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Jewish teen sinks putts and breaks down barriers on a Lutheran school’s golf team
This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.
(JTA) — When the Long Island Lutheran Crusaders boys’ golf team begins their 2023 season against oher private, mostly Christian schools, they’ll boast a not-so-secret weapon: Boaz Exodus Ginzburg, the two-time Private School Athletic Association Champion.
Ginzburg is the lone Jewish player on the team, where he has formed bonds with his teammates and broken down barriers on the golf course and beyond. A student at Schechter School of Long Island, he is able to play for “LuHi” because his Jewish day school doesn’t field a golf team.
In a time with rising antisemitism, Ginzburg’s journey is especially resonant. Though he plays on a team with a mascot that may draw concerns for its historic connections to antisemitism and Islamophobia, he feels a bond with his teammates.
“The fact that we’re the LuHi Crusaders, which feels a little bit weird, and also I have to walk into their school and they’ve got crosses everywhere, which is fine, because they’re a Christian school, but it’s just a little awkward for me,” said Ginzburg.
He began his varsity golf career in Port Washington, playing for Schreiber High School’s team while still an 8th grader in 2019, before the 2020 season was canceled. Then, in 2021, he transferred to Schechter. He was able to join the Lutheran High School Crusaders, a golf team in the same conference as his school.
Prior to Ginzburg’s arrival, no player had completed an undefeated season as Ginzburg had, nor were any of the current players champions of their league. Ginzburg accomplished both of these feats during his 2021 and 2022 seasons.
But even that celebration was tinted with otherness. “When I won the championship, it’s these very Catholic kids and the winner is ‘Boaz Exodus Ginzburg,’ which is a little bit odd,” said Ginzburg.
Ginzburg is the lone Jewish player on the Long Island Lutheran team, where he has formed bonds with his teammates and broken down barriers on the golf course and beyond. (Courtesy of Jonathan Klemp)
Ginzburg was on track to lead Schreiber’s team as a freshman during the 2020 season, but the golf team had their season canceled due to COVID-19. At Solomon Schechter, he was able to join his two siblings and study in a fully in-person environment. Other elite athletes at Schechter have been able to play sports at other schools, for which Schechter does not field a team.
Despite being the lone Jewish player on the team, Ginzburg feels totally comfortable with his teammates, and doesn’t see his religion as a barrier between him and them. While Ginzburg isn’t as close with the other players as they are with each other, he still has been able to form friendships with his teammates, finding common interests outside of golf.
“After a month, I was truly integrated,” said Ginzburg. “There’s no barrier because of religion. I only see them three months out of every year for the golf season, but I still talk to them occasionally. One of them is a pretty big Mets fan, so he and I talk about the Mets sometimes.”
Ginzburg’s coach, Jonathan Klemp, watched as he became a true member of the team, and saw it as a testament to his character.
“Upon meeting Bo, it didn’t take me long to figure out that integrating him to the team would go well,” said Klemp. “However, even the most optimistic person wouldn’t have dreamed it would go as well as it did. Bo took it upon himself to get to know each player on the team — even the young, middle school golfers. Bo has been raised right and also naturally is just a caring kid. I also think that he was intentional about making the integration go well.”
LuHi’s number two golfer, Brandon Tapia, has been playing with Ginzburg since Ginzburg joined the team in 2021, and as the team’s top players, they spend a lot of time together.
“As soon as Bo first practiced with us, he was a part of us,” said Tapia. “Bo and I would always be paired as the 1 and 2 player during the matches and in practice too. I got to know him and he got to know me well too. As the years flew by, we’d still be paired in groups together on the course and always have a great time out there.”
Tapia also sees no religious barrier between the two. “We actually thought it was pretty cool to be a team that represented different religious backgrounds,” said Tapia.
Ginzburg and Tapia have learned about religion from the other, and about making friendships across boundaries.
“I asked them a couple of questions in the beginning, and if I get curious about something I’ll either shoot them a text or ask the next time I see them,” said Ginzburg. “I have a better idea of how the different sects are split than I did before.”
Yet the golf course is also a welcome escape from religion.
“They spend all their time at school learning about religion just like I do, so it’s not really the first thing we want to talk about outside of school,” said Ginzburg.
Having Ginzburg on the team, said Coach Klemp, “has affirmed to me that though we all have different backgrounds and beliefs, that we can do wonderful things uniting together for a common purpose. In our case, that purpose is to compete on the golf course in a game we love. I think we all can do well to focus on things we have in common as opposed to dwelling on things that could drive us apart.”
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Israel Says US Gaza Executive Board Composition Against Its Policy
FILE PHOTO: Displaced Palestinians shelter at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer/File Photo
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that this week’s Trump administration announcement on the composition of a Gaza executive board was not coordinated with Israel and ran counter to government policy.
It said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar would raise the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The statement did not specify what part of the board’s composition contradicted Israeli policy. An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment.
The board, unveiled by the White House on Friday, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Israel has repeatedly opposed any Turkish role in Gaza.
Other members of the executive board include Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process; an Israeli‑Cypriot billionaire; and a minister from the United Arab Emirates, which established relations with Israel in 2020.
Washington this week also announced the start of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s plan, announced in September, to end the war in Gaza. This includes creating a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave.
The first members of the so-called Board of Peace – to be chaired by Trump and tasked with supervising Gaza’s temporary governance – were also named. Members include Rubio, billionaire developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
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Iran’s Leader Khamenei Accuses Trump of Inciting Deadly Protests
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, January 17, 2026. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday blamed President Donald Trump for weeks of demonstrations that rights groups said have led to more than 3,000 deaths.
“We consider the US president criminal for the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation,” Khamenei said, according to Iranian state media.
The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule in the Islamic Republic.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene, including by threatening “very strong action” if Iran executed protesters.
But on Friday, in a social media post, he thanked Tehran’s leaders, saying they had called off mass hangings. Iran said there was “no plan to hang people.”
In comments that appeared to respond to Trump, Khamenei said: “We will not drag the country into war, but we will not let domestic or international criminals go unpunished,” state media reported.
IRAN’S WORST UNREST IN YEARS
Iran’s ultimate authority Khamenei said “several thousand deaths” had happened during the nationwide protests, which are Iran’s worst unrest in years. He accused Iran’s longtime enemies the US and Israel of organizing the violence.
“Those linked to Israel and the US caused massive damage and killed several thousand,” he said, adding that they started fires, destroyed public property and incited chaos. They “committed crimes and a grave slander,” he said.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, or HRANA, said it had verified 3,090 deaths, including 2,885 protesters, and over 22,000 arrests.
Last week, Iran’s prosecutor general said detainees would face severe punishment. Those held included people who “aided rioters and terrorists attacking security forces and public property” and “mercenaries who took up arms and spread fear among citizens,” he said.
“All perpetrators are mohareb,” state media quoted Mohammad Movahedi Azad as saying, adding that investigations would be conducted “without leniency, mercy or tolerance”.
Mohareb, an Islamic legal term meaning to wage war against God, is punishable by death under Iranian law.
INTERNET SERVICES ARE RESTORED IN PART
Reuters has not been able to independently verify the numbers of casualties or details of disturbances reported by Iranian media and rights groups.
Getting information has been complicated by internet blackouts, which were in part lifted on Saturday.
Iran’s crackdown appears to have broadly quelled protests, according to residents and state media, and the semi-official Mehr News Agency reported on Saturday that internet service had been restored for some users.
The ISNA news website said SMS service had also been reactivated.
“Metrics show a very slight rise in internet connectivity in #Iran this morning” after 200 hours of shutdown, the internet monitoring group NetBlocks posted on X. Connectivity remained around 2% of ordinary levels, it said.
A resident of Karaj, west of Tehran, reached by phone via WhatsApp, said he noticed the internet was back at 4 a.m. (0000 GMT) on Saturday. Karaj experienced some of the most severe violence during the protests. The resident, who asked not to be identified, said Thursday was the peak of the unrest there.
A few Iranians overseas said on social media that they had also been able to message users in Iran early on Saturday.
ARRESTS HAVE FOLLOWED INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS, MEDIA SAY
State media has reported the arrest of thousands of “rioters and terrorists” across the country, including people linked to opposition groups abroad that advocate the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.
The arrests included several people Iranian state media described as “ringleaders,” including a woman named as Nazanin Baradaran, who was taken into custody following “complex intelligence operations.”
The reports said that Baradaran operated under the pseudonym Raha Parham on behalf of Reza Pahlavi – the exiled son of Iran’s last shah – and had played a leading role in organizing the unrest. Reuters could not verify the report or her identity.
Pahlavi, a longtime opposition figure, has positioned himself as a potential leader in the event of regime collapse and has said he would seek to re-establish diplomatic ties between Iran and Israel if he were to assume a leadership role in the country.
Israeli officials have expressed support for Pahlavi. In a rare public disclosure this month, Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said in an interview with Israel’s Army Radio that Israel had operatives “on the ground” in Iran.
He said they aimed to weaken Iran’s capabilities, though he denied they were directly working to topple the leadership.
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Protesters Rally in Denmark and Greenland Against Trump Annexation Threat
A protester takes part in a demonstration to show support for Greenland in Copenhagen, Denmark January 17, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Tom Little
Protesters in Denmark and Greenland demonstrated on Saturday against President Donald Trump’s demand that the Arctic island be ceded to the US and called for it to be left to determine its own future.
Trump says Greenland is vital to US security because of its strategic location and large mineral deposits, and has not ruled out using force to take it. European nations this week sent military personnel to the island at Denmark’s request.
MARCHING IN COPENHAGEN AND NUUK
In Copenhagen, demonstrators chanted “Greenland is not for sale” and held up slogans such as “No means No” and “Hands off Greenland” alongside the territory’s red-and-white flag as they marched to the US embassy.
Some wore red baseball caps resembling the “Make America Great Again” caps of Trump supporters, but with the slogan “Make America Go Away.”
In Greenland’s capital Nuuk, thousands led by Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen carried flags and similar banners as they headed for the US consulate chanting “Kalaallit Nunaat” – the island’s name in Greenlandic.
“I’ve come here today because I think it’s important to show that Greenland is not for sale. It is not a toy. This is our home,” said Naja Holm, a civil servant.
By the consulate, Nielsen addressed the crowd, drawing loud cheers.
Organizers estimated over 20,000 people attended the protest in Copenhagen – akin to the entire population of Nuuk. Police did not provide an official figure. Other protests were held across Denmark.
“I am very grateful for the huge support we as Greenlanders receive … we are also sending a message to the world that you all must wake up,” said Julie Rademacher, chair of Uagut, an organization for Greenlanders in Denmark.
TRUMP TRIGGERS DIPLOMATIC RIFT
Trump’s repeated statements about the island have triggered a diplomatic crisis between the US and Denmark, both founding members of the NATO military alliance, and have been widely condemned in Europe.
The territory of 57,000 people, governed for centuries from Copenhagen, has carved out significant autonomy since 1979 but remains part of Denmark, which controls defense and foreign policy, and funds much of the administration.
Some 17,000 Greenlanders live in Denmark, according to Danish authorities.
All parties in Greenland’s parliament ultimately favor independence, but they disagree on the timing and have recently said they would rather remain part of Denmark than join the US.
Only 17 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, and large majorities of Democrats and Republicans oppose using military force to annex it, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. Trump called the poll “fake.”