Tag Archives: China

Jew of the Week: Hank Greenberg

The Hebrew Hammer

Hank Greenberg - 'The Hebrew Hammer'

Hank Greenberg – ‘The Hebrew Hammer’

Hyman ‘Henry Benjamin’ Greenberg (1911-1986) was born in New York to a Romanian-Jewish family. As a child, he was faced with many physical challenges, including flat feet, a stutter, and lack of coordination. He worked hard to overcome these issues, becoming his high school’s best all-around athlete, especially in basketball. He preferred baseball though, and after a year of university was signed by the Detroit Tigers. At 19, he became the youngest player ever to make the big leagues. He went on to be a 5-time All-Star and 2-time MVP, still holding the American League record for most RBIs in a single season. Not forgetting his heritage, one of his most famous moments was abstaining from playing a critical game because it was scheduled on Yom Kippur. In the midst of his baseball career, World War II began, and Greenberg was the first player to be drafted to the US Army. He was soon released from the military, but that was two days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Greenberg thus re-enlisted – the first Major League player to volunteer – and served for 45 months, the longest of any baseball player. He rose to the rank of First Lieutenant in the US Air Force, fighting in China, Burma, and India. At the end of the war he returned to baseball, still in good form and immediately making the All-Star team. He was later sold to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who offered him $80,000 so that he wouldn’t retire, making him the highest-paid player of that time period. After retiring, he turned to management and brought great success to several teams, especially the Cleveland Indians. Perhaps most significantly, Greenberg changed the face of the sport, sponsoring more African-Americans than any other baseball executive. In fact, he befriended and supported Jackie Robinson, the very first African-American player in the major leagues. Having experienced severe racism and anti-Semitism of his own, Greenberg worked hard to make the world of sport open and equal to all. A Hall of Famer, Greenberg is still considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

 

Words of the Week

The entire world is a very narrow bridge, and the most important thing is not to be afraid at all.
– Rabbi Nachman of Breslov

Jews of the Week: Khazars

The Medieval World’s Greatest Kingdom

Map of Khazaria – The Medieval Jewish Kingdom

The Khazars (c. 650-1016 CE) A perplexing people with unknown origins who rose to European and Asian dominance, the Khazars are most famous for their national conversion to Judaism. Speculated to have begun as a Turkic break-away kingdom, the Khazars spread quickly to encompass the entire Caucasus region, southern Russia and parts of Eastern Europe. In the 700s, the Khazars waged a series of wars against the superpower Arab Caliphate, which historians agree prevented Europe from becoming an Islamic continent. Around 740 CE, King Bulan, feeling a lack of spirituality in his warrior life, invited representatives of the major religions. He found truth in Judaism and converted. Keeping with the Jewish way, he did not impose his new lifestyle on anyone. Nonetheless, the nobility slowly followed suit and by 860 CE, so had most of the kingdom. The Khazars dominated world trade, controlling much of the Silk Road. The silver coins that they minted (called Yarmaqs) are commonly found in places like China and England, and in 1999 a large reserve of these coins was found in Sweden, bearing the inscription “Moses is the Prophet of God”. Sadly, the kingdom declined after a series of revolts, was then overrun by the Rus, and destroyed by the Mongols.

Words of the Week

Stay away – to the ultimate degree – from “holy wars.” Not because we lack the means of prevailing or because of timorousness, but because we must consecrate all our strength exclusively to strengthening our own structure, the edifice of Torah and mitzvot performed in holiness and purity
– Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch