Jewish Athletes

Ami Baran at the European World Championships for softball in 2011. (Courtesy Israel Softball Association)

May 15, 2022, 4:24 pm

US-Israeli former cop busts into sabra sports and gets identity shock of his life

Ami Baran moved to Israel by himself at age 13, and after serving in the military, became a police major – and Israel’s greatest-ever softball pitcher and national javelin champ

By Steve Leibowitz

Ari Kligman hopes to follow his older brother in being drafted into the MLB. (Courtesy of Marc Kligman/via JTA)

May 7, 2022, 3:25 am

Jewish MLB draft pick Elie Kligman’s younger brother could follow him to the majors

The 6-foot-2, 190-lb. Ari Kligman is only 20 months his brother’s junior. His 89-mph fastball just might make them the first-ever big-league Orthodox pitcher-catcher sibling duo

By Rob Charry

The Jewish stars of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. From left to right: Alex Bregman, Richard Bleier, Joc Pederson, Rowdy Tellez, Max Fried. (Getty/ via JTA)

April 13, 2022, 3:44 am

Here’s all the Jewish Major League Baseball players to catch in 2022

After two seasons affected by the pandemic, a three-month lockout, and a shortened free agent period, fans of the only Tribe left in the major leagues have much to look forward to

By jacob gurvis

Illustrative: Dortmund fans set off flares at the start of the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig in Dortmund, Germany, April 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

April 5, 2022, 9:36 pm

Germany’s top soccer league aims to tackle its antisemitism problem

With one survey showing that 66% of German Jewish athletes experience bigotry on the field, a daylong conference offers best practices and a renewed commitment to solving the issue

By Toby Axelrod

Ryan Turell, a 6-foot-7 guard who has entered the NBA draft, hopes to become the league’s first Orthodox player. (Joe Bednarsh and Adena Stevens/ via JTA)

March 27, 2022, 1:52 am

Scouts say Ryan Turell could be the NBA’s first Orthodox Jew — but it’s a long shot

The 22-year-old LA native helped Yeshiva University to a 50-game winning streak and was named Division III player of the year, but needs to be tested against Division I talent

By Rob Charry

Tottenham's players celebrate a goal during the English Premier League soccer match against Southampton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Feb. 9, 2022. (Alastair Grant/AP)

March 24, 2022, 7:07 am

British Jews love soccer. So why are there no Jews in the Premier League?

Jews’ increasing ubiquity behind the scenes at the pitch has been mirrored by their near-total absence on it

By Jacob Judah

A member of the territorial defense stands in the backyard of a house damaged by a Russian airstrike, according to locals, in Gorenka, outside the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, March 2, 2022. (Vadim Ghirda/AP)

March 2, 2022, 8:43 pm

Two Ukrainian soccer players, one of them Jewish, killed in fighting

Dmitry Martynenko, 25, and his mother die when bomb hits their home in Kyiv; father survives, sister, 7, reportedly hospitalized in serious condition

By TOI staff and Agencies

Ernie Grunfeld hugs his children, Rebecca, 12, and Danny, 9, at a news conference in Harrison, New York, July 21, 1993. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

January 26, 2022, 6:04 am

The only known 2nd-generation Holocaust survivor in US sports leaves an NBA legacy

In his new book ‘By the Grace of the Game,’ former pro athlete Dan Grunfeld tells the story of his Jewish immigrant father who defied the odds to make basketball history

By Rich Tenorio

AJ Edelman (front) poses for a photo with the rest of the Israel Bobsled team (from left): Amitay Tzemach, Ward Fawarsy, Menachem Chen, Roman Shargaev and Amit Haas. (Courtesy AJ Edelman)

January 25, 2022, 2:20 pm

Israel’s 2022 Olympic bobsled dreams are crushed. But AJ Edelman is not giving up

After devastating razor-thin miss of spot at Beijing Games, Israeli-American Olympic skeleton veteran already has 2026 in his sights: ‘This mission is not done’

By Amy Spiro

2021 was an exciting year in the Jewish sports world. (Collage by Grace Yagel/JTA)

January 1, 2022, 4:04 am

The top 10 Jewish sports moments of 2021

From a very Jewish World Series to inspiring performances in the Olympics and Paralympics, Jewish athletes and teams accomplished impressive feats across sports, around the world

By JTA

Sherry Levin set several program records at Holy Cross. (Holy Cross/ via JTA)

December 27, 2021, 3:04 am

Jesuit college Holy Cross hangs mezuzah in honor of Jewish women’s basketball legend

Sherry Levin still holds her alma mater’s record for points, points per game, field goals made and free throws made, from an era with no 3-point line and 30 fewer games than today

By jacob gurvis

Ofek Reef regularly scores in double-figures for the Yeshiva University men’s basketball team, currently enjoying the longest streak in men’s college basketball. (Courtesy YU/ via JTA)

December 26, 2021, 12:46 am

Incredulous Yeshiva U fans watch their basketball team continue a 50-win streak

The once little-known NCAA Division III team in a US school perhaps best known for its rabbinic program has gone from nearly empty stands to packed home games and ESPN plaudits

By Ben Sales

Yuri Foreman (right) and his wife Shoshana Foreman run VBR Kosher, which certifies the vegan Dun-Well Donuts in Brooklyn. (Ben Sales/JTA)

December 14, 2021, 3:37 am

Former champ Yuri Foreman now ‘Vegan Boxing Rabbi,’ certifying kosher doughnuts

Even as he kept training, the former world champion studied for rabbinical ordination. Now he’s putting his religious training to good use — and promoting his healthy eating cause

By Ben Sales

Olympic Gold medalist Linoy Ashram at Ben Gurion Airport after winning the Gold medal in the rhythmic gymnast at the Olympic Games in Japan, on August 11, 2021. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)

November 27, 2021, 8:58 am

Gold medalist Linoy Ashram on her Olympic whirlwind and becoming an Israeli icon

Ever the picture of humility, the elite athlete says she was hoping to achieve bronze — but is proud to show off her Sephardic roots in a sport dominated by Eastern Europeans

By Emily Burack

Greg Joseph celebrates with his Minnesota Vikings teammates after kicking a game-winning field goal against the Green Bay Packers at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, November 21, 2021. (Adam Bettcher/Getty Images/ via JTA)

November 24, 2021, 3:41 am

Only Jewish NFL kicker talks game-winning field goals and his love for the community

Greg Joseph is one of just a handful of Jews in the National Football League — and he wears his cultural identity proudly on his sleeve

By Emily Burack