We often hear stories of people of our grandparents and great-grandparents generation who gave up jobs and faced real economic hardship to keep Shabbat. In modern-day America these concerns have, thank God, all but evaporated. With that in mind, it was surprising but interesting
to read about a Yeshiva high school in Houston who is missing its playoffs because it insists that they won't play on Shabbat.
The Robert M. Beren Academy, an Orthodox Jewish day school in Houston, won its regional championship to advance to the boys basketball state semifinals this weekend in Dallas. But the team will not make the trip.
Beren Academy's basketball team had hoped to travel to Dallas early and play its semifinal game before sundown on Friday.
The Beren Academy players observe the Sabbath and do not play from sundown on Fridays to sundown on Saturdays. Their semifinal game is scheduled for 9 p.m. Friday.
“The sacred mission will trump excellence in the secular world,” Rabbi Harry Sinoff, Beren’s head of school, said Monday in a telephone interview.
I don't think anyone is doing anything particularly evil or heroic here. I would like to think that in a similar situation other Yeshivot would reach a similar decision. And while we have gotten used to larger organizations accommodating our special religious needs (SATs, universities, most workplaces), in many instances they aren't obligated to. Still, while I feel bad for the players to be missing out on the opportunity that they worked so hard for, in a way they got an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is and demonstrate the kind of religious commitment to Shabbat that for the rest of us is just theoretical. Yasher koach to the whole school (especially Rabbi &
Dr. Pollack - a Ma'ayanot connection! Keep up the great work.)
1 comment:
After reading this blog post, I was not surprised. This has occurred twice to Northwest Yeshiva in Seattle, once to the girl's volleyball team and once to the girl's basketball team. This past year, after the volleyball team qualified for the state championships, they forfeited because the game was on Shabbos, which could not be changed. Being a member of the Ma'ayanot basketball team and volleyball team, I understand how upsetting it must be, especially because their basketball team also needed to forfeit the state tournament, because their game was on Taanit Esther.
While I would hope that every school in their predicament would forfeit, I believe that what these boys did was heroic. While these boys are not saving lives, they performed a "determined effort especially in the face of difficulty" (merriam webster's definition of heroic). These boys stood up for their beliefs, even in a difficult situation. Many people believe that if someone did something hard, as long as they would have done the same, it is not heroic. I disagree. We were not put in this situation, and while I am sure that Ma'ayanot would do the same thing, it does not mitigate the heroism, nor the difficult situation that these boys were placed in.
Furthermore, they are making a statement about the importance of Judaism to America and setting an example for Jews around the world. These boys deserve a tremendous amount of credit. I personally can be an extremely competitive athlete, and I know that I would "die" to qualify for states semi-finals. Almost literally. I truly admire these boys, whose determination to observe halacha over-ruled playing basketball, even in the state tournament. These boys deserve a lot of credit, and we should all be thankful that we were not put in that scenario.
-Rachel Klar
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