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The Jewish Sport Report: A Jewish guide to Super Bowl Sunday
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Happy Friday, Jewish Sport Report readers! And it’s a happy Friday indeed, because baseball season is upon us.
Pitchers and catchers report to spring training next week, the games begin Feb. 24 and the 2023 World Baseball Classic is less than one month away.
If you close your eyes, you can almost smell the fresh-cut grass and hear the crack of the bat.
The WBC begins March 8, and the official rosters for all 20 teams were announced Thursday night.
Here is Team Israel’s full roster — which features an unprecedented 15 Jewish players with MLB experience.
And this weekend, a new documentary on the team, “Israel Swings for Gold,” will premiere at a film festival in Atlanta. I spoke to the director about the film.
A Jewish guide to Super Bowl Sunday
(JTA illustration by Grace Yagel; Images: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund 1953, Creative Commons)
Before we fully dive into baseball season, this weekend is, of course, all about the Super Bowl.
While there won’t be any Jewish players on the field when the Kansas City Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday in Phoenix, there are still plenty of Jewish angles to the game.
First, there’s Eagles general manager Howie Roseman and owner Jeffrey Lurie, both of whom are Jewish.
Roseman is a New Jersey native who has worked for the Eagles since 2000. Lurie, a film producer from Boston, bought the Eagles in 1994.
During the DeSean Jackson antisemitism controversy in 2020, during which the then-Eagles star posted (and then deleted) antisemitic quotes online, Jackson apologized personally to Roseman and Lurie.
For Jewish Eagles fans, the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philly is selling Eagles (and Chiefs) mezuzahs.
But some Jewish fans are feeling conflicted about the big game — with longstanding concerns renewed after Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after an onfield hit last month.
“Although Hamlin’s medical crisis was a rare on-field occurrence, the trauma surrounding his collapse stirred up age-old questions for me, and for many of us, about the toll football takes on the bodies of its players,” Rabba Yaffa Epstein writes in a JTA essay. “What are we allowing to happen to these young men, in the name of sportsmanship, entertainment and national identity? When the Super Bowl airs on Sunday, what is our responsibility as spectators?”
Epstein, a scholar and educator with the Jewish Education Project, explores what Jewish tradition has to say about this dilemma — and offers a path forward for Jewish fans who still want to enjoy the game. You can read her piece here.
And if you do plan to watch the game, our friends at The Nosher suggest some Jewish inspiration for your Super Bowl snacks.
Halftime report
GOLDEN. Israeli judoka Gili Sharir won a gold medal at the Paris Grand Slam judo tournament last weekend, and Gefen Primo won bronze. Israel has long been a judo powerhouse.
THE AMAZINS. New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is doing things his own way — including spending more money than anyone else. Cohen offered a rare interview to ESPN’s Jeff Passan this week, sharing insight into his plan to change baseball in New York and beyond. Check it out.
KINSLER RETURNS TO TEXAS. Former All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler is in high demand. The 2018 World Champion is managing Team Israel in next month’s WBC, and he’s also now working for his old team, the Texas Rangers, as a special assistant to the general manager.
NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN. Mat Ishbia, the Jewish billionaire who bought the Phoenix Suns and Mercury from suspended Jewish owner Robert Sarver, has officially taken the reins of his new NBA franchise. He made it clear right away that he will prioritize fixing the team’s workplace culture, according to ESPN.
Kyrie Irving has Jewish family?
Kyrie Irving looks on from the bench during a game against the Indiana Pacers at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Oct. 31, 2022 (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
NBA star Kyrie Irving is now a Dallas Maverick, but he didn’t leave the drama of his antisemitism scandal behind in New York.
Irving was traded to Dallas, a team owned by Mark Cuban, who is Jewish and had spoken out during Irving’s controversy last year. Cuban said the eight-time All-Star was “not educated about the impact” of his online platform.
At a press conference with his new team on Tuesday, Irving was asked why he deleted his apology post — which at the time was viewed as a critical step toward him returning from his suspension.
“I delete things all the time and it’s no disrespect to anyone within the community,” Irving said.
Irving said he stood by his apology. But he also shared some new information about his family.
“I stand by who I am and why I apologized. I did it because I care about my family and I have Jewish members of my family that care for me deeply,” Irving said. “Did the media know that beforehand, when they called me that word — antisemitic? No. Did they know anything about my family? No. Everything was assumed.”
It’s unclear which members of Irving’s family are Jewish, or if he is expressing the Black Hebrew Israelite ideology promoted in the film he shared, which includes the claim that African Americans are the genealogical descendants of the ancient Israelites.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend
IN HOCKEY…
Jakob Chychrun and the Arizona Coyotes play the Chicago Blackhawks tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET. Chychrun has been a frequent subject of rumors with the NHL trade deadline approaching on March 3. Saturday is an action-packed day in the NHL — Quinn Hughes, Zach Hyman, Adam Fox, Chychrun, Jack Hughes and Jason Zucker are all playing.
IN BASKETBALL…
Deni Avdija and the Washington Wizards host the Indiana Pacers Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. Ryan Turell and the Motor City Cruise face the Oklahoma City Blue tonight and tomorrow, both at 7 p.m. ET.
IN GOLF…
Max Homa will look to keep the momentum going this weekend at the Phoenix Open. Homa announced this week that he will join Tiger Woods’ TGL league in 2024, a partnership with the PGA Tour. David Lipsky, who grew up just miles away from Homa, will also be on the green in Phoenix.
Hut, hut, hora
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft dances at a wedding ceremony for Ukrainian couples who did not have Jewish weddings in their native country, Boston, Feb. 7, 2023. Rabbi Shlomo Noginski is on his left. (Photo by Igor Klimov)
The New England Patriots may not be playing in the Super Bowl, but owner Robert Kraft still had plenty to celebrate this week. Here he is at a Chabad wedding event in Boston for couples from the former Soviet Union who were not able to have Jewish ceremonies there.
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The post The Jewish Sport Report: A Jewish guide to Super Bowl Sunday appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Dollar Struggles to Rebound as Fragile US-Iran Ceasefire Keeps Markets Wary
U.S. $100 bills. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
A fragile calm reigned across currency markets on Thursday as traders kept their eyes fixed on whether the ceasefire between the US and Iran would hold, a day after its announcement sent the dollar tumbling across the board.
The deal appeared to be on thin ice, as Israel bombed more targets in Lebanon, and there was no sign Iran had lifted its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the worst disruption to global energy supplies in history.
Iranian negotiators were expected to set off later on Thursday for Pakistan for the first peace talks of the war, but Tehran said there would be no deal as long as Israel was striking Lebanon.
President Donald Trump said all US ships, aircraft, and military personnel would stay in place in and around Iran until it fully complied with a deal.
The uncertainty left currency markets on edge.
The euro was up 0.17 percent at $1.1683. It had gained 0.6 percent on Wednesday, but retreated late in the day having touched a one-month high of $1.1721 earlier in the session.
Sterling similarly was 0.21 percent higher at $1.342, after gaining 0.77 percent on Wednesday, but retreating from as high as $1.348.
Meanwhile, the Japanese yen lost some ground, with the dollar up 0.3 percent at 159.055 yen, having briefly dropped below 158 on Wednesday.
With the Strait of Hormuz closed, “the entire ceasefire remains tenuous,” said Derek Halpenny, head of research global markets EMEA at MUFG. But, he added, “while the US dollar has rebounded, the moves in general have been modest.”
He said the fact that further talks scheduled in Pakistan were still going ahead was keeping any retracement of Wednesday’s moves in check.
Elsewhere, new personal spending data released on Thursday showed that US inflation increased as expected in February and likely rose further in March amid the war with Iran, a trend that is expected to discourage the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates for a while.
The personal consumption expenditures price index climbed 0.4% after an unrevised 0.3 gain in January, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Thursday.
Japan’s consumer confidence worsened in March for the first time in three months, a government survey showed on Thursday, adding to a recent string of data pointing to the potential economic hit from the Middle East war, which would complicate the Bank of Japan’s rate-hike decision. The yen showed little reaction to the data.
Speaking in parliament, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said real interest rates were clearly negative and were keeping the country’s financial conditions accommodative.
Other currencies were also broadly steady. The Australian dollar was 0.15 percent higher at $0.7054, while the New Zealand dollar was 0.46 percent higher at $0.585. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was last down 0.97 percent at $70,680.
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Opposition Leader Lapid Calls the Ceasefire with Iran a ‘Political Disaster’
FILE PHOTO: Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid delivers a statement at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament,, in Jerusalem, February 13, 2023. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
i24 News – Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the ceasefire agreement reached between the United States and Iran, calling it a “political disaster” and directly blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a post on X, Lapid said the agreement sidelined Israel from critical decisions affecting its national security. “Never in our entire history have we experienced such a diplomatic disaster,” he wrote, adding that “Israel wasn’t even at the table when decisions were made regarding the core of our security.”
Lapid accused Netanyahu of failing to translate military achievements into strategic gains, despite praising the performance of the Israeli military and the resilience of the public during the conflict. “The army has accomplished everything that was asked of it, and the citizens have shown remarkable strength,” he said.
However, he argued that those efforts were not matched by political leadership. “Netanyahu has failed politically, failed strategically, and has not achieved any of the goals he set for himself,” Lapid added.
The opposition leader also warned of long-term consequences stemming from the agreement, saying the fallout could take years to repair. He criticized the government’s handling of the crisis, citing what he described as “arrogance, negligence, and a lack of strategic vision.”
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A Toll for Using Hormuz Would Be a ‘Dangerous Precedent’, UN’s Ship Agency Says
A map showing the Strait of Hormuz is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Imposing a toll on ships sailing through the critical Strait of Hormuz would “set a dangerous precedent” and countries should not impede freedom of navigation, the UN’s shipping agency said on Thursday.
Iranian officials have raised the idea of charging a toll for using the Strait after a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Tehran was agreed this week.
“There is no international agreement where tolls can be introduced for transiting international straits. Any such toll will set a dangerous precedent,” a spokesperson with the UN’s International Maritime Organization said.
IMO countries adopted the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas, or UNCLOS, which outlines the rules that govern straits used for international navigation.
“According to UNCLOS, ships enjoy the right of transit passage through international straits. States bordering straits shall not hamper that right or suspend the transit passage,” the IMO spokesperson said.