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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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The post ESPN’s Jeff Passan opens up on his Hebrew school upbringing, interviewing Sandy Koufax and Jewish baseball history appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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On the small island of St. Eustatius, the Jewish community turned the tide of the American Revolution
Even if you’re someone with the most prolific knowledge of Jewish American history, you may not have heard of the small Caribbean island of St. Eustatius. But its Jewish community played an important role in the American Revolution.
The First Salute, a new exhibit at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, highlights the important role Jews across the Americas, especially in St, Eustatius, played in the American Revolution.
“When we talk about American Jewish history, most people’s brains immediately go to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty and the turn of the 20th century,” Josh Perelman, a senior advisor at the museum, said in an interview. “However, in the 18th century, there were Jewish communities in North America, in the Caribbean, in South America.”
“Until at least the 19th century, the Caribbean communities were the dominant communities,” Perelman said. “They were the more established, more wealthy, more prominent.”
Curaçao. The Hanukkah lamp (right) may be the only surviving Jewish ritual object from St. Eustatius. It was later brought to St. Thomas. Both are on loan to the Weitzman for ‘The First Salute.’ Courtesy of he Mikvé Israel – Emanuel Congregation in cooperation with the Jewish Museum Curaçao/the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas
Jews began living in St. Eustatius in the 17th century, primarily those of Iberian descent who had escaped the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions that lasted from around the middle of the 15th century to the 19th century. As a Dutch colony, St. Eustatius provided Jews with more independence and freedom to worship than they would have had under other European powers. The population grew and, by 1739, had become large enough to establish a synagogue, Honen Dalim. By the Revolutionary period, approximately 30% of the European population in St. Eustatius were Jews.
Turning the Tide of the Revolution
One of the most prominent ports in the Atlantic at the time, St. Eustatius was also an ideal pace for Jewish merchants to conduct business. Jewish commercial networks developed across Europe, the Caribbean, South America, and North America bound together by a shared faith, ethnic background, and sometimes by marriage. The exhibit, which contains artifacts and documents from early Jewish communities in America, explains that, using this intricate network, Jewish merchants sent gunpowder and other military supplies to American forces, disguising the shipments as tea.
Historian Jonathan Sarna explained at the exhibit’s press opening that Jews were excited by the founding father’s commitments to religious freedom, which was inscribed in the Declaration of Independence.
Although few Americans are taught about the Caribbean’s role in their American Revolution, the area played a central role in the conflict. On Nov. 16, 1776, St. Eustatius became the first international entity to officially recognize the United States of America when the governor greeted the American warship Andrew Doria in the St. Eustatius harbor with a cannon salute.
“The Revolution was an international event that touched people all through the Atlantic world,” Perelman said. “Without the Caribbean, without allies in Europe, and without courage on this continent, the Revolution would have never succeeded.”
In 1781, the British Army captured St. Eustatius and almost instantly, the Jewish population was persecuted. Royal Navy Admiral George Rodney imprisoned more than 100 Jewish men, and, less than 24 hours later, deported nearly a third of them to St. Kitts, an island in the West Indies. He had the homes of Jewish merchants ransacked for personal possessions, and dug up fresh graves at the Jewish cemetery, thinking they contained treasure. The Jews who weren’t deported immigrated to other places and by the early 19th century, the island’s Jewish community had virtually disappeared.
Rodney was so distracted with his antisemitic campaign that his troops failed to stop a French ship headed to join George Washington at Yorktown, costing the British the famous battle that turned the tides of the war.
Keeping History Alive
The First Salute, which was timed to coincide with America’s 250th anniversary, contains numerous artifacts from across the Americas including a cannon from St. Eustatius (it’s unknown if it’s the one that fired the first salute), a spice box from South America, pottery shards from the site of Honen Dalim, and Rodney’s list of St. Eustatians and their belongings, including the Jews he stole from.
Current St. Eustatius governor Alida Francis and other officials from the island attended the exhibit’s press opening and participated in a 13 “cannon” salute with confetti alongside the historians and staff at the Weitzman involved with bringing the exhibit to life. A man playing the role of George Washington oversaw the ceremony.
“The Jewish community of St. Eustatius did not stand in the margins of history,” Francis said in her remarks. “They helped to move it.”
Raimie Ritchson, St. Eustatius’ State Heritage Inspector, who helped coordinate bringing artifacts to the exhibit, told me that the synagogue, which now exists only as a set of windowless walls, and the Jewish cemetery are routinely cleaned and cared for.
“We treat history as if it’s still part of our cultural heritage, even though the descendant community is no longer here,” Ritchson said, noting that the Jews in the exhibit are not just abstract historical figures. “They were all Statian-born, just like me today. So we do not see them as part of a global nomadic Jewish community, but we see them also as Statians.”
Perelman thinks there’s a lesson for everyone to learn from the exhibit, underscoring the risk the Jewish community took to support a fledgling rebellion.
“In the very complicated world we live in today, what would you risk?” Perelman said. “What choices might you make for an unknown but better world?”
The exhibit The First Salute will be at the Weitzman until April 2027.
The post On the small island of St. Eustatius, the Jewish community turned the tide of the American Revolution appeared first on The Forward.
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Iran Fast-Boat Swarms Add to Hormuz Threats for Shipping
A satellite image shows a fleet of small boats at sea, north of the Strait of Hormuz near the Kargan coast, Iran, April 22, 2026. Photo: European Union/Copernicus Sentinel-2/Handout via REUTERS
Iran‘s use of a swarm of small, fast boats to seize two container ships near the Strait of Hormuz could undermine suggestions US forces have disabled its naval threat and reveals the challenges facing reopening one of the world’s most important oil export routes.
US President Donald Trump on Monday acknowledged that while Iran’s conventional navy had been largely destroyed, its “fast-attack ships” had not been considered much of a threat.
He said any such vessels coming near a US blockade set up outside the strait would be “immediately ELIMINATED” using the “same system of kill” deployed in the Caribbean and Pacific where US air strikes have hit suspected drug boats and killed at least 110 people.
Those boats were not attacking large, unarmed commercial ships, however, nor nearly as heavily armed, with Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards packing heavy machineguns, rocket launchers and, in some cases, anti-ship missiles.
Speedboat attacks now form part of a “layered system of threats,” alongside “shore-based missiles, drones, mines, and electronic interference to create uncertainty and slow decision-making,” Greek maritime security company Diaplous told Reuters.
Iran was estimated to have hundreds, if not thousands, of these boats before the war, often hidden in coastal tunnels, naval bases, or among civilian vessels, according to maritime security specialists.
Some 100 or more may have been destroyed since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, said Corey Ranslem, chief executive of maritime security group Dryad Global.
CHANGE IN TACTICS
Before this week, Iran had relied on missile and drone strikes to hit shipping traffic around the strait, a route which normally handles 20% of the world’s daily oil and liquefied natural gas supply.
Those attacks had stopped with the April 8 ceasefire.
The seizure of the two container ships by Iran followed Washington imposing a blockade on Iran‘s trade by sea and the start of it intercepting Iran-linked oil tankers and other ships.
“The civilian shipping industry is not equipped to prevent Iranian armed forces from seizing vessels,” said Daniel Mueller, a senior analyst at British maritime security company Ambrey.
Typically, about a dozen boats are used in a seizure operation, he added.
Iran‘s fast boats now serve as the “backbone” of Iran’s naval strategy, able to deploy rapidly as part of its “asymmetrical war against the enemy,” a senior Iranian security official told Reuters.
“Because of their very high speeds, these boats can successfully carry out hit-and-run attacks without being detected,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
FAST BOAT LIMITATIONS
Including this week’s seizures, Iran has used small, fast boats at least seven times going back to 2019, Ambrey’s Mueller said.
High winds and swells in the waters off Iran during summer make it hard to conduct such operations, said one Iranian shipping source familiar with the waters.
“When it is very bumpy, they [armed forces onboard] cannot shoot,” the source said.
They are also ill-equipped to go head-to-head with a warship, and would likely suffer “very heavy casualties” in any direct assault on one, said Jeremy Binnie, a Middle East specialist at defense intelligence company Janes.
“Even if they tried to saturate the ship’s defenses by attacking from multiple directions, they would be extremely vulnerable to the air support that would be called in,” he said.
On paper, guided missile strikes would easily destroy these boats, but shoulder-fired missile launchers would pose a threat to low-flying US aircraft, Binnie said.
“It is going to be much harder to eliminate the small boat threat than it was to destroy Iran’s larger naval vessels, which were big targets that were relatively easy to find and track and, at most, only had a limited ability to defend themselves from air attack,” he said.
The reality for the shipping sector is further disruption as well as elevated insurance costs.
After the so-called “tanker war” of the 1980s, Iran increasingly used asymmetric tactics as the Iranian navy was effectively destroyed, much as it has been in the current conflict, said Duncan Potts, a director with consultancy Universal Defense and Security Solutions and a former British Royal Navy vice admiral.
“When the US Navy and the president say, ‘We’ve destroyed the navy, we’ve sunk a frigate off Sri Lanka’ – you’ve done that before, but you’ve forgotten that your opposition here went asymmetric. And they’ve perfected it.”
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UK’s Starmer Worried by Foreign-Backed Proxy Attacks on Jewish Sites in Britain
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump (not pictured) hold a bilateral meeting at Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Britain, July 28, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday he was “increasingly concerned” about a growing use of proxies by foreign states to carry out attacks in Britain, pledging to bring forward new legislation following recent attacks.
London has seen a string of attacks – mostly arson – on Jewish-linked sites in recent weeks. Some of these are being investigated by counter-terrorism officers, although police say they are not currently being treated as terrorist incidents.
British authorities have increasingly pointed to hostile state activity as part of the backdrop to recent incidents, warning that foreign governments may seek to operate through criminal networks or proxies to maintain deniability.
“I’m increasingly concerned that a number of countries are using proxies for attacks in this country,” he said, speaking after meeting members of the Jewish community at Kenton United Synagogue, which was the target of an arson attack last Sunday.
The fire caused minor smoke damage to an internal room and there were no injuries. A 17-year-old British boy pleaded guilty on Tuesday to arson not endangering life in connection with the incident.
“We have to deal with malign state actors,” Starmer said, adding that it would require legislation by the government.
“I want this country to be a place where everybody feels safe and secure. This is not just a battle for the Jewish community,” Starmer said. “It is our battle. The Britain that I want is a Britain where people can practice their religion, their faith, in safety and security.”
British counter-terrorism police on Wednesday made two further arrests over an alleged plot to carry out an arson attack on a Jewish-linked site in London.
Detectives arrested two men aged 19 and 26 in Watford, northwest of London, on Tuesday, police said. Both remain in custody.
Police did not name a specific location but said the intended target was connected to the Jewish community.
Seven other people arrested earlier in the investigation have since been released on bail, London’s Metropolitan Police said.
British police have been investigating the string of attacks as part of a wider rise in antisemitic threats and criminal activity since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in October 2023.