By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – In anticipation of opening day of the 2017 Major League Baseball season, congregants of Tifereth Israel Synagogue themed their Kabbalat Shabbat services on Friday night, March 31, around the American pastime. Traditional Shabbat evening prayers were mixed with meditations on baseball; a baseball trivia quiz took the place of a sermon; and the congregation ended the high-spirited service with a synchronized wave.
Congregants were encouraged to wear baseball paraphernalia for the occasion. Jerry Hermes, president of the Conservative congregation, came in a full uniform of the San Diego Padres. David Ogul, education/ youth vice president, had been expected to wear a Los Angeles Dodger uniform because his passion for the team is so great his automobile bears a personalized license plate saluting former Dodger and Jewish pitching great Sandy Koufax. Instead, to much approval, Ogul wore a jersey and a hat of Israel’s team in the recent World Baseball Classic.
This year the Padres and the Dodgers will play their opening game on Monday. April 3, at Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles, with the Padres scheduled to play their first home game at Petco Park the following week against the San Francisco Giants.
Shirts and caps representing the Padres – including one with the name “Padres” transliterated into Hebrew letters – abounded through the congregation, but other teams also were also represented including the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Colorado Rockies. The Colorado cap was worn by congregant Susan Keller, who with Ogul, organized the lay-led service. Tifereth Israel’s new rabbi, Joshua Dorsch, is to arrive from Beth El Synagogue Center in New Rochelle, N.Y., in time to start his tenure July 1. Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal, who has retired after 29 years of service to Tifereth Israel, meanwhile is on vacation.
Keller, who is one of Tifereth Israel’s volunteer librarians, opened the service with Arthur Longbrake’s interreligious ode to the “first” baseball game in which one stanza reads:
It says Eve stole first, Adam second;
Solomon umpired the game
Rebecca went to the well with a pitcher
And Ruth in the field made a name
Goliath was struck out by David—
A base hit was made on Abel by Cain
And the Prodigal Son made a great home-run
Brother Noah gave checks out for rain.
Later, she quoted a prayer written by the Rev. Mark Stamm, a Methodist minister:
We are thankful:
For those who taught and coached us and those who encouraged us to play games.
For those with whom we have played and those with whom we have watched games.
For teams that we have loved and teams that have broken our hearts.
For bats and well-oiled gloves, new balls, and baseball cards.
For hot dogs, peanuts, and Cracker Jacks.
For ballparks and playgrounds, and those who have built and maintained them.
Rabbi Ruth Adar, who also is known in Berkeley, California, as the “coffeeshop rabbi,” was also quoted. In a prayer to be recited after the Amidah, she had written:
Even as one cannot achieve a five run home run, let our foes be unable to defeat us. Amen.
Even as no one can achieve a quadruple play, let them be filled with dread at the sight of our bats. Amen
And when the forces of Light and Dark join upon the diamond field, let our players play uninjured and mighty.
Let the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd fill every ear and heart, so that the words of the prophet may be fulfilled: Play Ball!
And when this season nears completion, when the dwindling hours of day reflect the dwindling number of teams in post-season play, let our team remain victorious to the last inning, so that we may glorify Your Name with the World Series trophy, Amen.
Blessed are You, Eternal our God, who enlivens our hearts with games.
Ogul conducted a baseball trivia game, which substituted for the sermon.
Q. What was the first professional baseball team on which Ted Williams played.
A. The San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League.
Q. With what team did Hank Greenberg begin his career, and with what team did he end his playing career.
A. Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ogul then told how Greenberg had been taunted for being a Jew through much of his baseball career, and how in the sunset of his career in 1947, while playing for the Pirates, he had a collision at first base with base-running Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who as the first African-American player in major league baseball, was suffering severe racist taunts from fans and opposing players. Helping Robinson up, Greenberg whispered encouragement to Robinson, telling him to hang in there. It was a kind gesture that Robinson never forgot.
In the final part of the “sermon,” Ogul asked congregants to relate, in less than one minute, their favorite baseball memories. He awarded a prize of two box seats at a Padre game to Dr. Jeffrey Korn, who told of once attending a baseball game during Passover week, sitting between two boyhood Jewish friends who were less concerned about kashrut for Pesach than he was. As he steadfastly abstained from eating any chametz, his friends took delight in tossing popcorn to each other in front of his face.
After a few more prayers, Adon Olam was sung by the congregants to the tune of “Take Me Out To the Ballgame.” Then the happy baseball fans trooped to the oneg Shabbat where, among other refreshments, peanuts and Cracker Jacks had been laid out for them.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com
Correction: The wave was barely synchronized.
Thanks for the nice article, Don. To be fair, Susan Keller was the brains behind this. She came up with the idea, and she did the organizing. Susan is a mensch. And a good Torah reader, too! It was great seeing you last night!