earn $61,000 for appearing in the first round.  Male and female tournament winners earn $3 million.  Norrie has yet to win any titles.  He is 4-10 in Grand Slam matches and has reached the second round four times.

Schwartzman made news during last week’s ATP 2020 Western & Southern Open Masters 1000, which was also played on the grounds of the US Open.  He was upset when Argentine tennis players Guido Pella and Hugo Dellien were quarantined after their fitness trainer tested positive for COVID-19.

“They lied to our faces,” Schwarzman said angrily, “They said that there would be no retaliation for anyone who tested positive.”Relatedly, a number of competitors at the US Open expressed their frustration on Monday after they were moved into a so-called “bubble within a bubble” as they had been in contact with Frenchman Benoit Paire, who tested positive for coronavirus.

Tournament organizers quietly removed Paire from the draw on Sunday, with the Frenchman later confirming on social media that he had tested positive.French players Adrian Mannarino, Kristina Mladenovic and Edouard Roger-Vasselin were subsequently placed under an “enhanced protocol plan” for “players who might have been potentially exposed” to the virus, allowing them to continue competing in the tournament instead of withdrawing.

In other first-round action, Novak Djokovic needed less than two hours to continue his unbeaten season.The top-seeded Serbian routed Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 in 1 hour, 58 minutes.The win was Djokovic’s 24th in as many matches this year. He won the Australian Open and three tournaments this year, including the Western & Southern Open in New York last week.

Djokovic saved six of the seven break points he faced against Dzumhur while converting six of his 18 break opportunities.A heavy favorite for the title with Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Switzerland’s Roger Federer absent, Djokovic will next face Kyle Edmund. The British player got past Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik 2-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-0.In other matches, fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece demolished Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 in 98 minutes.

Maxime Cressy will get the next shot at Tsitsipas, as the American wild-card entrant produced his first victory in a Grand Slam event.Cressy, a 23-year-old UCLA product, beat Slovakia’s Jozef Kovalik 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.Fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev needed four sets to get past South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.Seventh-seeded David Goffin of Belgium eliminated the United States’ Reilly Opelka 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.Other seeded winners Monday included Israel-born No. 12 Denis Shapovalov of Canada, No. 19 Taylor Fritz of the United States, No. 20 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, No. 24 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, No. 26 Filip Krajinovic of Serbia, No. 27 Borna Coric of Croatia and No. 32 Adrian Mannarino of France.

In an all-United States matchup, Steve Johnson outlasted 16th-seeded John Isner 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (3). Isner fell despite an ace edge of 52-22.On the women’s side, Coco Gauff failed to make it past the first round as 31st-seeded Anastasija Sevastova defeated the 16-year-old sensation 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Gauff had a memorable run 12 months ago at age 15 when she recorded two wins at the US Open before losing to top-seeded Naomi Osaka in the third round.But the magic wasn’t there against the 30-year-old Sevastova, who was a US Open semifinalist in 2018 and reached the quarterfinals in both 2016 and 2017.Gauff committed 13 double faults and 41 unforced errors against 27 winners in the match at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

“I could’ve played better today, but I’m just going to get back to work and get ready for the French Open,” Gauff said of the event that begins Sepember. 21.Also, top-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic routed Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine 6-4, 6-0.Fourth-seeded Naomi Osaka, two days after withdrawing from the Western & Southern Open final due to a hamstring injury, emerged with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 win over another Japanese player, Misaki Doi.

Sixth-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova also was sharp with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu.American Alison Riske, seeded 13th, got past Germany’s Tatjana Maria 6-3, 6-2, No. 17 Angelique Kerber of Germany notched a 6-4, 6-4 win over Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic and No. 30 Kristina Mladenovic of France recorded a 7-5, 6-2 win over Hailey Baptiste.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

Also read it in Spanish On Enlance Judio

Until her death Monday at age 85, Buxton was still waiting for her August 1958 application for membership in the All-England Lawn Tennis Club to be approved.

Sandra Harwitt – my seatmate on the free bus which takes US Open credentialed media, umpires, coaches and players from Manhattan to the US Tennis Center in Queens – playfully asked if I recognized the 80-year-old woman in front of us.

Harwitt, a tennis writer and author of The Greatest Jewish Tennis Players of All Time, clearly did. It was Angela Buxton, the feisty 1956 Wimbledon women’s doubles championship from England, best known for befriending and teaming up with African-American Althea Gibson.

Why would a Liverpool-born Jewish woman, who spent World War II in South Africa, and spent significant time in the US, India, and Israel, break the color barrier in tennis? Quite simply, Buxton saw herself and Gibson as outsiders.
Until her death Monday at age 85, Buxton was still waiting for her August 1958 application for membership in the All-England Lawn Tennis Club to be approved.
“I think the reason is quite clear,” the feisty, straight-talking Buxton told me in her English accent in a 90-minute interview in the media dining room at the 2014 US Open.

“I can only assume it is because I am a Jew.”

Buxton always spoke candidly. She was delighted that I write about tennis for Israeli and other topics for Israeli publications. We became friends and stayed in contact over the years. Buxton would call, send her tennis articles—or a DVD of the movie, Althea and Angela: A Perfect Match, and she insisted I read the book, The Match: Althea Gibson & Angela Buxton: How Two Outsiders – One Black, the Other Jewish – Forged a Friendship and Made Sports History. I last saw Buxton at the 2019 US Open – this time in a wheelchair – at the dedication of the Althea Gibson statu

Buxton experienced racism for the first time as an 8-year-old in South Africa, when friends and neighbors disapproved of a friendship with a black girl her age. Buxton’s first encounter with antisemitism also occurred in South Africa when a man remarked, “You Jews are all the same. You think you own the world!”

As a teenager she applied to join the Cumberland Club, the top tennis facility in North London. Coach Bill Blake reportedly rejected Buxton, saying “You’re perfectly good, but you’re Jewish. We don’t take Jews here.”
Instead, she practiced on the private tennis court of Simon Marks, the Jewish owner of the department store Marks & Spencer.
As a pro, Buxton’s first encounter with antisemitism in the tennis world occurred at the Los Angeles Tennis Club in 1952. She was denied membership because she was Jewish.

Buxton’s first encounter with antisemitism in the tennis world occurred at the Los Angeles Tennis Club in 1952. She was denied membership because she was Jewish.

In 1953, Buxton had a very positive Jewish experience. She traveled to the Maccabiah Games from England to Israel – by boat, on a ship called “Artza,” – with 100 Jewish fellow athletes.

In 1956, Buxton asked Gibson to be her doubles partner at the French Championships and Wimbledon. After the pair won Wimbledon, a British newspaper headlined a report, “Minorities Win.” Buxton injured her wrist at an August 1956 tennis tournament in New Jersey and her tennis career soon came to an end.

Buxton’s colorful post tennis-playing life included teaching and coaching tennis, starting the Buxton Tennis Center in North London, sports writing and volunteering with her three children – then-ages 6, 4, and 18 months – on Kibbutz Amiad during the Six Day War.

Buxton returned to Israel many times over the years and helped found Israel Tennis Centers.

Buxton was inducted into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame in 2015 for her relationship with Gibson and the International Jewish Sports Hall in Israel in 1981.

I will miss seeing Angela schlepping her big “wheely” suitcase through the grounds of the US Open, and her calling me at random times to share a story or article. The world has lost a legend – one with a real Jewish soul!

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Original Article Published On The Chabad.ORG

When Eric Brodkowitz left home in Potomac, Md., to study at Yale University and to pitch for the Yale Bulldogs baseball team, his mother, Jill, did what any concerned Jewish mother might do: She turned to her local Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi, who reached out to Chabad on Campus at Yale.

“Rabbi Shua Rosenstein at Yale was open and very inviting,” says Brodkowitz, today an investment analyst with Goldman Sachs and a pitcher on Israel’s national baseball team, which will compete in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. During his time at Yale, Brodkowitz—who in his senior year at Yale was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection and finished the season with a 2.80 ERA—grew close to Rosenstein and his wife, Sara, co-directors of Chabad at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. “The rabbi invited me and my friends to Shabbat dinner. It was just a very welcoming environment.”

During his junior year, Brodkowitz lived on the same street as the Yale Chabad and began wrapping tefillin twice a week at the Chabad House.

“When Eric was on campus, we would meet often to lay tefillin,” recalls Rosenstein. “We always joked that it would help him as a pitcher.”

It certainly didn’t hurt.

Brodkowitz, who was discovered by Team Israel manager Eric Holtz towards the end of his senior year in 2018, has had a successful run so far with Team Israel. The right-hander started two games in the July 2019 European Baseball Championship B-Pool in Bulgaria—winning one game and striking out 15 in 9.1 innings pitched—as part of Israel’s sweep into the playoffs. Team Israel beat Lithuania in the best-of-three playoff series, qualifying for the 2019 European Baseball Championship, from which Israel emerged as one of six teams heading to the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Even post-graduation, Brodkowitz has continued to stay in touch with the Rosensteins. He recently stayed at their home in New Haven for the weekend of this year’s Harvard-Yale football game, and after being selected to play for Team Israel in the Olympics, he gifted a prized team jersey to one of the rabbi’s children.

“Rabbi Rosenstein was a big influence on me,” says Brodkowitz, who credits his mother for giving him the push he needed. “She said, ‘Go for a free dinner and explore… I had a great dinner, a great time and became very close to the rabbi.”

A Family That Focused on Traditions

Today an investment analyst with Goldman Sachs, Brodkowitz participated in the Sinai Scholars study program at Yale. (Photo: Margo Sugarman)
Today an investment analyst with Goldman Sachs, Brodkowitz participated in the Sinai Scholars study program at Yale. (Photo: Margo Sugarman)

Brodkowitz, who grew up in Potomac in the greater Washington, D.C. area, has always been connected to baseball, to his family and to his Judaism. His father, Ken, pitched and played outfield and first base during his student years at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore before injuring his arm. “He had Tommy John surgery and didn’t pitch after that,” says Brodkowitz. When Ken married and had children, he focused his energies on patiently and carefully coaching his children.

Brodkowitz speaks affectionately of his father, who was always “dedicated, caring and focused” with him and his two younger siblings and their sports pursuits. “He focused on mechanics, always practiced with me and never missed a game,” relates Brodkowitz, who says he continues to feel his parents’ active support.

While baseball was always a passion for the younger Brodkowitz, Jewish life holds no less an important place in his life. His family has always been affiliated, Brodkowitz attended Hebrew school and went to Jewish overnight camp for six years, and the family and continues to be connected to Chabad of Potomac.

He also benefited from a close relationship with his maternal grandfather, who he says “grew up in an Orthodox neighborhood in New York” and “faithfully practiced Judaism.” His grandfather proudly prepared Brodkowitz—and all twelve of his grandchildren for their bar and bat mitzvahs. “He is the type of guy where you learned the whole service and all the blessings; it was intense.”

Despite the high expectations, the ball player says “it was a good bonding experience.”

Despite his packed work and training schedule, Brodkowitz is never too busy to discuss his Jewish pride with reporters or fans. (Photo: Margo Sugarman)

Wrapping Tefillin, Throwing Pitches During College

Brodkowitz continued to grow Jewishly while at Yale, even with the demands of playing varsity baseball all four years, coupled with the equally intense demands of being a double major in economics and molecular, cellular and developmental biology with a concentration in biotechnology. During sophomore year, he participated in a Birthright Israel trip, an experience he describes as “transformative.” Little did he know that only a few years later, he would become an Israeli citizen and play for its national baseball team.

As his baseball career developed, so did his Jewish engagement. Along with Shabbat meals at Chabad and regular tefillin pit stops, Brodkowitz enrolled in the Sinai Scholars program run by Chabad on Campus that integrates the study of classic Jewish texts, social programming and networking for top Jewish college students around the world.

Team Israel manager Eric Holtz first saw Brodkowitz pitch when Holtz’s son, who plays baseball for Columbia University, was playing against Yale.

“My son was a freshman at Columbia when Eric was a senior. I watched a championship game in which Eric pitched eight innings, giving up one run, and was just phenomenal. He refused to let his team down,” reports Holtz. “I didn’t know he was Jewish at all. After the game, I was looking at the stats and saw the last name was Brodkowitz. I immediately called the coach at Yale; he put me in touch with Eric, and the rest is history. Beyond being a great right-handed pitcher, he is one of the most wonderful young men you will ever come across.”

When Brodkowitz got a text from his Yale coach about Team Israel’s interest in June 2018, he was both surprised and flattered. By now a college graduate, he had just recently been hired as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, so he was also unsure of what to tell his new employers. Considering that he might need to miss some work to play in various baseball tournaments in Europe and Asia—not to mention the Olympics—it was an unusual request to say the least. Instead of rejection, to Brodkowitz’s delight his chance to play for Team Israel was met with an outpouring of support. “You have our blessing. How can we help?” came Goldman’s reply almost instantly, for which the pitcher/analyst says he is forever grateful.

In the months leading up to the Olympics, Brodkowitz stays in shape by working out in the gym and throwing baseballs daily at a field close to his work. And despite his packed work and training schedule, he is never too busy to discuss his Jewish pride with reporters or fans. “It has been a blessing and privilege to be able to wear ‘Israel’ across my chest,” he affirms.

Aside from his ongoing connection with Chabad at Yale—he remains active as an alumnus—Chabad continues to play an important place in Brodkowitz’s life in his work with Team Israel. (Photo: Margo Sugarman)

An Active Alum with Yale and Chabad

Aside from his ongoing connection with Chabad at Yale—he remains active as an alumnus—Chabad continues to play an important place in Brodkowitz’s life in his work with Team Israel. Take, for instance, the team’s Friday-night experience while in Lithuania for a game against the country’s national team in the small city of Utena—about an hour and 20 minutes northeast of the capital, Vilnius. Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky, co-director of Chabad of Lithuania since 1994, made the trip before Shabbat to drop off all the supplies Team Israel needed to have an authentic Shabbat experience—something Brodkowitz and his teammates say they will never forget.

“There was nothing better than being in a country like Lithuania and having Shabbat dinner driven 100 miles from Chabad so that the team could celebrate Shabbat together,” adds Holtz, the manager.

Indeed, Peter Kurz, president of Israel Association of Baseball and general manager of Team Israel, has found Chabad to be an invaluable support to the team wherever they go. “Chabad has always played an important role in helping our national teams keep the Jewish spirit while we play in overseas tournaments—be it in Italy, the Czech Republic or even Bulgaria,” he says. Chabad has enabled “our team to maintain our Jewish traditions while still playing the game of baseball.”

More than a nice sentiment, Kurz says it’s this idea that stands at the heart of Israel baseball. The importance of Jewish tradition is in “our slogan,” he says: “‘Israel Baseball: Where Traditions Meet.’”

And it’s a key to what drives Brodkowitz.

“Eric takes great pride in his Jewish identity and his ability to help Israel compete in the summer Olympics,” attests Rosenstein. “I am confident that he will continue to inspire others in his journey, both as a committed Jew and a great baseball player.”

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