The Paris Olympics have featured several Israeli winners, but what about observant Jews? How many Orthodox Jews have reached the planet’s most competitive sports competition? The world of sports usually does not accommodate Jewish observance, which has hindered the professional success of some of the top athletes from the observant Jewish world. And yet, they […]
The Orthodox Jewish community can check off another box when it comes to representation in sports. Sam Salz just became the first kippah-wearing competitor in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) football season as running back of the Texas A&M Aggies. Originally from Philadelphia and an alum of the Kohelet Yeshiva High School in Merion, PA, Salz […]
While Ryan Turell is stirring up a lot of excitement for his draft to the G League, NBA’s minor league organization, playing his first game last night, it turns out another Orthodox Jew had already been drafted to the NBA 42 years earlier. In 1980, David Kufeld was the first Orthodox Jew to be drafted […]
Ryan Turell is giving all Orthodox Jewish athletes more reasons to dream. This week he was selected in the G League draft, which is the NBA’s official minor league basketball organization. Turell will subsequently be the first Orthodox Jew to play in a G League game – in contrast to David Kufeld who was drafted […]
Israel is home to many marvels, but there is only one native giraffe: Gilad “Giraffe” Levy. Levy, 20, is the tallest man in Israel at 2.20 meters (7’2”). When asked if he’s tall enough to play basketball, he shares a resounding yes: he will play with Hapoel Jerusalem this season, and has been training for […]
Julia Haart, star of Netflix’s My Unorthodox Life, became infamous in religious Jewish circles after she publicly badmouthed Monsey, the community she was raised in, on the show. The picture she painted was that of an ignorant, monolithic, extremist community. While numerous friends of hers have discredited many of the facts she presented, Haart obviously […]
