The cultural spheres of sport and religion mixed recently when Jake Retzlaff, a proud Jew, became the starting quarterback for the Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars. The fiercely Zionistic, unquestionably Mormon institution of higher (4,500 feet above sea level) learning might just be the safest school to be Jewish anywhere in the United States of America. As a satirical headline reads from the Cougar Chronicle, BYU’s student newspaper, ‘BYU Rocked by Lack of Palestine Protests, Anti-Semitism’. If only the students of the Ivy League were so lucky.
While a Jewish student playing for a Christian university would seem like a historical anomaly, Jake Retzlaff’s time at BYU fits surprisingly neatly into the larger American narrative. California Lutheran’s current point guard is the kippah-wearing Ze’ev Remer. Before being drafted by the Washington Nationals, Elie Kligman played catcher at the originally Baptist Wake Forest University.
Tamir Goodman, dubbed by Sports Illustrated as the ‘Jewish Jordan’, received a scholarship offer to University of Maryland but declined when the Terrapins could not accommodate his religious needs. Towson University swooped him up instead. Although not Christian universities, both schools would certainly not count Yeshiva University or Brandeis College as peer institutions in terms of religious outlook.
These contemporary examples pale in comparison to the ‘Wonder Five’ of the 1929 St. John’s Redmen. Four of the Vincentian university’s starting five were Jews including Jack “Rip” Gerson, Mac Kinsbrunner, Max Posnack, and Allie Schuckman. Together with Matty Begovich, the ‘Wonder Five’ managed an impressive 24-game winning streak as part of a larger 1929-1931 record of 68 wins and 4 losses.
Though not Jewish himself, St. John’s institution and Catholic member of the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Coach Lou Carnesecca sadly died this week. At his 2005 induction ceremony, Carnesecca shared “Many of the players from our teams were Jewish. One of my mentors, Red Sarachek (longtime coach of Yeshiva University), is in the Hall.”
Nowadays, the conventional wisdom is that Jews are more likely to be found in the owner’s box than on the court. To quote an old, mildly anti-Semitic joke from the movie ‘Airplane!’, when asked by a passenger for some light reading the flight attendant asks “How about this leaflet, ‘Famous Jewish Sports Legends?’”
Young Jews like Jake Retzlaff, Ze’ev Remer and the Yeshiva University Maccabees who embarked on a 50-game win streak from 2019-2021 demonstrate that Jewish contribution to sport remains as robust as the heady days of the ‘Wonder Five’.
Shabbat Parshat Vayetze
Candle Lighting: 4:09pm
Havdala: 5:09pm