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The MLB has more Jewish players than ever — but none of them will face a Yom Kippur dilemma this year
(JTA) — For Jews and baseball fans, this is one of the most important weekends of the year.
Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day, begins Sunday evening. That day will also kick off the final week of the MLB regular season, when the fight to make the playoffs comes down to the wire.
For some Jewish players, the overlap between these two events brings conflict. In a few famous examples, players have put their faith first. Sandy Koufax is still celebrated for declining to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur, but he’s not the only one to make that choice. Hank Greenberg, Ken Holtzman and Shawn Green — to name a few — have also sat out on the Jewish High Holidays. On Sept. 26, 2001, Green ended a streak of 415 consecutive games played — the longest active streak at the time — by sitting on Yom Kippur.
This year, the decision was made easy for two of the game’s best Jewish players, Max Fried and Dean Kremer — each of whom has struggled with how to deal with the High Holidays in the past. Fried is scheduled to pitch Thursday night for the Atlanta Braves, while Kremer takes the mound tomorrow for the Baltimore Orioles, meaning neither will be asked to play on Yom Kippur this year.
In 2019, Fried’s Braves faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series, and the decisive Game 5 fell on Yom Kippur. Fried, who grew up in L.A. and idolized Sandy Koufax, was torn about whether he would pitch that night. Since he was not scheduled to start the game, he decided to fast for the holiday. But when the Braves starting pitcher was quickly pulled from the game, Fried was asked to pitch — and so he did, during a win-or-go-home playoff game, on an empty stomach. The Braves lost 13-1, and Fried surrendered four runs — though he did get fellow Jewish player and St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Harrison Bader to line out.
Kremer, who has played for Team Israel and spoken about his proud Jewish identity, has not been faced with that kind of decision yet in his young career, though he has previously said he would not pitch on Yom Kippur.
Eighteen Jewish players appeared in MLB games this season, a likely record. But aside from Fried and Kremer, it’s unclear if any would sit out a game on a High Holiday. MLB.com reporter Jonathan Mayo, who himself is Jewish and produced the 2018 “Heading Home” documentary about Team Israel, said he thinks players sitting is “an exception, and far from the rule.” He guessed most, if not all, Jewish players would play on the holiday if faced with the decision. (Not all 18 are currently in the big leagues.)
As it turns out, because most teams play afternoon games on Sundays, only one Jewish player, San Francisco Giants outfielder and Team Israel alum Joc Pederson, is scheduled to play this year during Kol Nidre — the service, starting on Yom Kippur just before sundown, in which many Jews take part.
The Giants, who are managed by another Team Israel alum, Gabe Kapler, play the Los Angeles Dodgers at 4:10 p.m. PT. Sunset in L.A. on Sunday is 6:47 p.m., meaning Jews across the city will be taking their seats in synagogue as the game winds down. Pederson has played on Yom Kippur in the past.
Monday, a common off-day for MLB teams, only features four games, all of which begin around 6:40 p.m. or 7:40 p.m. local time.
The topic of Jewish players choosing whether or not to sit on Yom Kippur has intrigued Jewish fans and writers for years. In 2020, Howard Wasserman published an extensive study on the so-called “Koufax Curse,” seeking to determine once and for all whether Jewish players who do play on the holiday perform worse, possibly because they didn’t follow Koufax’s lead.
Wasserman’s conclusion: yes and no. He found that Jewish players who play on Yom Kippur do not necessarily play worse — in fact, some, like Alex Bregman, seem to perform especially well on the holiday — while teams with Jewish players do see a drop in results.
“Perhaps the solution is that no one should play on Yom Kippur, at least not teams with Jewish players…. Jews can recommit to their faith. And everyone can be ready to play the following day,” Wasserman wrote. “I make both suggestions with tongue in cheek, of course. MLB should not stop playing on Yom Kippur, nor should it urge Jewish players not to play. But these numbers might relieve Jewish players of the belief … that they lack the leverage to request the day off.”
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The post The MLB has more Jewish players than ever — but none of them will face a Yom Kippur dilemma this year 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.