As of 2020, there were 7.2 million people in the U.S. who identified as Jewish, second only to Israel worldwide. UAA Jewish student-athletes celebrate their identity and holidays like Passover, which is later this month, in a multitude of ways.
Freshman men’s basketball student-athlete Alan Mashensky founded the NYU Jewish Athlete Affinity group. “We have students from all over the country and we all have different traditions even though we are all Jewish. I may celebrate Passover one way and others will celebrate in other ways,” he remarked. “We also have common ground in how we grew up as many of us began playing our sport at the JCC (Jewish Community Center) and have been involved in Maccabi Games (international competition open to Jewish athletes anywhere in the world) at some level.”
Adjusting Observances in College
Jewish student-athletes who were accustomed to celebrating the holidays with their families at home found ways to make the transition to college easier by finding others on campus who shared their identity. “I grew up in a conservative Jewish community, so we celebrated all the holidays, going to synagogue for most of them. It was always nice seeing family and friends during Rosh Hashanah or Pesach (Passover),” Washington University junior women’s basketball player Sabrina DelBello stated. “With a busy basketball schedule, I don’t get to go home for most holidays, which is unfortunate. Thankfully, we have a great campus community through WashU Chabad that makes me feel at home during the holidays.”
WashU men’s basketball sophomore Yogi Oliff is also thankful for the school’s efforts in supporting Jewish students during holidays. “I have observed Jewish holidays throughout my life. The biggest adjustment to celebrating in college as opposed to being home was not being with family. I believe what makes holidays so special are the family traditions and simply spending time together,” he opined. “Although I miss celebrating many of the holidays with my family, it has been amazing to celebrate with the WashU Jewish community. Chabad and Hillel (Jewish organizations on campuses around the country) on campus put a lot of time and effort into making the holidays a special experience for the community; they go above and beyond for the Jewish students to have an enjoyable holiday experience.”
College has afforded NYU senior women’s soccer player Kelli Keady and WashU first-year women’s basketball player Lexy Harris renewed opportunities to honor their faith. Keady, the daughter of a mixed-faith couple, was raised Jewish, but not observant. She has a lot of Jewish family in New York City (Keady lives in Los Gatos, California). “Having Jewish family in New York is a big reason why I wanted to be at NYU. I have been observing the holidays a lot more since I came to college,” she noted.
Keady attended church service with the Extremism Examined program.
Harris’ family did celebrate all the major holidays and Shabbat as much as possible, but she found it harder to do so with her busy schedule as she got older. “When I came to WashU, I felt like I was able to be more immersed within the Jewish community because many of my friends participated in Chabad and Hillel,” she commented. “Before the basketball season especially, I found myself attending Friday night Shabbat dinners nearly every week at Chabad, which reignited my commitment to my Jewish identity even more than when I was at home.”
Shabbat is a 25-hour weekly event in Judaism, beginning at sundown Friday and ending when the sun sets on Saturday. Traditionally, at least three prayers take place before the Shabbat meal beginning with one during the lighting of the candles. The Kiddush is a blessing over the wine/grape juice, which is followed by the Motzi, which is a prayer over the bread (challah).
Sophomore cross country and track & field student-athlete Orit Shiang of Carnegie Mellon University comes from a family who observes Shabbat weekly, attending synagogue on Saturdays, and abstaining from technology and driving during Shabbat. “We always walked to synagogue, which is a mile from our house, regardless of the weather. There were times we would arrive at synagogue soaking wet,” she laughed. “I joined the cross country team in seventh grade and talked to my family about it. They understood that I would need to take the bus to get to my meets on Saturdays. Now that I am running in college, I am fortunate to have a coach (Tim Connelly) who is very understanding. It is important to be able to communicate with your coach because my sport and the team are very important to me, as is my faith.”
Although NYU men’s basketball graduate student Spencer Freedman did celebrate the holidays with his family growing up in Los Angeles, he was the only Jewish student at Mater Dei High School, a Catholic school in Santa Ana, California, most of his time there. “I was the only Jewish student out of 2,200 students until my senior year when one more Jewish student came in. That was an eye-opening experience that I am so grateful for, seeing things from a different perspective,” he commented. Freeman earned his undergraduate degree at Harvard University. “We had some Jewish holidays off from school and it was nice to have a community celebrating the same day(s) you were. Every year, I would have one Jewish teammate so we would attend holiday events together. Coaches would move practice times and if there were classes, we were exempt from them and assignments on the holidays.”
Sophomore fencer Lev BenAvram recognized there would be less of an adjustment from attending a Jewish Day School to college because he was attending Brandeis. “The Brandeis calendar more or less follows the Hebrew calendar. For example, we have both days off for Rosh Hashanah,” he pointed out. “What I do miss is going to my grandparents’ house (my mom’s parents) for the holidays. They are very involved in the Jewish community where they live and the synagogue they attend. My grandfather leads the Kol Nidre (service the night before the day of Yom Kippur) at his synagogue, which is very special.”
Teammates
Mashensky and Freedman acknowledge that it was an anomaly to be around so many other Jewish people in the NYU men’s basketball program this season. They were two of five Jewish players on the team in addition to two coaches, head coach Dave Klatsky and assistant coach/former Violet player Ethan Feldman. Mashensky attended Staten Island Technical High School before going to Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut. “Connecticut is a Catholic state. None of my teammates were Jewish, but my school did a great job of accommodating Jewish students, which there were more of than I expected,” he communicated. “One of the ways we celebrated our identity was by supporting each other through various ways, which included Jewish students coming to my games.”
Teammates Harris and DelBello have found teammates and classmates to be inquisitive and supportive of their culture. “Although I do not particularly bring up my faith when a discussion arises, whether on my team or friends outside of athletics, everyone is very inclusive and curious about Jewish traditions,” Harris expressed. “With other teammates and many other students at WashU practicing Judaism, there has been a very respectful and open environment where I can feel proud of my religion and not be afraid to share my beliefs.” DelBello finds that teammates and other students have continually been respectful. “People usually just wish me a nice holiday though in the past year I have received many more questions about Israel. My teammates have especially shown curiosity and are always supportive.”
Keady did not have a Jewish teammate at NYU until this season and being in a fall sport made it particularly difficult to celebrate the multiple Jewish holidays in September and October. “It was great this year to have a Jewish teammate to talk to. Her mom even brought me homemade matza ball soup,” she said. “Recently, I have been having a lot more conversations about my identity and current events have helped bridge some of those conversations. I have amazing teammates who are really open to learning about Israel.”
Keeping Kosher and Shabbat
Shiang, BenAvram and Oliff have successfully found ways to keep their important traditions as much as possible, even during their seasons.
“When I first got to college, I was thinking ‘I don’t know what to do to keep kosher on campus.’ It’s not the same, but I find ways. My family eats rice on Passover, so I will buy packaged rice. There is a restaurant nearby where I get rice, lettuce, and vegetables. You do your best to keep kosher in whatever ways work for you,” she advised. “I have adopted a vegetarian diet, but even before I did, I would say I was vegetarian just to avoid the question about why I wasn’t eating something. Being vegetarian helps in traveling, where my only concern is protein intake for competition, so I bring canned salmon on trips.”
“I keep kosher for everything but dairy. That may mean I need to go to a certain dining hall depending on the day or go with the vegetarian option,” he communicated. “Traveling as an athlete can definitely be challenging foodwise. Our team was coming back from a tournament at LIU (Long Island University) and the consensus was to stop at Wendy’s. That meant I could eat french fries and maybe a fish sandwich if it is even available.”
As is often the case in his sport, BenAvram competes nationally and internationally in addition to fencing for his school. He finds that it is much easier to find food domestically than abroad. “The vegetarian and vegan culture in the U.S. is very strong. Most restaurants have those options. It is largely not so in other countries. Between that and the fact that I only speak English and some Hebrew, which isn’t that helpful in Korea or Hungary, it is not always easy to communicate my needs. The good thing is that everyplace has pizza, which is what I like to eat the night before tournaments anyway,” he described.
He is comfortable that with a lot of Jewish teammates, his faith is understood and is not a big topic of discussion. In any space, he finds that his diet is not something most people have much knowledge about. “When I say I keep kosher, 50 percent of people don’t know what I am talking about and 45-49 percent have heard of it, but only know a little about it. Not a lot of people know about Jewish traditions, which can be a teaching opportunity. Even being at Brandeis, I recognize I am not going to a Jewish Day School anymore,” he commented.
Oliff observes Shabbat, including its ban on using technology, when he is not playing basketball, but even then, he does so as much as possible. “My experience is very different when we are on the road for UAA trips. Although it is not a traditional Shabbat experience, I still refrain from using my phone and technology. I always try to find some time on Friday night or Saturday to observe one little aspect of Shabbat that I would do if I were at home,” he explained. “Road games in the UAA definitely pose the biggest challenge that I face regarding conflicts between my religious observance and playing basketball in the conference. Though there are some sacrifices I end up making, I ultimately try to the best of my ability to not compromise one for the other.”
Keady found it difficult to observe Shabbat in the fall with soccer and travel but has been very active in the spring. “I have been going to Hillel Shabbat a lot more and have gotten involved with the Jewish center on campus (NYU Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life), which has a lot of good programming, including important dialogues once or twice a year. I have enjoyed a program called ‘Extremism Examined’ run by a rabbi who is globally involved in the interfaith space,” she stated.
Passover
Passover celebrates the emancipation of the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery and begins with ceremonial dinner called Seder after nightfall on the first and second nights of Passover. To commemorate the unleavened bread that the Israelites ate when they left Egypt, those who celebrate Passover do not consume chametz, or leaven, during the eight-day holiday.
In traditional households, it is customary to have special dishes that are only used during Passover. That is the case with Shiang’s home. “We have two sets of dishes. When it is Passover, we move our regular dishes to the attic and move our Passover dishes downstairs. We also scrub clean our oven and microwave,” she described. This year’s UAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships take place during Passover, but two things that lessen that issue for her is that the meet doesn’t take place during the front-end holy days (the first two nights) and that the Tartans are hosting the championships, so she can be in somewhat of a routine. “I am helping to organize the Seder on the first night with the campus Hillel and then plan to attend the Chabad Seder on the second night. They are very different seders.”
Shiang is not a big fan of matza, but fortunately for her competing, her diet during Passover does not rely on it. “No one enjoys eating matza. I don’t care what they say,” she joked. “It also does not do wonders for the digestive system. I will be eating a lot of rice.”
With nearly all his family in Los Angeles, Freedman grew up enjoying traditional Passover meals and events without having to travel to see his relatives. That all changed when he attended Harvard and NYU. “Apart from the pandemic year, I haven’t had a Passover at home in six years. It has been different for sure, but still nice because I am not alone. Either a teammate or another friend always hosted a big dinner and last year, I celebrated with Harvard friends,” he communicated.
Mashensky is intrigued by what different families eat while celebrating Passover. “My family comes from a Russian Orthodox background, so we have more Russian-centered food. It is fascinating to see the cultural influences on our food traditions,” he expressed.
DelBello appreciates opportunities on the WashU campus to observe holidays with other students. “I usually celebrate holidays by going to WashU Chabad, which provides a very inclusive environment for all. This Passover I plan to go to Chabad’s Seder for the first night and then potentially go to a friend’s seder the second night. There is a vast Jewish community on campus so luckily, I have some friends to celebrate with.”
“At home, we usually hold the Passover dinner with extended family. It is really nice to spend quality time with my immediate and extended family,” shared Oliff, who celebrated the holiday on campus last year. “There were a couple hundred students at the first Passover dinner, so it was definitely a different experience that I really enjoyed. Throughout the week of Passover, we observe even stricter dietary restrictions than our usual ones. I am grateful that there are a lot of ‘Kosher for Passover’ options on campus for students. I will admit that I really miss my mom’s cooking during Passover week!”
Passover being so late in the month this year is having a major impact at Brandeis. “We would usually have two to three weeks of classes after Passover, but this year, classes end on Friday (April 19th) so if you don’t have any finals, you are done for the semester,” described BenAvram, who has a busy schedule during the holiday this year. “I plan to fly home to be with my family for both Seders and then I fly to Salt Lake City to compete on the 28th and fly to Seoul, Korea on the 29th for a tournament.”
Advice for Incoming Jewish Student-Athletes
Competing in a sport while facing the academic rigor of attending a UAA institution can make it hard to find time for other interests, but student-athletes across the Association find it imperative to have a balanced experience. “I would advise incoming Jewish student-athletes not to let a busy schedule impact how you choose to practice your sport. I wish I had not let the season impact how I chose to be involved in the Jewish community,” acknowledged Harris. “I would recommend attending events at Chabad or Hillel and meeting as many students as possible. That is how I met my best friends this year, and everyone is always so kind.” DelBello seconds that opinion. “Take chances and attend events or services at your campus Chabad or Hillel. You never know who you might meet or what experiences you might have,” she added.
L: Team at the Western Wall in Jerusalem; R: With friends after a celebration.
BenAvram spoke of the importance of vocalizing what is important to you. “Be prepared for a lack of understanding about any needs you may have. It is very helpful to have Jewish friends, who may be able to explain something in a more efficient way than you can. It is important to self-advocate with your coach and your teammates,” he stressed.
Keady, who has an internship with Major League Soccer and will be going to Israel for the first time this summer, appreciates the Division III model and encourages other student-athletes to make the most of the opportunities it affords. “The spring schedule and flexibility allow me to have two different lives in the fall and the spring. That is a huge advantage to Division III. The same opportunities do not exist at Division I,” she commented. “I competed in the Pan American Maccabi Games in Argentina in January and was blown away by how I could compete with D-1 players. UAA soccer is really good! It is a freak of nature congregation of athletes.”
“I would tell incoming Jewish student-athletes that it is a lucky thing to have that identity and that college is a perfect opportunity to find community in addition to having great athlete friends. Getting involved in Jewish programming is such a great vehicle. Sports are not everything,” Keady continued. “It can be a rocky journey as a first year, possibly struggling to get playing time and getting everything together on your own, but what a blessing it is to be Jewish and to have this identity. We are all on a quest for significance and your faith, which doesn’t have to be G-d centered, can be something that can be positive and affirming, adding meaning and value.”
Freedman assures incoming student-athletes that even if they think the number of Jewish students on their campus doesn’t seem that large that they will find those who are. “Everybody tends to find someone who is like them. You will meet other Jewish students. Be willing to step outside of athletics to meet other Jewish students,” he recommended. “Do as much as you want to do, but don’t feel pressured to go to a team lift over Shabbat. Do you what you feel comfortable doing and as we have seen with Ramadan or any other religious belief, people will adjust.”
“At first it was jarring and a little upsetting trying to figure out how to be observant away from home. Find a middle ground and it will be OK,” suggested Shiang, who has been attending the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill area and has read the Torah there. “You make decisions for yourself on how to celebrate your faith and what accommodations you need to make around your sport.”
Mashensky was thrilled with his first year at NYU. “We had a special team, special players, and a diverse environment. It was great to be around Michael (Savarino) and Spencer, who have played their whole lives, and to have Coach K (legendary former Duke University head men’s basketball coach who led the Blue Devils to five national championships and Savarino’s grandfather) in the stands,” he observed.
The legacy he is focused on building is a celebration of Jewish student-athletes in the UAA and recognizing those Jewish players, coaches, and administrators that play/played a role in UAA Jewish history. He has felt supported at NYU and that is a major reason why he began the Jewish Athlete Affinity Group. “(NYU Assistant Athletic Director for Communications) Jeff (Bernstein) and I come from the same area in Brooklyn. Where he lives now is where I grew up. We have a mutual understanding being from a similar place. He has a positive vibe and is super supportive of my endeavors. Having administrators like that is a great resource,” he described. “The end result of the work we all do together in the UAA and beyond is to ensure that everyone can celebrate their identity freely and safely.”
Star of David image by brgfx on Freepik