MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Originally appeared in Jerusalem Post Magazine on October 16, 2026

Peter Kurz recounts the improbable journey of Israel’s baseball team to the Tokyo Olympics, sharing behind-the-scenes stories, challenges, and personal triumphs.

The Major League Baseball World Series victory of the Amazing Mets in 1969 and the Six Day War of 1967 were two formative events that set Peter Kurz – who made aliyah in 1989 – on the path of combining his two loves, baseball and Israel, and taking baseball in Israel from almost nonexistent to Olympic competitor.

Kurz used his passion, hard work, and chutzpah to systematically shepherd Team Israel on the long and improbable road to the 2020 Olympics (postponed to 2021 due to COVID) in Tokyo – an occurrence so unlikely that it is often compared to the Jamaican bobsled team competing in the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

In his new book, Where Traditions Meet: The Personal Inside Story of the Israel Baseball Quest for Olympic Gold, Kurz offers exciting anecdotes and behind-the-scenes stories, while chronicling (sometimes in laborious detail) the history of baseball’s rise in Israel.

Kurz held nearly every position in the Israel Association of Baseball over the past 25 years, including longtime president and secretary-general and general manager of Israel’s Olympic baseball team. He is still trying to understand why he was recently voted out of office – an experience he addresses in the final three pages of the 225-page book.

Where Traditions Meet is cleverly told in nine “innings” (or chapters) – the number of innings in a regulation baseball game – with a prologue and epilogue.

Young Israeli baseball players take part in a practice session as the sport continues to grow, with youth programs expanding into communities across the country. (credit: IAB/Courtesy)

The First Inning shares Kurz’s experience growing up as a “typical kid born in America in the Fifties and raised in the Sixties.” His parents were Holocaust survivors who worked hard to make a living and raise their kids on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Kurz visited Israel for the first time just after the Six Day War in 1967 – two years before his beloved Mets would make him proud by winning the World Series. “I grew up on Israel and baseball.”

The next chapter, “Second Inning: Moving to Israel and Making Aliyah,” shares his first exposure to baseball in Israel while on IDF reserve duty in 1989. A friend told him that his son was playing baseball in a league. Peter soon sold his son Amit on the idea. At the time, fewer than 300 children played the sport.

Kurz was recruited to become an assistant coach, coach, then head coach of the 10- to 12-year-old National Team. He notes that he was inexperienced and learned on the job. He next joined the board and became secretary-general in 2005.

Hardcore Baseball fans will appreciate the details of each bunt and balk he covers in chapters chronicling tournaments around the world, including World Baseball Classic (WBC) qualifiers and tournaments in the US, Korea, and Japan, various European tournaments and championships, and ultimately the Olympics.

It is clear that Kurz has an uncanny memory for game lineups and details, and cities and people encountered around the world.

But the behind-the-scenes stories of famous baseball players and emotional moments bring the book to life.

There was the time Joc Pederson, longtime major leaguer and current Texas Rangers outfielder and first baseman, was 20 and playing Single-A ball and wasn’t allowed into the team’s courtesy suite where alcohol was served, since he was underage.

Before becoming the manager of the Israel national baseball team, Brad Ausmus, who had an 18-year career in Major League Baseball, went on a team trip to Israel with his wife in 2012. He toured the country, surfed, and presented a team ball and jersey to then-prime minister Shimon Peres.

When Ty Kelly went to Israel, the former Mets and Phillies player brought his Jewish mother as his “plus one.”

Ike Davis, former first baseman for four major league teams, realized for the first time, while studying his mother’s side of the family tree, that many family members were killed in the Holocaust.

Jason Marquis, who played 16 major league seasons, including 10 playoff seasons, once surprised his teammates with 20 pizzas after a practice in Brooklyn.

Kurz gives players exposure to Jewish history, holidays

Kurz and his staff worked hard to give their players – most of whom come from fairly weak Jewish backgrounds – exposure to Jewish holidays and history, from Rosh Hashanah, Purim, Shabbat, and Tisha B’Av on the road, to visits to Holocaust sites in Lithuania, half a mile from their field, where 2,000 Jews were rounded up and murdered in the Rase Forest.

Kurz provides a fair accounting of the challenges as well as the happy moments he and his players faced on the road to qualifying for and competing in the Olympics.

For the WBC, players need only be eligible for citizenship in a country. The International Olympic Committee, however, requires players to be actual, legal citizens of the country they represent.

Israel’s Law of Return gives anyone with a Jewish parent, grandparent, or spouse the right to return to Israel and be granted Israeli citizenship.

Identifying players as Jewish was challenging and often required detective-like precision, as Kurz tracked down cemetery headstones and circumcision certificates and ketubot to verify Jewish status.

Convincing players wanting to represent Israel at the Olympics to make aliyah – and to endure the complex, bureaucratic process – was similarly challenging.

There were moments of luxury – like when the team flew to Israel on Sheldon Adelson’s private plane, and there was a great deal of discomfort and frustration navigating COVID restrictions and lodging in uncomfortable rooms at the Olympic Village in Tokyo.

Despite Kurz’s efforts to get the Israeli media on board, they mostly remained uninterested, thinking throughout that the American-heavy team was not “Israeli enough” to justify coverage.

Kurz has always viewed the team’s composition, with American stars, as a necessary step toward building a program that would ultimately produce a team of mostly native Israelis.

His efforts are paying off. It would have been interesting to hear more about Israel’s extensive youth program, from five-year-olds through adults.

For now, Israel baseball will go on without Kurz. But he admits, “An Olympic gold medal would look pretty on my wall!”■

WHERE TRADITIONS MEET: 
THE PERSONAL INSIDE STORY OF THE ISRAEL BASEBALL QUEST FOR OLYMPIC GOLD
By Peter Kurz
KDP
225 pages; $15

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The original article is published at jns.org

“Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces as they interacted with a sports legend was truly heartwarming,” said Rabbi Simcha Scholar, CEO of Chai Lifeline.

Bartolo Colón, a professional baseball player and former Major League Baseball pitcher, visits Camp Simcha. Credit: Courtesy.

Bartolo Colón opted to visit Camp Simcha, which serves 430 children and teens with cancer and other blood disorders, in New York’s Catskill Mountains in order to inspire the campers.

“I wanted to come to make every child in camp feel happy,” the four-time all-star Major League Baseball pitcher, who now plays professionally for a Pakistani team, told JNS in Spanish.

The 51-year-old Dominican American signed baseballs, shared stories with the campers, played catch and offered words of encouragement.

“I didn’t really expect to see something so organized and beautiful,” he told JNS, noting “the excellent atmosphere of the camp and their facilities.”

Bartolo Colón, a professional baseball player and former Major League Baseball pitcher, visits Camp Simcha. Credit: Courtesy.

The pitcher, who won 247 games for 11 Major League teams over a 21-year career and was an American League Cy Young Award winner in 2005, told JNS that he was particularly moved by “feeling the affection of each child and seeing that joy and willpower on their faces.”

The camp is a program of Chai Lifeline, a more than 35-year-old nonprofit.

“When athletes like Bartolo visit, it’s a grand slam for our campers,” stated Rabbi Simcha Scholar, the nonprofit’s CEO.

“Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces as they interacted with a sports legend was truly heartwarming and is a reminder of the power we all have to bring joy to those who need it most,” he added.

Bartolo Colón, a professional baseball player and former Major League Baseball pitcher, visits Camp Simcha. Credit: Courtesy.
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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

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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