ATHLETES

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 JNS

“It was the moment you dream about for so long,” said the 27-year-old of being told by Marlins manager and Major League Baseball legend Don Mattingly that he was being activated. “You know you are forever a big leaguer—whether you ever pitch or not.”

The Miami Marlins baseball team has a good sense of humor and loves a good fish story. When Jewish player Jake Fishman was called up to the majors from the triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp organization, the Marlins tweeted, “Last name says it all. Newest FISHman,” with a photo and caption “Jake Fishman: Welcome to the Show.”

The 27-year-old left-hander from Sharon, Mass., known for his sidearm delivery, threw mostly sinkers and sliders in his recent three-and-one-third-inning debut against the first-place New York Mets on July 31. While most of the pitches came in under 90 miles per hour, Fishman threw 33 strikes in his 49 pitches. Yet despite his successful appearance, Fishman was designated for assignment the next day to make room for lefty pitcher Jesus Luzardo, who returned to the team as he came off the 60-day injured list.

When self-described “huge Miami Marlins fan” Michele Lobovits heard that Fishman was sent down to the minors, she was disappointed. Lobovits said that she and other Jewish members of a diverse baseball chat group “were so excited for Fishman. Unfortunately, he was kind of a pawn. He pitched in one game and was DfA’d. That means another team could pick him up. Or we could get him back.”

Fishman spoke by phone with JNS while relaxing at his parents’ home in Sharon. He doesn’t share Lobovits’s disappointment and is relentlessly positive as he recounts the story of his Major League debut and shares tales of his baseball career to date.

“It was the moment you dream about for so long,” said Fishman of being told by Marlins manager and Major League Baseball legend Don Mattingly that he was being activated. “You know you are forever a big leaguer—whether you ever pitch or not.”

Jake Fishman as a young pitcher. Credit: Courtesy.

‘My first pitch was a strike’

Fishman recalled that he got called to the manager’s office while on the road in Georgia. “It really happened quickly. He told Nick Neidert and me that we were going to the Marlins, but didn’t know [at the time] if we’d be activated. The next day, we flew to Miami and spoke with Mattingly, and he told us he’d keep us posted.”

Fishman called his parents, Hutch and Cindy, at 10:30 p.m. on July 29 and told them: “I may get called up.” His parents began searching for flights to Miami. They were not successful but did manage to get one to West Palm Beach and then drove two hours, arriving just in time for the Friday-night game.

Cindy gave a television interview as she watched from the stands along with a small entourage that included Jake’s girlfriend, a lifelong friend and his trainer. She recounted that “we had to really scramble to get a flight down here. All the flights were booked; we had to fly into West Palm Beach. You know all the airports are crazy and the car-rental places are crazy, but we managed to get here. And ever since, we’ve been here [at the ballpark] every day, and it has been great!”

Fishman, who wore No. 94, didn’t play that night. He says he watched the games on Friday and Saturday from the Marlins bullpen.

On Sunday, he was following pitcher Pablo Lopez closely as the Marlins trailed 6-0 in the third inning. “His pitch count was going up, and I was getting ready. In the third inning, they called down to the bullpen and said, ‘Get red hot,’ ” a sign that he might be called in to pitch. When he finally got the nod, Fishman ran out to the pitcher’s mound.

“It was a surreal feeling!” he recalled.

Mattingly tried to put Fishman at ease. “He told me there were guys on first and second, and two out, and said, ‘Go get ’em!’ He made it feel like a regular baseball game.”

Fishman came on with the Marlins trailing the Mets 6-0 in the third inning. He had to come to terms with the fact that he would be facing Mets shortstop and four-time all-star Francisco Lindor. “I didn’t imagine I’d be going up against Lindor as my first batter. I was freaking out a bit! My first pitch was a strike, and I said, ‘I think we got this.’ ”

“He grounded out to third on a sinker, and it helped me calm down and know I’d be fine,” said Fishman, who faced each batter in the Mets lineup at least once and gave up one run on four hits in the Marlins 9-3 loss at Loan Depot Park.

He learned that his time at home with his parents would soon come to an end. He cleared waivers and flew to Jacksonville to rejoin the Jumbo Shrimp, but remains upbeat.

Hutch Fishman said his son was born into a baseball family: “What helped his baseball enormously was that his brother, who is four-and-a-half years older, let Jake play with him and his friends. … He was 8 playing with 12-year-olds.”

Fishman attended Hebrew school and celebrated his bar mitzvah at Congregation Klal Yisrael in Sharon. “It was a lot of work learning to read from the Torah, but it felt rewarding,” he said. Fishman acknowledged that his Hebrew-school attendance and temple involvement “tapered off” a bit after his bar mitzvah so he could focus on baseball.

Despite a successful high school baseball career, he was not recruited by Division 1 schools for college baseball. Hutch said, “He was 5 feet tall when he was a freshman in high school. … He grew late, so no D1 schools were interested.” Fishman was reportedly 5’7” until he had a seven-inch growth spurt in his junior year. He now stands 6’3” and weighs 215 pounds!

Fishman went on to pitch at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., where he led all of college baseball with a 0.41 earned run average. He was selected in the 30th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. As he was still in college, he negotiated a contract that would include paying his tuition. Fishman returned to Union in 2018 to complete his degree in managerial economics with a minor in digital media. He spent six years in the minors with the Blue Jays organization before being selected by the Marlins in 2020.

Win against Mexico ‘a very special moment’

Fishman was also on the roster for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Peter Kurz, general manager of Israel’s Olympic and national teams, noted that “Jake Fishman was on our extended pitching roster in the 2017 WBC, but unfortunately, was not needed by the team. He has come a long way since then, and making his debut in MLB this past week was wonderful to see. He played for us in the Olympics and is a big side-armed lefty who pitched in three critical games for us. He was a wonderful teammate and really loved to be around the guys. He fit in perfectly with the team, and I hope that he’ll be on our 2023 WBC team as well.”

In order to play on Israel’s Olympic team, Fishman needed to obtain Israeli citizenship by formally making aliyah in 2019. “Traveling the country and competing in the Olympics were definitely highlights,” he reported. He was struck by the “amazing food” in Israel and was surprised by just how modern Tel Aviv was, saying with gusto: “I want to go back!”

Fishman observed that “competing in the Olympics is different than regular professional baseball—in Minor League Baseball, the team is focused on development. In the Olympics, all that matters is winning and getting the job done!”

In 2021, Israel defeated Mexico 12-5 in the double round-robin phase of the Olympic baseball tournament. Fishman said that “winning versus Mexico was a very special moment.”

The Fishman parents were proud of Jake for playing for Team Israel in the Olympics. “We woke up early and stayed up late to watch all of the games. Watching Jake play with former Major League players with good careers was cool,” said Hutch.

After years in the minors and a stint with Team Israel, Fishman finally saw Major League action. While his stint with the MLB Marlins was short-lived for now, he said he is pleased to remain in the Marlins’ system. He may even get the second chance that will make Lobovits and other fans happy.

Jake Fishman and his parents, Hutch and Cindy Fishman. Credit: Courtesy.
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Original article published in the JNS

“Our kids also come from a perspective culturally and educationally that they will return to the U.S. as allies and friends of the State of Israel,” said head coach Bruce Pearl.

Busloads of American Jewish teenagers arrived at Jerusalem’s Malha Arena to watch Israel’s U20 National play against Auburn University Tigers Men’s basketball team on Aug. 2.

Instead of rooting for Israel, the large delegation of participants on an NCSY trip sponsored by the inclusive Israel experience Yad B’Yad came clad in blue and orange to cheer on Auburn, the reigning SEC regular-season champions. The Alabama team is in Israel to play three games as part of the inaugural “Birthright for College Basketball Tour.”

“We came to support Auburn for coming to Israel,” Emily Farbowitz of New Jersey told JNS.

Eytan Israel of Stamford, Conn., added that “when we heard Auburn was coming to Israel and that they were the first school to show support for Israel, we wanted to support them and make them feel welcome.”

The well-attended event included Israeli Jewish and Arab basketball fans. Photo by Howard Blas.

Ironically, Yad B’Yad head counselor Eytan Aryeh happened to pack his blue Auburn sun hat for his Israel trip before learning the team was coming to the Jewish state. “I like Auburn,” he said. “I was a big Cam Newton (NFL quarterback) fan when he attended Auburn, and I happened to bring the hat.”

Aryeh said he felt privileged to bring his entire group to the game, saying “what better activity than to bring our group to a basketball game, and to welcome Auburn and show that we support them. What a kiddush Hashem,” he said, using words meaning “a sanctification of God’s name.”

The well-attended event also included Israeli Jewish and Arab basketball fans. Moad of Ein Naqquba, an Arab village in central Israel, brought his children. “They are rooting for the U.S. team and I am rooting for the local team,” he said. “We came to watch good-quality professional basketball.”

Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl is familiar with Israel and Israeli basketball. In 2009, he served as head coach for the Maccabi USA men’s basketball team, which took the gold medal at the Maccabi Games in Tel Aviv. Pearl is one of five Jewish coaches in history to reach the Final Four in the NCAA Division I College basketball playoffs.

The 62-year-old noted that once every four years, the NCAA allows a college basketball team to have a foreign tour. In 2017, Pearl took his team on a similar trip to Italy in the summer.

Pearl and the Tigers arrived in Israel Sunday for a 10-day visit. “Auburn is going to allow us to go take my kids to Israel and experience something that could be a once-in-a lifetime thing for them,” said Pearl. “I’m just so grateful.”

He said that he sees great potential for U.S. teams holding sports and cultural experiences in Israel. “My hope is to put Israel on the map for U.S. college teams. Auburn is going to get it started, and hopefully, you’re going to see schools like Duke, Notre Dame or Ohio State—the best names in college basketball—come to Israel. This is my goal and dream, and we are going to try and make it a reality.”

He also said that he hopes the trip will influence his players to return home as allies of Israel.

“Our kids also come from a perspective culturally and educationally that they will return to the U.S. as allies and friends of the State of Israel, and certainly for some of my players, the dream would be for them to be able to come back and play professionally in Israel because it is such a great country to play professionally because of the supportive fans,” said their coach.

Photo by Howard Blas.

‘Try to play some competition’

The Tigers will travel to Hadar-Yosef Stadium in North Tel Aviv, part of the sports center of the same name, to play against Israel’s All-Star Select Team on Aug. 7. The team’s final game will take place against Israel’s National Team on Aug. 8 at Tel Aviv Yafo Sport Palaces. Games will feature four quarters, as opposed to two halves, with a 24-second shot clock.

“One of the things our guys are going to find out in a hurry is they love their basketball in Israel and they’re good,” said Pearl. “A lot of times, you go on these summer tours and you do the best you can to try to play some competition, and there just flat-out isn’t any competition over there. We’re going to get all we want.”

The Auburn team features players from this past season, including Wendell Green Jr.; Zep Jasper; K.D. Johnson; Allen Flanigan; Chris Moore; Jaylin Williams; Babatunde Akingbola; and Dylan Cardwell. New players include freshmen Tre Donaldson; Yohan Traore; and Chance Westry; as well as Johni Broome, a transfer from Morehead State University.

All games are televised live from Israel by the SEC Network at 12 p.m. U.S. Central Standard Time. “We couldn’t be more honored to be able to go with Auburn and Bruce Pearl and his staff for this once-in-a-lifetime trip,” said ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas. “We’re thrilled beyond words.”

Bilas will call Auburn’s games on SEC Network alongside Roxy Bernstein, an American sportscaster for ESPN, the Pac-12 Network and the Oakland Athletics.

In Tuesday night’s game, Auburn never lost the lead. They led at the half 57-22 and went on to blow out the home team 117-56. Players and coaches seem more concerned with good feelings and the symbolism of the trip than the final outcome. Players huddled, embraced, posed for group pictures and then went to greet fans, pose for selfies and sign autographs. Pearl received a big welcome and put on a white yarmulke as the crowd chanted his Hebrew name, Mordechai.

“We’re going to share this trip together—see things for the first time that we’re never ever going to forget,” he said. “That’s what makes it so special, and that’s what will give us a chance to be able to come together and get to know each other better.”

“The greatest way to understand Israel and the amazing place it has become,” he affirmed, “is to see it for yourself.”

“We came to support Auburn for coming to Israel,” said Emily Farbowitz of New Jersey. Photo by Howard Blas.
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Original article published in the JNS

A 6-foot-2 right-hander from California currently pitching for Louisiana State University, he was the 160th overall pick in the fifth round of the Major League Baseball draft.

If everything goes according to plan, Eric Reyzelman may become the most Jewishly connected and affiliated Major League baseball player in history. Of course, there is a long road ahead for the friendly, hard-throwing 21-year-old Californian recently drafted by the New York Yankees. But to date, his Jewish credentials are almost as impressive as his pitching ones; the list of accomplishments already includes Hebrew school, bar mitzvah, a family trip to Israel and naches shepped (Jewish pride enjoyed) by parents and grandparents.

Reyzelman, a 6-foot-2 right-hander currently pitching for Louisiana State University (LSU), was the 160th overall pick in the fifth round of the draft on July 18. He spoke with the JNS from Tampa, Fla., where he will begin his Major League career at the Yankees’ development facilities.

While he had hoped to be picked by a big team, he says he still finds the experience surreal. He was watching the draft in a restaurant with his family and some close friends: “It was one of the craziest moments of my life. It was unreal. I was surrounded by those who got me here!”

He reports that the TV was delayed at the time, and he actually began getting calls from an “area scout” and friends before he received the official word from the Yankees. “I took my time enjoying the news,” he says, “and then they told us we’d be flying to Tampa in a day.”

Reyzelman notes that packing on short notice was no problem; after all, he quipped, “I have been living out of a suitcase for the past two years—going from San Francisco [SF Dons of the West Coast Conference] to LSU to Southern California to the Cape Cod League [Harwich Mariners] to LSU to Southern California to Cape Cod!” His mother, chiropractor Victoria Reyzelman, accompanied him and helped him get settled in Tampa. He says he works out daily from 8:30 a.m. until midafternoon.

Reyzelman and the 20 other players drafted by the Yankees will continue training at the southern facilities. “There are a ton of options to get some innings in,” says Reyzelman, who doesn’t yet know how he will spend the rest of the season. He may remain in Tampa and play in the rookie league; he may play for the Tampa Tarpons, the Minor League Baseball team and Single-A affiliate of the Yankees; or for the Hudson Valley Renegades in Fishkill, N.Y., the High-A affiliate.

Team Israel baseball at the Tokyo Olympics. Source: Team Israel Baseball/Facebook.

‘It is an unbelievable, indiscernible feeling’

Reyzelman being drafted by the Yankees is especially impressive given some of the obstacles he encountered growing up. He was cut from his high school team twice, and underwent and recovered from Tommy John (ulnar collateral ligament) surgery.

He grew up a San Francisco Giants fan, watching multiple Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum pitch. While Reyzelman enjoyed watching games, he acknowledges that “the eighth and ninth innings were the parts of the game with the most action!” Given his interest in late-game excitement, Reyzelman also loved watching Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. He also liked watching Yankee CC Sabathia pitch.

“It was an unbelievable group!” he gushes (just a bit).

The 21-year-old knows what a big deal it is to join the legendary organization and can’t wait to actually wear pinstripes. “It is an unbelievable, indiscernible feeling knowing their rich history and the number of fans they have everywhere. You say ‘Yankees’ all over the world and ears perk up. It is crazy to think I am part of this incredible organization!”

Still, Reyzelman is quick to note that his older 6-foot 5-inch, 250-pound football-playing (formerly a player at Fresno State University) brother is the “true athlete of the family.” He is also proud of his 13-year-old brother who is “obsessed with baseball.”

His parents and grandparents are relatively new arrivals on the baseball scene. While his father, Alex Reyzelman, a podiatrist, came to the United States from Moldova as a child, his mother, Victoria, a chiropractor, came to America from Ukraine (via Italy) in 1989. “My mother was here with me from the time of the signing until now; she just went back home,” he says. “My parents love it. We talk every day, and my dad loves getting updates.”

He notes that his grandparents are also enthusiastic supporters, despite arriving “late to the game,” so to speak

“My grandparents got into it when I was at the University of San Francisco [before transferring to LSU]; they started streaming every game,” he says. “Now, my grandmother who came from Moldova knows baseball and asks questions like, ‘Why was this pitcher taken out?!’ ”

Eric Reyzelman. Photo by Chris Parent/Courtesy of Louisiana State University Athletics.

‘Work ethic, determination and perseverance’

“We grew up in a pretty strong Jewish family,” reports Reyzelman, who went to Hebrew school and whose family was very active with Chabad of the Tri-Valley in Pleasanton, Calif.—some 38 miles southeast of Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. He celebrated his bar mitzvah there under the tutelage of Rabbi Raleigh Resnick. “We have made so many friends there and made so many connections. I am pretty sure I could pick up my Torah portion now if I reviewed it a few times!”

He credits the rabbi with connecting him to Chabad centers and rabbis in Louisiana, and now in Tampa. “After I transferred to LSU, I was trying to get involved. The rabbi in Baton Rouge went out of his way to make me feel comfortable.”

Jay Johnson, head baseball coach at LSU, is excited about Reyzelman and his future, saying “he is a true testament to work ethic, determination and perseverance. Eric had a terrific season this year for us and is really prepared to have success with the Yankees organization.”

The 21-year-old finished three years of college, studying kinesiology at San Francisco and then sports administration at LSU. He’ll be leaving to play professional ball.

The coach adds that “he has a Major League-ready fastball and the ability to add to his arsenal as he works through Minor League Baseball. I believe the best is yet to come for him as a pitcher.”

As for Reyzelman, he says he would love to don No. 18 (chai, Hebrew for “life”) on his Yankees uniform if given the chance: “That would be awesome. It was always lucky in my family and in Judaism, though I am not so big on numbers.”

He makes it a point to note that he appreciates the Jewish players who have come before him. He especially admires baseball legend, Sandy Koufax. “We all know the story. He definitely has to be one of the biggest. And I didn’t know until recently that Ian Kinsler [MLB legend and current Team Israel manager] is Jewish!”

Reyzelman has been following Team Israel and has watched (and re-watched) the 86-minute documentary about them called “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel.” He says, “I know the whole team from the documentary,” and adds that he would welcome the opportunity to play for Israel’s baseball team—in fact, “I am trying to get it set up for next year.”

He also acknowledges that he would be eligible to play in the World Baseball Classic qualifiers but would need to become a citizen of Israel to potentially play in the Olympics.

Peter Kurz, general manager of Israel’s Olympic and National teams, replies that he would be thrilled to see Reyzelman one day wearing the blue and white. He is also delighted to see him playing in New York—sort of.

He notes dryly, “as a Mets fan, he should be going to Queens … .”

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