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The Jewish Sport Report: Taking a trip to Jewish surf camp
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Good afternoon! It’s been an exciting summer in the Jewish sports world, from the MLB and NBA drafts to the JCC Maccabi Games to world championships in fencing and cycling.
What was your Jewish sports highlight of the summer? Let us know by emailing us at sports@jta.org or tweeting (X-ing?) at us: @JTASportReport.
We’ll go first: Zack Gelof, who became the 18th Jewish big leaguer this season, has been raking — in 28 games, the rookie is hitting .294 with 32 hits, 8 home runs and a .986 OPS.
Surf’s up at this Jewish summer camp
Sababa Beachaway’s director, Danny Mishkin, standing in center, begins the morning by leading a moment of meditation. (Jacob Gurvis)
Surfing through a Jewish lens? That’s the goal at Sababa Beachaway, a Jewish surf camp in Virginia Beach I visited earlier this summer that specializes in ocean education and exploration.
The camp offers four focus areas — surfing, sailing, scuba diving and an education track called “ocean discovery” — on top of typical camp activities and Jewish programming and prayer.
The camp launched in 2015 in New York, first as a day camp, before expanding to an overnight camp in Virginia in 2018. It hasn’t been smooth sailing — the camp has navigated COVID, joining a new parent company and switching campuses. But they’ve still managed to grow enrollment.
Get stoked and read more about Sababa right here.
Halftime report
MENSCH. Super Bowl champion Leonard Fournette paid a surprise visit to a Jewish camp for children and teens with cancer and other chronic illnesses last weekend. “We all have our own problems, even myself, but the battle these kids face each and every day and for the rest of their lives, they’re the champions in our heart,” Fournette said during his visit.
→ Israeli soccer player Stav Lemkin, who starred for Israel at the FIFA U20 World Cup, is headed to Ukraine to play for Shakhtar Donetsk, the same Ukrainian Premier League team that Manor Solomon played for before moving over to the Premier League. Lemkin said he “hesitated because of the war,” but ultimately “my considerations were purely about soccer, because I knew Shakhtar would be the best place for me to develop.”
MOVING ON UP. The Forward’s Louis Keene stopped by Visalia, California, this week to see Orthodox prospect Jacob Steinmetz in action in Single-A. Steinmetz struck out seven batters over six innings, including recent Los Angeles Dodgers draftee Jake Gelof.
CHECK THIS OUT. The neighborhood around Fenway Park in Boston has unveiled a new art installation called “Be the Change,” in partnership with the Jewish Arts Collaborative. Billed as an “art and activism initiative, rooted in the Jewish tenet of justice,” the exhibition is on display through October.
B’TAYAVON. JewishPress.com brings us the behind-the-scenes story of Yankee Stadium’s kosher food scene, from the secret elevator that leads to the kitchen to the updated food offerings for this season.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend
IN BASEBALL…
Atlanta Braves ace Max Fried toes the rubber Sunday at 1:35 p.m. ET as he and Kevin Pillar face Joc Pederson and the San Francisco Giants. The Giants are coming off a 7-0 win earlier this week during the team’s Jewish Heritage Night. Dean Kremer isn’t scheduled to pitch this weekend, but his first-place Baltimore Orioles are facing the Oakland Athletics and their red-hot second baseman Zack Gelof.
IN SOCCER…
Matt Turner started in goal for his new Premier League team Nottingham Forest as they played Sheffield United this afternoon — still in progress as of publication time. Manor Solomon and Tottenham face Man United Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET.
IN GOLF…
Max Homa is competing in the BMW Championship this weekend. He finished tied for sixth at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last week.
IN FOOTBALL…
That’s right, football is back! Catch Anthony Firkser with his new team, the New England Patriots, as they play AJ Dillon and the Green Bay Packers in Week 3 of the preseason. And stay tuned for a full NFL season preview coming soon!
Gabe Kapler’s style is
Labor Day is fast approaching, which means it’s time to get your white outfits in while you still can. San Francisco Giants skipper Gabe Kapler is clearly taking that to heart, as he was rocking a fresh white and orange fit earlier this week. A former player called him the “hottest in the game.”
Gabe Kapler is the only manager in the show that pulls this outfit off. Hottest in the game and there isn’t a close second. pic.twitter.com/DAlWbJ4rul
— Coach Trev (@trevorplouffe) August 16, 2023
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The post The Jewish Sport Report: Taking a trip to Jewish surf camp 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.