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‘It’s my heritage’: American Jews — and allies — turn out to support Israel at the World Baseball Classic
MIAMI (JTA) — When Michael Ignagni found out that Israel would be competing in the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifier, he immediately thought of how Western pop culture undermined communism.
“The first thing I thought of was the impact that everybody says the Beatles had on breaking down the Berlin Wall and ending communism in the Soviet Union,” Ignagni recalled. “And I thought, what if they started playing baseball in the Middle East, and think of the impact baseball can have.”
He had a vision of baseball as a vehicle for unity among Israel and its neighbors — a road he said had to begin with Israel.
“So I thought, you know what, if this is going to happen, I’m going to be all in for Israel, and I’ve been supporting them ever since,” said Ignagni, 53, a hotel auditor who lives in Los Gatos, California.
Ten years later, Ignagni has been at each of Israel’s WBC games this week in Miami. He’s befriended the team’s general manager Peter Kurz and former Olympic team manager Eric Holtz, and he proudly wears Israel merchandise with the Israeli flag and a Star of David — he says he’s bought about $500 worth.
Ignagi is like a lot of fans who have turned out to root for Israel in the tournament, with one notable difference: He isn’t Jewish.
“It means something to stand for something,” Ignagni said. “I wear [the Israel hat] with pride so people can see I’m not afraid to wear this, whether I’m Jewish or not.”
Throughout the tournament, Ignagni was far from alone in his commitment to Team Israel — even if the cheering squad couldn’t match the tens of thousands of fans who came out to root for the Latin teams.
Claudia Wolff has been to all five WBCs dating back to the inaugural edition in 2006, including Israel’s qualifying games in New York, where she lives.
Speaking before Tuesday’s game against the Dominican Republic, Wolff highlighted the representation Team Israel provides for Jewish fans.
“The fact that Israel can go toe-to-toe on the world stage is so meaningful,” she said.
Another draw for Wolff is the fact that Israel’s success in the 2017 WBC and other international competitions has helped raise baseball’s profile in the country.
“I think it’s really going to encourage baseball in Israel, which is terrific,” she added.
Sitting near the dugout — a ripe spot for autographs — Lloyd Kaplan had the chance to meet Israel player and Chicago Cubs prospect Matt Mervis.
Kaplan traveled from Long Island to see Israel play after watching the team in 2017. He called it a “once in a lifetime experience.”
Stu Moss, an entertainment agent who lives in nearby Coral Springs, said his love of Team Israel is about more than baseball.
“If I had the opportunity to go to the USA game or go to the Israel game, I have to go to the Israel game because it’s my heritage,” Moss said.
A Brooklyn native — he called Dodger great Sandy Koufax “the left arm of God” — Moss has followed the team since 2017. He runs a senior softball club in Boca Raton called the Hebrew Hammers.
“It’s part of our heritage,” Moss said. “We’re not a religion, we’re a people.”
Lloyd Kaplan, center, gets an autograph from Team Israel player Matt Mervis. (Jacob Gurvis)
Moss also said he appreciates the demographic of the team, which is mostly composed of American Jewish ballplayers who qualify for the team by dint of their heritage.
“You wanna be on the Israeli team? You seen ‘Fiddler on the Roof?’ You’re in,’” Moss joked.
RELATED: How Israel built its most talented baseball roster ever for the 2023 World Baseball Classic
One of those players is San Francisco Giants All-Star Joc Pederson. And while speaking to Team Israel fans before a game at loanDepot Park this week, this reporter spotted a familiar face sitting in the section behind Israel’s dugout: Shelly Pederson, Joc’s mother.
“I’m proud that he’s excited to play with Team Israel,” Pederson told JTA. She added that the team is “a great group of people,” and that she loves the support from fellow fans.
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‘The Art of the Yiddish Monologue’ and other mini-courses in Yiddish
במשך פֿונעם חודש יאַנואַר 2026 וועט ייִוואָ פֿירן די ווײַטערדיקע מיני־קורסן אויף ייִדיש:
• „די קונסט פֿונעם ייִדישן מאָנאָלאָג“, וווּ מע וועט לייענען און אַרומרעדן מאָנאָלאָגן פֿון שלום עליכם, י. לץ פּרץ, דער טונקעלער, ב. קאָוונער, משה נאַדיר, רחל ברכות און יצחק באַשעוויס. מע וועט אויל אַרומרעדן די געשיכטע פֿונעם מאָנאָלאָג אין ייִדישן טעאַטער (שיין בייקער)
• שעפֿעריש שרײַבן, וווּ מע וועט אויפֿן סמך פֿון ליטעראַטור־מוסטערן באַטראַכטן די וויכטיקע באַשטאַנדטיילן פֿון פּראָזע — שפּראַך, סטיל, דיאַלאָג, געשטאַלט און פּייסאַזש (באָריס סאַנדלער)
• יצחק־לייבוש פּרץ און זײַנע באַציִונגען מיט די נײַ־געבוירענע ייִדישע סאָציאַליסטישע קרײַזן אין משך פֿון די 1890ער יאָרן (עדי מהלאל)
• די גרויסע אַקטריסע אסתּר רחל קאַמינסקאַ, וווּ די סטודענטן וועלן לייענען אירע זכרונות אויף ייִדיש (מיכל יאַשינסקי)
• די לידער פֿון דוד האָפֿשטײן, וואָס איז מערקווירדיק צוליב זײַן צונױפֿפֿלעכט פֿון דײַטשישע, רוסישע און אוקראַיִנישע ליטעראַרישע טראַדיציעס מיט תּנכישע און מאָדערנע ייִדישע השפּעות (יודזשין אָרנשטיין)
• די ייִוואָ־גדולים אין זייערע אייגענע ווערטער, וווּ מע וועט לייענען די שריפֿטן פֿון א. טשעריקאָװער, מ. װײַנרײַך, י. לעשטשינסקי, י. מאַרק, ש. ניגער, נ. פּרילוצקי, ז. קלמנאָװיטש, ז. רייזען, י. שאַצקי און נ. שטיף (דוד בראַון)
The post ‘The Art of the Yiddish Monologue’ and other mini-courses in Yiddish appeared first on The Forward.
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Suspect at Large in Brown University Shooting that Killed at Least Two, Injured Eight
Police vehicles stand near the site of a mass shooting reported by authorities at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, U.S., December 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Taylor Coester
Police in Rhode Island were searching for a suspect in a shooting at Brown University in Providence in which two people died and eight were critically wounded at the Ivy League school, officials said.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told a news conference that police were still searching for the shooter, who struck at Brown’s Barus & Holley engineering building, where exams were taking place at the time. Officials said police were looking for a male dressed in black and were scouring local video cameras in the area for footage to get a better description of the suspect.
Smiley said officials could not yet disclose details about the victims, including whether they were students. He lamented the shooting.
“We are a week and a half away from Christmas. And two people died today and another eight are in the hospital,” he said. “So please pray for those families.”
Brown is on College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island‘s state capital. The university has hundreds of buildings, including lecture halls, laboratories and dormitories.
President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he had been briefed on the situation, which he called “terrible.”
“All we can do right now is pray for the victims and for those that were very badly hurt.”
Compared to many countries, mass shootings in schools, workplaces, and places of worship are more common in the US, which has some of the most permissive gun laws in the developed world. The Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as any incident in which four or more victims have been shot, has counted 389 of them this year in the US.
Last year the US had more than 500 mass shootings, according to the archive.
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Rights Groups Condemn Re-Arrest of Nobel Laureate Mohammadi in Iran
Taghi Ramahi, husband of Narges Mohammadi, a jailed Iranian women’s rights advocate, who won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, poses with an undated photo of himself and his wife, during an interview at his home in Paris, France, October 6, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
International human rights groups have condemned the re-arrest of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi in Iran, with the Nobel committee calling on Iranian authorities to immediately clarify her whereabouts.
Mohammadi’s French lawyer, Chirine Ardakani, said on X that the human rights activist was arrested on Friday after denouncing the suspicious death of lawyer Khosrow Alikordi at his memorial ceremony in the northeastern city of Mashhad.
Mashhad prosecutor Hasan Hematifar told reporters on Saturday that Mohammadi was among 39 people arrested after the ceremony.
Hematifar said she and Alikordi’s brother had made provocative remarks at the event and encouraged those present “to chant ‘norm‑breaking’ slogans” and disturb the peace, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
The prosecutor said Mashhad’s chief of police and another officer received knife wounds when trying to manage the scene.
CALLS FOR RELEASE
The Norwegian Nobel Committee called on Iranian authorities “to immediately clarify Mohammadi’s whereabouts, ensure her safety and integrity, and to release her without conditions.”
The European Union also called for Mohammadi’s release. “The EU urges Iranian authorities to release Ms Mohammadi, taking also into account her fragile health condition, as well as all those unjustly arrested in the exercise of their freedom of expression,” an EU spokesperson said on Saturday.
A video purportedly showing Mohammadi, 53, without the mandatory veil, standing on a car with a microphone and chanting “Long Live Iran” in front of a crowd, has gone viral on social media.
Ardakani said Mohammadi was beaten before her arrest.
Reporters Without Borders said four journalists and other participants were also arrested at the memorial for human rights lawyer Alikordi, who was found dead in his office on December 5.
Authorities gave the cause of his death as a heart attack, but rights groups have called for an investigation into his death.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said the crowd also chanted “death to the dictator,” a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as: “We fight, we die, we accept no humiliation.”
Mohammadi, who received the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, has spent more than 10 years of her life in prison, most recently from November 2021 when she was charged with “propaganda against the state,” “acting against national security,” and membership of “illegal organizations.”
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, said on Saturday that the opposition’s campaign in Venezuela was akin to that taking place in Iran.
“In Oslo this week, the world honored the power of conscience. I said to the ‘citizens of the world’ that our struggle is a long march toward freedom. That march is not Venezuelan alone. It is Iranian, it is universal,” she said on X on Saturday.