Football in Israel without the pigskin

November 27, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Sports 

With the NBA strike settled, players like Jordan Farmar who were keeping in shape playing in Israel are headed back to the US. And Omri Casspi, Israel’s favorite basketball son, has also canceled his plans to play with Maccabbi Tel Aviv and instead will be training for the December 25 season debut.

While we were able to enjoy our NBA imports for a short while, there hasn’t been anything resembling the National Football League in Israel for those American sports fans who miss the gridiron action – until now.

The Israel Football League has just begun its fifth season, with 10 teams made up of Jews, Christians and Arab players shouting and cheering in languages ranging from English and Hebrew to Russian, Arabic and French.

While it’s not nearly on the caliber of the NFL, the IFL has captivated a strong following, with many games being played at the Kraft Football Stadium in Jerusalem. And many of the players are native Israelis, who had never played the game before.

“I was attracted to tackle football because it’s a sport for any given size or speed or weight and so on,” said Chen Doron, a wide receiver for the Beersheba Black Swarm, who took up the sport at age 23. “I also like football because of the team play that is required, rather than being a one-man game.”

JTA ran a full feature on the opening of the new season, quoting player Jeremy Sable, an offensive lineman/linebacker for the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Sabres, who quit playing high school football in Philadelphia because there were games scheduled on Shabbat.

“When I walked away from high school football, I thought I would never have a chance to play again,” Sable said. “Here in Israel, I am able to fulfill my dream of living in the Jewish state, while once again playing the sport I love.”

Tags:

Nimby

October 31, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Business, coexistence, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, News, Politics, Sports 

A story I wrote last week for JTA brought me to a neighborhood near my own — literally, a 10-minute walk — that I had never visited before. Two neighborhoods, really.

The first was Givat Hamatos, or Hill of the Airplane, named for a plane that crashed there during the 1967 Six-Day War. Givat Hamatos is now known as the latest site for Green Line construction, as the prime minister is planning on extending his contiguous Jerusalem line that will cut off any possible Palestinian string of neighborhoods, as well as Palestinian East Jerusalem. But until a few years ago, Givat Hamatos was the caravan neighborhood for Russian and Ethiopian immigrants, as well as some down-on-their-luck Israelis, like Barak Hasid’s family, interviewed in the story.

What struck me about Barak Hasid and Givat Hamatos, is how close he is to my home, and our very different existences. His family has made do with very little for quite a while, and has found some kind of peace — or at least he has — in their story. A lemonade out of lemons kind of narrative. And then I drove through Beit Safafa, the adjacent neighborhood, trying to get a sense of the place, the people, and the location, which is sandwiched between Givat Hamatos and the Talpiot industrial zone on two sides.

It’s a nice neighborhood with fairly large homes, a very new soccer field (thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation), and is the home to Yad B’Yad, or Hand in Hand, the Jerusalem branch of Israel’s bilingual Arab-Hebrew schools. I can’t tell you much more than that, because I didn’t find anyone to speak to me. But I’m still working on that. I figure there has to be more to the Beit Safafa story, given its history and existence of coexistence.

It’s strange to think of a possible residential neighborhood down the road from me as a) settlement construction and b) possibly part of a future Palestinian Jerusalem. What I do know is real estate locations, and there’s no question that Givat Hamatos works from a geographical standpoint. It’s off a main road, close to a busy business area and has access to major transportation. But nothing is ever that simple in these parts, so we’ll have to see what happens in this particular section of my backyard.

Tags: , , ,

Nostalgia Sunday – It’s antiques harvest season!

October 16, 2011 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: education, Entertainment, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, News, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture, Sports 

For the third year running, national park Gan Hashlosha-Sachne will be holding its annual collectors’ fair. Israel is a young country so this is no “Antiques Roadshow”. Nonetheless, it is an opportunity for those passionate about the country’s industrial-age artifacts to view some rarely-seen collections. The theme for this year’s collectors’ fair is “Sports”; in parallel to the exhibition there will be special activities for the whole family.

The exhibition features items from the personal collections of Israeli sports legends: basketball coach Ralph Klein z”l, soccer player Avi Cohen z”l, who died tragically only last year, and a collection of walking shoes courtesy of the still very much alive and kicking race-walker Professor Shaul Ladany — including his shoes from the 1972 Munich Olympics when 11 of his teammates were killed.

There is also a collection of fencing swords (including one from in the 1930s owned by Israel’s first fencing coach, who happens to have been a woman), trading cards, sports magazines, banners, trophies, matchboxes and even a special exhibit of matkot — that annoying beach-paddleball game played primarily by scantily-clad women and their banana-hammock wearing partners.

The display also includes a large collection of bicycles, courtesy of the privately owned Alon Wolf Bicycle Museum.

The question is, will they also have a place for the latest in Israeli sports memorabilia: this cereal box, recently spotted, featuring basketball player Omri Caspi. If I were a collector, I’d buy a gross of these…

Gan Hashlosha is a natural water park fed by underground springs. On the premises is the “Footsteps in the Valley” museum, subdivided into three branches dedicated to historical aspects of the Jewish State.

These include the archeological branch that deals with regional and Mediterranean archeology, presenting findings from Greece, Persia, Egypt and the Beit Shean area, the heritage branch, site of the Homa u-Migdal (Tower and Stockade) museum, a reconstructed site of the early settlement; and the water and environment branch: that includes walking routes along the stream, and among the gardens and orchards.

And of course, this week there’s the festival, where there will be special activities and sports for the whole family (including discus and spear-throwing, for those inclined), workshops and guided tours of the park and the exhibition. For more information click here.

Tags:

NBA players lining up to play in Israel

August 5, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Life, News, Sports 

Washington Wizards forward Trevor Booker (right) is headed for Israel.

Nobody seems to know when or if the NBA basketball season will begin, but benefactor of the lockout is Israel.

Washington Wizards forward Trevor Booker and the New Jersey Nets’ Jordan Farmar are the first NBA players to sign with an Israeli team in order to keep playing this year.

Booker signed a one-year deal on Thursday with Israeli Basketball League team Bnei Hasharon that has an opt-out clause that will allow him to return to the Wizards whenever the lockout ends.

The Wizards General Manager Ernie Grunfeld’s son, Dan, played for Bnei Hasharon last season. According to the Washington Post, Booker has traveled overseas to Turkey and Serbia and said he was “definitely open” to playing in Israel. After speaking with his parents, Booker decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“I’m real excited,” Booker said in a telephone interview on Thursday. “I get to play against some competition again. I think it will be a neat experience, so I’m definitely excited.”

Booker plans to leave for Israel next month and his business manager, Oliver Hill plans to tag along and assist Booker with getting acclimated to the new country. Miller said he doesn’t expect Booker to have any problems in Israel. “I think the transition will be very seamless for him. He’s a very mature kid.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv also is benefiting from the NBA walkout by New Jersey Net guard Jordan Farmar to a contract for the duration of the work stoppage. The league’s only American Jew, the 24-year-old Farmar is eligible to be listed as a naturalized Israeli outside the limited quota of foreign players each Israeli team is allowed.

And even New York Knicks’ star Amar’e Stoudemire was a possibility of for coming over to Israel. Last month he asked fans on Twitter if he should play in Israel during the NBA lockout, “Should I go to Israel and play for Maccabi Tel Aviv during the lockout?” he wrote. Later, the star, who visited Israel last year as a tourist and explored his Jewish roots, decided to remain at home.

Maybe the walkout kills the NBA season, he’ll reconsider. I’m sure a team here will open up their roster for him.

Tags:

Foto Friday – Rick Blumsack tackles Jerusalem

July 22, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, design, education, Entertainment, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Picture of the Week, Pop Culture, Sports, Travel 

Rick Blumsack finds inspiration for his photographs in simple encounters with people, wildlife and his surroundings. The former Cambridge, Massachusetts resident now makes his home in Jerusalem where he contributes to The Jerusalem Post and recently participated in his first Israeli group show, People and Places – A Photographic trip Around the World, sponsored by the AACI.

In addition, Blumsack serves on the media team of the Israel Football League… and if you didn’t know there was American-style football in Israel, then you haven’t been driving by Jerusalem’s Kraft Stadium. On any day of the week it is alive with flag football players – men, women, young boys and girls.

The stadium is named for Robert and Myra Kraft, owners of the NFL’s New England Patriots and one of the driving forces behind flag football in Israel. Sadly, Myra Kraft passed away this week of cancer at age 68. David has written more about this remarkable woman here.

It’s a point of great pride that IFL teams sing the national anthem, HaTikva, at every game.

Beyond the confines of the stadium, as he wanders through Jerusalem, Blumsack finds the encounters he seeks with people enjoying simple pleasures — like these two young men at rest, heads atop their cycle helmets…

Or this painter, working intently in the heart of Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda Market…

And children enjoying green spaces within the urban environment.

More works can be seen at Rick Blumsack’s website.

Tags:

Page 2 of 2612345...1020...Last »

 

© 2012 ISRAELITY | Site by illuminea | Sitemap