Seder and Sports: No Problem for Jewish New York Fans, Says Jeffrey Gurock
As someone who has frequently been righteously critical of the world of sports for holding games on central Jewish holidays and gratified when recent protests have led the Lord of Athletics to change the starting times of games to permit Jews to get home or to synagogues or temples on time to celebrate with friends and relatives, I was pleased to note this Monday evening鈥擲eder night鈥攁ll major sports from the NHL and NBA playoffs to major league baseball in New York City have the day off. Nor are the Yanks or Mets scheduled for a road game.
Perhaps, it is a great sign of increased sensitivity to a minority group鈥檚 cultural needs in the largest Jewish city outside of Israel as the Seder鈥攖he first night of Passover鈥攊s annually the single most observed ritual followed by American Jews. (More religious Jews, who live outside of Israel, conduct a second Seder, but that is another matter of choice entirely.) Or, it just might be that coincidence simply rules here as Monday is a common day of rest for professional athletes. Certainly the way, the Mets are playing right now they could use some time off. No matter, I am happy that so many Jews in my city don鈥檛 have to choose this time between faith observance and the pressures of fandom. Baseball stadia are dark in five other cities but in fact, elsewhere in 10 other locales, the games go on.
Interestingly, Monday is also the day of the Boston Marathon, but that major event ends long before sundown鈥攁s does the noon time Red Sox game on Patriots鈥 Day鈥攑ermitting even the slowest strugglers to get home to re-carbo-load at their Seders or to recount the travails of the Sox. In other words, this Passover is a good time to be both a Jew and sports person in Gotham and admittedly in Boston too. Let鈥檚 hope that 鈥渘ext year in America鈥 there will be no sports and faith challenges for our fanatics anywhere in this tolerant country as the holiday would be explicitly noted in athletics calendars even as Jews recite longingly in the hagaddah (the text that most Seder attendees read at their meal), 鈥淣ext Year in Jerusalem.鈥
, is the Libby M. Klaperman Professor of Jewish History at 糖心破解版 and author of Judaism鈥檚 Encounter with American Sports ( Indiana University Press, 2005).
