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The Jewish Sport Report: All the Jews to watch in the NFL this season
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Hello and happy September! It’s been a solid season for Orthodox pitching prospect Jacob Steinmetz, who notched the first win of his professional career this week with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Single-A affiliate, the Visalia Rawhides.
A Washington Post story details how the 20-year-old is navigating minor league life as an Orthodox Jew — from flying in kosher food from Los Angeles to walking to the ballpark on Shabbat.
Your Jewish guide to the new NFL season
From left: Michael Dunn, Jake Curhan, Greg Joseph and A.J. Dillon. (Getty Images/Design by Mollie Suss)
Football fans rejoice: Week 1 of the NFL season kicks off Thursday night.
As the season gets underway, there are four Jewish players to watch, plus a few free agents and other Jewish storylines to keep an eye on, too.
Here are the Jewish players starting the season on NFL rosters:
Jake Curhan, Seattle Seahawks offensive tackle
A.J. Dillon, Green Bay Packers running back
Michael Dunn, Cleveland Browns offensive lineman
Greg Joseph, Minnesota Vikings kicker
Read our full NFL season preview right here.
Halftime report
GOLDEN. Israel won two gold medals at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Spain last weekend, including in the all-around group category — the country’s first-ever gold medal at the tournament. “We are really happy that we managed to get this medal and that we got the chance to scream out the anthem from the podium,” said team captain Romi Paritzki.
BANNED. Iran banned one of its weightlifters for life after he shook hands with an Israeli athlete at the 2023 World Master Weightlifting Championships in Poland.
MORE THAN A GAME. In 1983, campers from a Canadian Jewish summer camp played a basketball game against a group of kids who had been students of a notorious Holocaust denier. Forty years later, the experience remains formative for Hart Snider, who created a short film and comic book memoir about it. Snider recently returned to the camp to mark the anniversary of the game.
THANKS? Jewish golfer Max Homa is set to participate in his first Ryder Cup later this month, the biennial competition featuring teams from the United States and Europe. When the U.S. team was announced this week, Zach Johnson also jokingly named Homa the “prom king” of the squad — an honor that was met with confused excitement from the No. 7-ranked PGA golfer.
ENOUGH ALREADY. Israeli UFC fighter Natan Levy told TMZ he is constantly fending off antisemitic messages online, including a lot of Holocaust denial. (Levy recently challenged one online troll to a fight.)
YUM. The iconic Katz’s Deli announced that it is partnering with WNBA superstar Sabrina Ionescu on a new “Triple Double Stacker Sandwich” featuring corned beef, brisket and pastrami, in honor of Ionescu’s three triple-doubles in one season and her new Nike shoe — the company’s first-ever unisex signature shoe collection. (Ionescu is not Jewish.)
Is the pen mightier than the bat?
Veteran catcher Ryan Lavarnway wrote a children’s book about his experience playing for Team Israel. (Getty; book page courtesy of Ryan Lavarnway)
Ryan Lavarnway, a journeyman catcher who played for eight teams across 10 MLB seasons, officially retired from professional baseball earlier this year. In addition to his new role as a Colorado Rockies TV analyst, Lavarnway just released a children’s book about how playing for Team Israel brought him closer to Judaism.
The book follows Lavarnway’s baseball journey from childhood to the pros, and it explores how an offer to play for Israel changed both his career and his life.
“When I played for the World Baseball Classic team in 2017, that was a really life changing experience for me,” Lavarnway told me. “I didn’t feel a huge connection to my Judaism, to any religion, to the community at all. Through playing for Team Israel, I felt that for the first time.”
Read more about the new book here.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend
IN THE U.S. OPEN…
The U.S. Open is underway in New York, and a few Jewish (or Jewish-adjacent) players are still in the fight. Aslan Karatsev, who was born in Russia but moved to Israel at 3 years old, faces Ben Shelton today at 12:15 p.m. ET in the third round of men’s singles. Ukrainian star Elina Svitolina, who had a Jewish grandmother, faces Jessica Pegula in the third round tomorrow, tentatively scheduled for 11 a.m. ET. Madison Brengle, Camila Giorgi and Diego Schwartzman — who has been in a rough stretch lately — all lost in the first round.
IN BASEBALL…
Max Fried takes the mound for his Atlanta Braves tonight at 10:10 p.m. ET against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Harrison Bader, who was cut by the Yankees and then picked up by the Cincinnati Reds this week, could debut for his new team in their series against the Chicago Cubs. Garrett Stubbs and the Philadelphia Phillies take on Rowdy Tellez and the Milwaukee Brewers, while Zack Gelof and the Oakland Athletics face the Los Angeles Angels and reliever Kenny Rosenberg.
IN SOCCER…
Manor Solomon and Tottenham face Burnley Saturday at 10 a.m. ET, while Matt Turner and Nottingham Forest take on Chelsea at the same time. Solomon hasn’t seen much playing time in Tottengam’s Premier Leagues matches, but the Israeli forward played 81 minutes during Tuesday’s EFL Cup game against his old squad, Fulham. Turner, meanwhile, has started all three games for Nottingham, saving 73.7% of shots so far.
IN RACING…
Lance Stroll is on the grid for this weekend’s Formula One Italian Grand Prix, Sunday at 9 a.m. ET. The Aston Martin driver has been confirmed to keep his seat for next season.
Hoops for a cause
Children participate in a basketball clinic in Philadelphia, Aug. 27, 2023. (Courtesy of Jared Armstrong)
Last weekend, Jewish basketball player Jared Armstrong, who plays professionally in Israel, ran a free clinic in Philadelphia to promote Black-Jewish relations. Here’s a photo from Armstrong’s camp. For more, check out this interview Armstrong did with Philly’s local ABC News affiliate during the event.
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The post The Jewish Sport Report: All the Jews to watch in the NFL this season appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.