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ESPN’s Jeff Passan opens up on his Hebrew school upbringing, interviewing Sandy Koufax and Jewish baseball history
(JTA) — For tuned-in baseball fans, Jeff Passan is everywhere. As ESPN’s senior MLB insider, he frequently breaks some of the sport’s biggest news and appears on several of the global sports network’s television, radio and podcast programs.
After two decades of reporting, can anything make him nervous? There is one athlete who does: Jewish legend Sandy Koufax.
“Generally speaking, when I’m talking to people, I’ll call them by their first name. He was Mr. Koufax,” Passan told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about the pitcher he once wrote a paper about for Hebrew school.
While a columnist for Yahoo! Sports, Passan spent about four years reporting his 2016 New York Times best-selling book “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports,” a deep-dive into pitching and the epidemic of what’s known in the sport as Tommy John surgery, or ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction.
Koufax, known for his on-the-field dominance and his refusal to pitch on Yom Kippur during the 1965 World Series, walked away from baseball at only 30 years old because of injury. So as Passan began work on his book, he knew he needed to talk to Koufax.
Koufax is famously private, and securing a rare interview wasn’t easy — Passan enlisted fellow Jewish writer Jane Leavy, Koufax’s biographer, who put in a good word for him. When the time came to talk, Passan said it was the most nervous he’s ever been for an interview.
“I was in awe the whole time,” Passan said in a phone interview from Arizona, where he’s covering spring training.
Koufax’s pitching prowess aside, Passan praised the principled stance the former Dodger took all those years ago.
“The way that he represented himself, the way he honored Judaism, and, when it was an incredibly difficult thing, stuck by what mattered to him, I think that’s applicable across religions, across cultures, across backgrounds,” Passan said. “If you feel passionate about who you are, and something is important to you, even when it’s uncomfortable, you should stand by it. That’s exactly what he did. I have an undying amount of respect for him for both doing that and just for the way that he has and continues to carry himself.”
A Cleveland native, Passan fell in love with both baseball and writing at a young age. His father, Rich, worked at the Plain Dealer for 42 years, and Passan said he got his first byline at 14 years old. He would go on to cover sports at Syracuse University, the Fresno Bee, the Kansas City Star, Yahoo! Sports and, since 2019, at ESPN.
Passan, 42, grew up in a Conservative Jewish household, attending Hebrew school three times a week. He said he considers himself a “cultural Jew” — noting that his wife is Catholic and they are raising their kids without religion.
“I look at religion now as being a really important thing for lots of people, but the sort of thing that for me and my family, we’d like for our children to be a little more worldly until, or if, they decide to choose to go the religious route,” he said.
Jeff Passan at his bar mitzvah, Oct. 9, 1993. (Courtesy of Passan)
Passan said he and his family celebrate Hanukkah — he’s a big fan of latkes — and he fasts on Yom Kippur. And then there’s Jewish geography.
“When I run into someone who’s Jewish, even though I’m not particularly religious, and he or she may not be particularly religious, there’s still a connection there because of how we were raised and the things that you learn growing up a Jew,” he said. “If there’s one thing that I look at with regret that my kids don’t have, because we’re not raising them Jewish, it’s that.”
That instant connection is present in the press box, too.
“We know who we are,” Passan said. “There was one World Series where I think there were like seven or eight Jewish writers sitting in a row. And we said all we need is a few more and we got a minyan here.”
Passan said he also feels that camaraderie with Jewish players — especially those who play for Team Israel during the World Baseball Classic, which is coming up next month.
“It’s different than Team USA or the Dominican Republic or Venezuela,” he said. “It’s a cultural team. It’s a team that’s often based around your religion or the religion in your family, and I think that makes it a unique group of players who may not have that same connection or that same feel to Israel, but they have that shared experience of being Jewish and knowing what that entails.”
The presence of Jewish talent in Major League Baseball — and on Team Israel, which features more big leaguers this year than ever before — is noticeably greater than it has been in years. The 2021 World Series, which featured four Jewish players, is a prime example.
“I think it’s just another way to illustrate that we can be everything,” Passan said. “If you are growing up and you want to be a rabbi, that’s wonderful. If you’re growing up and you want to get into media, that avenue is there for you. And if you’re growing up and want to be a baseball player, there are no limitations. The history of Jewish baseball players, while not extensive, is nevertheless rich.”
And what is it, exactly, about baseball that has endeared the sport to American Jews for so long? Passan has some theories.
First, he noted the historical significance New York has held in both baseball and American Judaism. For a period in the early-to-mid 20th century, New York was home to three MLB teams — the Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants.
“As Jews, we really gravitate toward things that have history and substance,” Passan said. “Baseball being so big in the emergence of sporting culture in the United States, there’s a gravitas to that, there’s an import to that, that I think Jews really are attracted to.”
The other aspect that has bonded Jews and baseball, Passan said, is its shared culture of family tradition.
“It’s something that can be passed on from fathers and mothers to sons and daughters,” he said. “Family is such a vital part of being Jewish. Just as we pass down customs and traditions, sports are among those customs and traditions and baseball is a generational sport.”
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France’s Culture Minister Welcomes Israel’s Philharmonic Orchestra for Concert Amid Criticism
A side view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
France’s Minister of Culture Rachida Dati expressed support for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) visiting Paris for a concert on Thursday after a French union criticized the upcoming performance because of what it called Israel’s “crimes” in the Gaza Strip.
“Welcome to Israel’s national orchestra,” Dati wrote Tuesday in a post on X. “Nothing justifies a boycott call for this moment of culture, sharing and communication. Freedom of creation and programming is a value of our republic. [There is] no pretext for antisemitism.”
The IPO, led by conductor Lahav Shani, is scheduled to perform a sold-out concert at the Paris Philharmonic Hall on Thursday. The venue is a public institution under supervision of the Ministry of Culture and the city of Paris.
The Paris Philharmonic Hall said in a statement on Monday to Radio France that it hopes Thursday’s concert will take place “in the best possible conditions” and the venue welcomes “both Israeli and Palestinian artists.” It added that it never demands visiting artists to take “a position … on the subject of ongoing conflicts or sensitive political issues, which could sometimes have significant repercussions for them in their country of origin.” Musicians “cannot be held responsible for the actions of their government by simple association,” the institution insisted.
In late October, the French union CGT Spectacle – which represents workers in the entertainment industry including cinema and the performing arts – claimed the Nov. 6 concert is “an attempt at normalization by the State of Israel,” which they claimed is “responsible for a genocide against the Palestinian people.” The union said the concert should only take place if the audience is informed about the “serious accusations” against the Israeli government.
“The Paris Philharmonic Hall cannot host the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra without reminding the audience of the extremely serious accusations against the leaders of that country [Israel] and the nature of the crime committed in Gaza,” the union stated. “If culture is meant to be a vehicle for peace among peoples, no progress in this area can be expected without speaking the truth at every opportunity.”
Shani has previously been boycotted for being Israeli.
In September, organizers of the Flanders Festival Ghent canceled a scheduled performance by the Munich Philharmonic due to concerns regarding Shani and his “attitude to the genocidal regime in Tel Aviv.” Shani, the chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, will take over as chief conductor of the Munich orchestra for the 2026/27 season.
After the festival rescinded its invitation, Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever attended a concert by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in a sign of solidarity.
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Freed Israeli Hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov Describes Torture, Sexual Assault by Iran-Backed Terror Group in Iraq
Princeton researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, 2017. Photo: Facebook
Freed Israeli hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was released after two and a half years in captivity, recounted being beaten, tortured, electrocuted, and sexually assaulted by the Kataib Hezbollah terrorist group in Iraq, describing the abuse in an interview published on Wednesday.
In her first appearance since being freed in September, Tsurkov told The New York Times that her Iran-aligned captors “basically used [her] as a punching bag”— especially during the first months after her abduction.
Tsurkov, a dual Israeli-Russian national and Princeton University student, was kidnapped in March 2023 after agreeing to meet a woman who had reached out to her on WhatsApp, claiming she needed help researching the Iran-backed Islamist group.
After showing up to the alleged meeting at a Baghdad coffee shop, Tsurkov was forced into an SUV by several men, who repeatedly beat and sexually assaulted her.
“I genuinely believe I would have died,” she said, noting the Trump administration’s “incredible determination” in negotiating and ultimately securing her release.
Tsurkov expressed her gratitude to US President Donald Trump, the administration officials who helped secure her release, and Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for hostages and missing persons, praising their efforts and unwavering support throughout her captivity.
Over the course of more than two years, Tsurkov was held in confinement by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terrorist group that has never explicitly admitted to abducting her, enduring conditions similar to those faced by hostages held by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
Eight months after her abduction, Tsurkov was seen on Iraqi TV for the first time, providing proof she was still alive while being forced to admit she worked as an Israeli and US spy.
During her two years in solitary confinement, Tsurkov said she initially kept her Israeli identity a secret. However, her abductors eventually discovered evidence on her phone and accused her of being a spy.
Even after she tried to demonstrate her pro-Palestinian stance by showing some of her online posts to them, her captors’ treatment of her grew even more brutal.
When she refused to confess to being a spy, Tsurkov said she was “strung up and tortured.”
In her interview, she described one of her captors, referred to as “the colonel,” as “very filthy and very obsessed with sex,” saying he repeatedly threatened her with rape and grabbed a tattoo on her thigh.
In September, Tsurkov was handed over to the Iraqi government, where female doctors examined her weakened physical state, marking her first contact with women since her abduction.
During such a traumatic experience, she recalled that seeing people, including one of her sisters on TV, advocate for her release gave her a sense of hope and helped sustain her strength.
Tsurkov is now in Israel, undergoing rehabilitation for the severe injuries she endured during her captivity. She spends most of her days lying on her back, as sitting or standing remains too painful.
Due to the relentless beatings, she also revealed that she is missing a tooth and continues to suffer constant pain.
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Jewish Groups Vow to Hold Mamdani ‘Fully Accountable’ After Mayoral Victory to Ensure Safety of New York Jews
Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, delivers remarks while campaigning at the Hanson Place Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, US, Nov. 1, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ryan Murphy
Major Jewish organizations were quick to respond to far-left democratic socialist and anti-Zionist Zohran Mamdani being elected as the new mayor of New York City on Tuesday night.
Mamdani, 34, a fierce critic of Israel who has been widely accused of antisemitism, defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo by a margin of 50.4 percent to 41.6 percent, while Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa received 7.1 percent of the votes.
The Democratic state assemblymember — who has repeatedly accused Israel of “apartheid” and “genocide,” refused to recognize its right to exist as a Jewish state, and supported boycotts of all Israeli-linked entities — will be the city’s youngest mayor in over a century and the first Muslim to hold the office.
Mamdani is a member of the controversial Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) organization and has refused to explicitly condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which has been associated with calls for violence against Jews and Israelis worldwide.
Following Tuesday’s election, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) announced the launch of an initiative to track and monitor policies and personnel appointments of the incoming Mamdani administration in order to help protect Jewish New Yorkers. As part of the new initiative, the ADL is establishing a citywide tipline for New Yorkers to report antisemitic incidents.
New York City has experienced a surge in anti-Jewish hate crimes over the past two years, following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in southern Israel, and many Jewish leaders have expressed concerns that the trend will continue and even intensify with Mamdani in office.
“Mayor-elect Mamdani has promoted antisemitic narratives, associated with individuals who have a history of antisemitism, and demonstrated intense animosity toward the Jewish state that is counter to the views of the overwhelming majority of Jewish New Yorkers. We are deeply concerned that those individuals and principles will influence his administration at a time when we are tracking a brazen surge of harassment, vandalism and violence targeting Jewish residents and institutions in recent years,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL, said in a statement.
“We expect the mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population in the world to stand unequivocally against antisemitism in all its varied forms and support all of its Jewish residents just as he would all other constituents,” Greenblatt added. “In the months ahead, we will hold the Mamdani administration to this basic standard, and ADL will be relentless and unyielding in our work to ensure the safety and security of all Jewish New Yorkers.”
The United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, ADL New York/New Jersey, American Jewish Committee of New York, and New York Board of Rabbis said in a joint statement they “cannot ignore that the mayor-elect holds core beliefs fundamentally at odds with our community’s deepest convictions and most cherished values.” They called on Mamdani and all elected officials to “govern with humility, inclusivity, and a deep respect for the diversity of views and experiences that define our city.”
“As we have done for over a century, we will continue to work across every level of government to ensure that our city remains a place where our Jewish community, and all communities, feel safe and respected,” they added. “Our agenda remains clear. We will hold all elected officials, including Mayor-elect Mamdani, fully accountable for ensuring that New York remains a place where Jewish life and support for Israel are protected and can thrive. We will continue to confront, without hesitation, the alarming rise in antisemitism and hate crimes, and loudly call out any rhetoric or actions that delegitimize Israel or excuse antisemitism.”
Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph, executive vice president and COO of the Orthodox Union, said he urges the mayor-elect to “embrace the responsibility of governing for all, protecting the vulnerable, rejecting divisive rhetoric, and ensuring that safety, dignity, and respect are guaranteed to every New Yorker, including Jewish New Yorkers.” The OU is the largest umbrella organization for Orthodox Jews in the US.
Joseph said the OU “is more determined than ever to continue advocating for the needs of the Jewish People and transforming our collective strength into lasting impact at City Hall and beyond.”
New York has the largest Jewish community outside the State of Israel. The ADL’s Center on Extremism recorded 976 antisemitic incidents in New York City in 2024, which is the highest in any US city since the ADL began monitoring such incidents. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) revealed that last year, 54 percent of all hate crimes in New York City targeted Jewish New Yorkers.