Uncategorized
Jewish billionaire Mat Ishbia buys Phoenix NBA, WNBA teams from disgraced Jewish owner
(JTA) — Mat Ishbia, a billionaire mortgage lender who in high school was named Jewish athlete of the year by his hometown Jewish newspaper, has reportedly reached a $4 billion agreement to purchase the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.
Ishbia is buying the teams from Robert Sarver, who cited his Jewish identity when he announced in September that he would sell the basketball teams he has owned since 2004.
Sarver, a real estate businessman with a net worth of nearly $1 billion, announced the sale after facing a suspension and $10 million fine as a result of an investigation that found a pattern of inappropriate and abusive behavior, including racist remarks and sexual harassment toward employees.
“As a man of faith, I believe in atonement and the path to forgiveness,” Sarver said in a statement at the time, which was just before the High Holidays when teshuvah, the Jewish idea of repentance, is a central theme. The Tucson native is a member of the Reform synagogue Temple Chai in Phoenix.
Ishbia, president and CEO of Michigan-based United Wholesale Mortgage, has a net worth of $5.6 billion, according to Bloomberg. His firm is the largest wholesale mortgage lender in the United States.
According to ESPN, Ishbia has been pursuing NBA and NFL teams in recent years and has a relationship with NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who is also Jewish. The sale will become final pending approval from the NBA’s board of governors.
The $4 billion price tag is the most expensive in basketball history, and second-highest for a North American sports franchise, behind only the $4.65 billion sale of the NFL’s Denver Broncos in June. At 42 years old, Ishbia will become the NBA’s youngest team owner.
Ishbia was a walk-on basketball player at Michigan State University, where he played in three Final Fours and won a national championship in 2000. His $32 million gift to his alma mater in 2021 was the largest individual donation in the school’s history.
Ishbia also played for Detroit’s youth Maccabi team at 13 years old, and as a senior in high school was named Jewish athlete of the year by the Detroit Jewish News. He is a member of the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation’s board of governors.
Justin Ishbia, Mat’s brother, will make a sizable investment and serve as the teams’ alternate governor, according to ESPN.
Justin was one of the most giving Jews in the most recent campaign cycle. Both brothers have given widely, to both Democrats and Republicans.
In 2020, Mat Ishbia donated to both Republicans seeking Senate seats in Georgia, both of whom lost. Last year, he donated to the campaign of Alex Lasry, the Jewish Milwaukee Bucks executive who briefly ran for Senate in Wisconsin.
—
The post Jewish billionaire Mat Ishbia buys Phoenix NBA, WNBA teams from disgraced Jewish owner appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
VIDEO: Historian Vivi Laks tells history of the London Yiddish Press
די ייִדיש־ליגע האָט לעצטנס אַרויפֿגעשטעלט אַ ווידעאָ, וווּ די היסטאָריקערין וויווי לאַקס דערציילט וועגן דער אַמאָליקער ייִדישער פּרעסע אין לאָנדאָן.
צווישן 1884 און 1954 האָט די לאָנדאָנער פּרעסע אַרויסגעגעבן הונדערטער פֿעליעטאָנען פֿון אָרטיקע שרײַבערס וועגן אָרטיקן ייִדישן לעבן.
די קורצע דערציילונגען זענען סאַטיריש, קאָמיש און רירנדיק, אויף טשיקאַווע טעמעס ווי למשל קאַמפֿן אין דער היים צווישן די מינים; פּאָליטיק אין די קאַפֿעען, און ספֿרי־תּורה אויף די גאַסן. די דערציילונגען האָבן געשריבן סײַ גוט באַקאַנטע שרײַבער (למשל, מאָריס ווינטשעווסקי, יוסף־חיים ברענער און אסתּר קרייטמאַן), סײַ היפּש ווייניקער באַקאַנטע.
שבֿע צוקער, די ייִדיש־לערערין און מחבר פֿון אַ ייִדישן לערנבוך, פֿירט דעם שמועס מיט וויווי לאַקס. זיי וועלן פֿאָרלייענען אַ טייל פֿון די פֿעליעטאָנען אויף ענגליש און ייִדיש, און אַרומרעדן די טעמעס וואָס די פּרעסע האָט אַרויסגעהויבן.
וויווי לאַקס איז אַ היסטאָריקערין פֿון לאָנדאָנס ייִדישן „איסט־ענד“, ווי אויך אַן איבערזעצער און זינגערין. זי איז די מחברטע פֿון Whitechapel Noise און London Yiddishtown, ווי אויך אַקאַדעמישע און פּאָפּולערע אַרטיקלען. זי איז אַ קולטור־טוערין אין לאָנדאָן און האָט מיטאָרגאַניזירט סײַ דעם גרויסן ייִדישן פּאַראַד, סײַ דעם Yiddish Café Trust. זי זינגט פּאָפּולערע לידער אויפֿן „קאָקני־ייִדיש“ מיט די גרופּעס קלעזמער־קלאָב און קאַטשאַנעס, און פֿירט שפּאַצירטורן איבער דעם „איסט־ענד“.
The post VIDEO: Historian Vivi Laks tells history of the London Yiddish Press appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
Puppet Monty Pickle is guest on the Forward’s ‘Yiddish Word of the Day’
It’s not every day that a kosher dill pickle puppet gets a chance to learn some Yiddish.
Monty Pickle, star of the children’s series The Monty Pickle Show, recently joined Rukhl Schaechter, host of the Forward’s YouTube series Yiddish Word of the Day, for an episode teaching viewers the Yiddish words for various wild animals.
Or as they’re called in Yiddish: vilde khayes.
The Monty Pickle Show, a puppet comedy on YouTube and TikTok, aims to show young viewers what it means to be Jewish in a fun, lively way. The series was created by the Emmy Award-winning producers of Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock.
So far, he’s met a number of Jewish personalities, including rabbis, musicians and chefs, and explored holidays like Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah and Passover.
Sitting alongside Rukhl during the lesson, Monty eagerly tries to guess what each word means, providing for some very funny moments.
The post Puppet Monty Pickle is guest on the Forward’s ‘Yiddish Word of the Day’ appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
IDF Nabs Islamic State Terror Suspect in Syria
Guns seized in the course of the operation. Photo: IDF Spokesperson via i24
i24 News – Israel Defense Forces soldiers conducted an operation on Wednesday in the area of Rafid in southern Syria to apprehend a suspected terrorist affiliated with ISIS, the military spokesperson said on Saturday.
The announcement comes as Washington announced a major operation to eliminated Islamic State terrorists in Syria after three Americans lost their lives in a jihadist attack in Palmyra.
The Israeli soldiers completed the operation in Syria “in cooperation with IDF intelligence,” the statement read, adding that “the suspect was transferred for further processing in Israeli territory.”
Additionally, during the operation, weapons were found and seized.
IDF troops “continue to remain deployed along the Golan Heights border in order to protect the State of Israel and its citizens,” the statement from the spokesperson concluded.