These Rabbis Love Sports

Daily Freeman.com

In the sports world, we expect the unexpected. Sometimes, however, the unexpected comes out of left field and across the foul line.

So, when an orthodox (Chabad) rabbi approached me last year and insisted that he was interested in becoming a sportscaster, I did a double-take.

And when yet a second, similarly orthodox, rabbi came a-knocking at my door to insist that he wanted to write sports, it was triple-take time for me.

Hey, two rabbis in two years is a darn good batting average, especially since each of them has displayed a surplus of talent, patience, and motivation as interns in my sports enterprise.

How did these unusually nifty characters enter my life?

Start with Shaya Tenenbaum, 25, a Chabad rabbi without a congregation in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Apart from his lengthy and deep religious pursuits, Tenenbaum does some non-sectarian worshipping at the altars of both the New York Yankees (That’s his problem, not mine) and the New York Rangers.

He has generously tolerated my illogical love affair with the Oakland Athletics and A’s second baseman, Mark Ellis, in particular. He also allows me to chide Derek Jeter on the Yankees’ upcoming nuptials to which I’m not invited.

In other words, when it comes to sports, Shaya can be called ecumenical.

Let’s face it, having a man of the cloth hanging out around my computer could force me to unnaturally alter both my language and behavior.

Shaya, however, was persistent. He wanted to get into sports broadcasting in the worst (or best as the case may be) way and figured that I could help him.

I COULD have said no to him neither in English, Hebrew, or Yiddish. I said yes and asked why he was bugging me so much about getting into the sports business and not into shul.

“I’ve always had a passion for sports,” Shaya explained. “A firm belief of mine has been to pursue a field of work where I enjoy doing what I love, and combining these two is a dream-come-true.”

It wasn’t easy for Shaya at first — or even at second, for that matter — and Rabbi T will be the first to tell you he experienced some difficult moments in his early days covering Rangers post-game interviews at Madison Square Garden.

“As a greenhorn, I had a hard time,” allowed Shaya. “One of the key things I had to learn was a ‘newspaper mentality.’ That means what occurred two hours ago is ancient history.”

With each passing week, I enjoyed having Tenenbaum in the office. He not only was helpful as an interviewer, researcher and editor, but he actually laughed at my jokes.

WHEN I told him that the “Bummy Davis vs. Murder, Inc.” book was the best I’ve ever read about sports, Shaya proceeded to read it cover to cover.

When I recommended “30 Days To A More Powerful Vocabulary,” he bought it and learned a bunch of verbal gems.

And when I was in Calgary last winter for a New Jersey Devils telecast and needed a synagogue in which to say Yahrzeit in remembrance of my father’s death, Shaya delivered. He steered me to a shul that enabled me to do my proper religious thing, deep in the heart of Alberta.

Most important, Shaya got to love his gig.

“The experience of working for – and with – someone who’s been involved with sports for most of his life was amazing and invaluable. The things I learned and have been exposed to, I couldn’t have gotten elsewhere,” Shaya said.

Despite the fact that he insisted on wearing ridiculous Yankees adornments to the office, Rabbi T and The Maven developed a friendship that transcended a mere intern-boss relationship. He became a real pal and that’s when I began worrying because I didn’t want his internship to end.

BUT such mitzvahs don’t go on forever and one day Shaya announced that he soon would be flying to California and it was not to see my A’s perform their heroics.

Marriage was on his mind and the lovely Mushky from Montreal was the object of his affections. They became engaged on June 20 and will marry in the autumn.

Knowing that his departure would leave a gap in my office, Shaya sought and dutifully discovered — can I say this? — a pinch-rabbi.

Yossi Goldstein, 23, stepped to the plate as easily as Ramiro Pena would come to bat for any Yankee infielder.

“Shaya and I go back a long time,” Yossi recalled. “I met him at an event and talked to him about his internship. I told him I was looking to get a foothold in the sportswriting and broadcasting field, and was looking for an internship position. Shaya did the rest.”

I kissed Shaya good-bye in May and gave Yossi a welcoming shalom in June, wondering how Rabbi G would follow Rabbi T’s very tough act. By the same token, Yossi nurtured some interesting thoughts of his own after launching his non-rabbinical stint.

“I want to get a good experience in the fast-paced world of sports,” explained the younger rabbi. “I want to see if the industry is all it’s made out to be or if this – for me – is nothing more than a childhood dream.

“The first few weeks were eye-opening to say the least. Everything I was doing felt like it was going at the speed of light. However, with each passing day, things have slowed down keeping, snafus to a minimum.”

Rabbi G has been with me for a relatively short time but, already, he’s been a multi-faceted asset. When I needed to find an Ulster County synagogue to do yahrzeit for my father last month, Yossi steered me to the Kingston Chabad and that gesture made me feel like a bazillion dollars.

But sports is what he wants and sports is what I’ll give him. My job is to provide a good education before Yossi tells me that he, too, is going to get married.

“You never know when it’ll happen,” he warned. “Sometimes you just meet the right one without much hoopla and fanfare.”

When that inevitable day comes and Goldstein says “shalom,” I’ll politely ask him to provide me with a three-rabbi hat trick!

A request like that can’t hurt. Both Shaya and Yossi have happily reminded me to expect the unexpected!

Author-columnist-commentator Stan “The Maven” Fischler resides in Boiceville and New York City. His column appears each week in the Sunday Freeman.