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06: Jews and Sports


This week we introduce Issue #6: Jews and Sports

In his recent New York Times op-ed piece, columnist David Brooks gives the following set of statistics on Jewish achievement in the modern world:

[Jews] make up 0.2 percent of the world population, but 54 percent of the world chess champions, 27 percent of the Nobel physics laureates and 31 percent of the medicine laureates… Jews make up 2 percent of the U.S. population, but 21 percent of the Ivy League student bodies, 26 percent of the Kennedy Center honorees, 37 percent of the Academy Award-winning directors, 38 percent of those on a recent Business Week list of leading philanthropists, 51 percent of the Pulitzer Prize winners for non-fiction.

An impressive list, to be sure.  It’s odd then, that conspicuously absent from this litany of awards, accolades, and accomplishments is any mention of sports, athletics, or anything even remotely physically exhausting.  According to Brooks’ list, the closest nexus of Jews and Sports is “chess,” which, while fabulously difficult to play, can be fabulously difficult to do from a soft, cushioned arm chair.  One could reasonably surmise that when it comes to sports, Jews just can’t make it into the end-zone.

Baseball DiamondBut we at Alef know differently.

For the next two weeks, Alef will be featuring stories about Jews, Sports, and everything in between; from an explanation of “Shabbat tailgating,” to an exclusive interview with “The Jewish Jordan” (professional basketball player Tamir Goodman).  So, whether you’re a quarterback, an arm-chair quarterback, or just watch the Superbowl for the commercials, we hope you enjoy “Jews and Sports.”

-Alef

Photo by John-Morgan licensed under Creative Commons

Jews and Sports posts:

Diving into Judaism
Seton Hall Jews
The Tennis Lesson
Bet My Life
Matzah Ballers
Tailgate Shabbat
Alef Interviews: Tamir Goodman
It’s Like Riding a Bike

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