Category: Your Stories

Babe Mitzvahs

Children’s mitzvah projects are starting long before their bar and bat mitzvahs. Public schools, Hebrew schools and even preschools are joining parents in teaching kids the importance of helping others. These innovators—including some very impressive youngsters—show that the example can be set for our children from the youngest age. The Littlest Helping Hands At Beth [...]

October 11, 2010 | 0 Comments More

SANDBAR

As a kid growing up in the ’60s in central Jersey we had our Saturday ritual that we called bologna and sand—Hebrew National deli sliced “Heshie, get your thumb off the scale!” bologna and Wonder Bread, entombed in the family’s one-ton steel ice chest and floating soggily by lunch time. We were packed into the [...]

June 14, 2010 | 0 Comments More

Hail Hizzoner

Commentary from Mayor Ed Koch

Mr. President, Please Listen And In the Words Which Encouraged Harry Truman, “Give ‘Em Hell”

August 15, 2011 I watched the eight Republican candidates debate among themselves last week. Many of the opinion-makers of our country, early on decided to attack many of these candidates, most of whom either are themselves card-carrying members or adherents of the Tea Party as well as members of the Republican Party. All are seeking [...]

August 21, 2011 | 0 Comments More

Second Thoughts

The game of basketball was invented in 1891 by a minister, James Naismith, who believed that it would promote “muscular Christianity.” That game would be unrecognizable today with its peach baskets, players passing the ball but never dribbling (a minor adjustment never envisioned by Naismith) and final scores like 5-4. It wasn’t until Jewish immigrants [...]

November 12, 2010 | 0 Comments More

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Children’s mitzvah projects are starting long before their bar and bat mitzvahs. Public schools, Hebrew schools and even preschools are joining parents in teaching kids the importance of helping others. These innovators—including some very impressive youngsters—show that the example can be set for our children from the youngest age.

The Littlest Helping Hands
At Beth Sholom Goldman Preschool in Elkins Park, PA, a recent fundraising effort benefited the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind, whose mission is to improve quality of life by providing those in need with safe mobility, independence and self-confidence through the assistance of faithful guide dogs. There is a training facility in Israel, but puppies are also trained in the US and then sent to Israel when they are fully matured. The preschoolers learned about helping others in need and about people with differences and challenges. Says Beth Porter, director of the developmental program at Beth Sholom, “Giving to charity is an integral part of the preschool curriculum and this program is a wonderful way for our children to experience what it means to do for others.” Children as early as one year were able to participate and begin to appreciate that they are part of a larger community.

Cupcakes For (And By) Kids
The children of Zipporah S. Abramson Center for Early Childhood Education at Congregation Beth Or in Maple Glen, PA, recently fulfilled a mitzvah by decorating and donating 360 cupcakes to the Children’s Music Festival fundraiser of Rubye’s Kids, whose mission is to empower children living in poverty through joyful, enriching experiences that promote strong values, education, respect for self and others and commitment to community. “We started a Social Action Committee in 2007 and I signed on as co-chair because I wanted to teach our children that there’s more going on in the world than what we see every day, and not everyone has as much as we do, so we should help others,” explains the Center’s Fern Rutberg. “I choose projects that I believe the kids can understand and feel good about.” These included packing holiday meals for Mattie S. Dixon Community Cupboard in Ambler and decorating birthday cakes for children who wouldn’t otherwise have one. “Each month, a different class had the opportunity to decorate a homemade birthday cake, which was donated to underprivileged children in the Philadelphia area through Project Rainbow and the Bucks County Housing Group,” says Fern.

Her Pet Project
Growing up with a love of animals is a given for Ava Gutierrez—her stepfather is Doggie Style pet store entrepreneur Ira Goldfarb and her mom Claudia is the company’s COO. Inspired by their efforts to rescue animals as part of the Doggie Style mission at its 11 locations throughout our area, Ava had an idea of her own after learning that some people want to keep their pets, but just can’t afford the medical care they need. Oporation AvA (spelled exactly as Ava, then 9, mapped it out for her parents) is a nonprofit organization that started with Ava and her friends selling cookies to raise money to help people pay for their pets’ surgeries. Ava herself adopted Bella, a Chihuahua badly in need of life-saving care—and a great companion for the family’s bulldog Cleo. The website http://oporationava.org/ has an online application for people in need as well as an adoption page for anyone looking for a pet.

One Child Can Make A Difference
As the executive director of the Susan G. Komen Philadelphia Race for the Cure, Elaine Grobman has seen impressive donations come into her office. But a recent letter from a young boy stopped her in her tracks. Jonah Katz, 8, had sent his tzedakah to Komen in memory of his grandmother, who died of breast cancer last year. He had also formed a Race team with his mom and other family members to walk in her memory this past Mother’s Day.
“Each week, right before our family Shabbat dinner, Jonah and his 12 year old brother, Eli, receive their allowance,” explains their mom, Marsha. “A portion goes right into our tzedakah box. In addition, whenever Jonah receives cash gifts for birthdays or holidays, he always puts a portion toward tzedakah as well. At the end of each month, someone in our house decides to which charity the money will go for that month. As his mother, it made me incredibly proud that Jonah decided to give our tzedakah money to the Race for the Cure in memory of my mother, Judy Pincus. Jonah and his grandmother were incredibly close and he still misses her to this day. In mid-April, Jonah broke one of his toes and all he was concerned about was whether he was going to be able to walk in the Race for the Cure. His toe healed in plenty of time and Jonah was able to participate. To him, that was part of the cycle of tzedakah that he started a few months back.”

Schools Step In
“As children see their parents involved in community service and giving back, most likely they will grow to emulate this behavior. But just as parents are instrumental in guiding their children towards a life of helping others, we believe that schools also should play an important role in laying the foundation for social responsibility,” explain Wendi Joblin and Doris Fox, Community Service Committee Co-Chairs at Stony Creek Elementary in Blue Bell, PA. After all, the women say, if schools provide our children with the basics of reading, writing and math, why should it stop there? “Most of us want to raise children who are giving, caring and thoughtful of others and we believe that public school can play a large role in helping us develop responsible, caring students and inspire citizenship.”
To that end, during the past the three years, the Community Service Committee has provided many meaningful ways for students and families to become involved in giving back to their community. “It has been amazing watching our families work together, collecting gloves and winter gear for needy kids, making sandwiches for a local soup kitchen and raising money for our local community zoo,” say Wendi and Doris. “Now we are ready to move to the next level—the formation of the Community Kids Club. This afterschool club, open to 3rd to 5th graders, will provide Stony Creek students with more in-depth and hands on exposure to community service and inspire students to begin at a younger age and make community involvement an enjoyable and integral part of their lives.”

For The Bat And Bar Mitzvah
“Thirty plus years ago community service was not emphasized in the schools. The only direct contact we had with helping others in need was the UNICEF box we brought around the neighborhood on Halloween,” say Cheryl Friedenberg and Valerie Franklin, the co-founders of The Mitzvah Bowl (themitzvahbowl.com). “Fast forward to children in today’s society—most elementary schools have a strong emphasis on service projects and tolerance. Children become compassionate, benevolent individuals when they experience hands-on projects that teach them about their communities.”
Even with this emphasis on early learning, Cheryl and Valerie recognized that there could be a better bridge between communities and bar and bat mitzvah students searching for projects with a meaningful connection. That prompted them to start the Mitzvah Bowl. They research area organizations that have a need in the community and provide bar and bat mitzvah students with local options for finding the most meaningful project, along with an organized online menu to help implement the requirements. Now that’s fast forward thinking.

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Children’s mitzvah projects are starting long before their bar and bat mitzvahs. Public schools, Hebrew schools and even preschools are joining parents in teaching kids the importance of helping others. These innovators—including some very impressive youngsters—show that the example can be set for our children from the youngest age.

The Littlest Helping Hands
At Beth Sholom Goldman Preschool in Elkins Park, PA, a recent fundraising effort benefited the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind, whose mission is to improve quality of life by providing those in need with safe mobility, independence and self-confidence through the assistance of faithful guide dogs. There is a training facility in Israel, but puppies are also trained in the US and then sent to Israel when they are fully matured. The preschoolers learned about helping others in need and about people with differences and challenges. Says Beth Porter, director of the developmental program at Beth Sholom, “Giving to charity is an integral part of the preschool curriculum and this program is a wonderful way for our children to experience what it means to do for others.” Children as early as one year were able to participate and begin to appreciate that they are part of a larger community.

Cupcakes For (And By) Kids
The children of Zipporah S. Abramson Center for Early Childhood Education at Congregation Beth Or in Maple Glen, PA, recently fulfilled a mitzvah by decorating and donating 360 cupcakes to the Children’s Music Festival fundraiser of Rubye’s Kids, whose mission is to empower children living in poverty through joyful, enriching experiences that promote strong values, education, respect for self and others and commitment to community. “We started a Social Action Committee in 2007 and I signed on as co-chair because I wanted to teach our children that there’s more going on in the world than what we see every day, and not everyone has as much as we do, so we should help others,” explains the Center’s Fern Rutberg. “I choose projects that I believe the kids can understand and feel good about.” These included packing holiday meals for Mattie S. Dixon Community Cupboard in Ambler and decorating birthday cakes for children who wouldn’t otherwise have one. “Each month, a different class had the opportunity to decorate a homemade birthday cake, which was donated to underprivileged children in the Philadelphia area through Project Rainbow and the Bucks County Housing Group,” says Fern.

Her Pet Project
Growing up with a love of animals is a given for Ava Gutierrez—her stepfather is Doggie Style pet store entrepreneur Ira Goldfarb and her mom Claudia is the company’s COO. Inspired by their efforts to rescue animals as part of the Doggie Style mission at its 11 locations throughout our area, Ava had an idea of her own after learning that some people want to keep their pets, but just can’t afford the medical care they need. Oporation AvA (spelled exactly as Ava, then 9, mapped it out for her parents) is a nonprofit organization that started with Ava and her friends selling cookies to raise money to help people pay for their pets’ surgeries. Ava herself adopted Bella, a Chihuahua badly in need of life-saving care—and a great companion for the family’s bulldog Cleo. The website http://oporationava.org/ has an online application for people in need as well as an adoption page for anyone looking for a pet.

One Child Can Make A Difference
As the executive director of the Susan G. Komen Philadelphia Race for the Cure, Elaine Grobman has seen impressive donations come into her office. But a recent letter from a young boy stopped her in her tracks. Jonah Katz, 8, had sent his tzedakah to Komen in memory of his grandmother, who died of breast cancer last year. He had also formed a Race team with his mom and other family members to walk in her memory this past Mother’s Day.
“Each week, right before our family Shabbat dinner, Jonah and his 12 year old brother, Eli, receive their allowance,” explains their mom, Marsha. “A portion goes right into our tzedakah box. In addition, whenever Jonah receives cash gifts for birthdays or holidays, he always puts a portion toward tzedakah as well. At the end of each month, someone in our house decides to which charity the money will go for that month. As his mother, it made me incredibly proud that Jonah decided to give our tzedakah money to the Race for the Cure in memory of my mother, Judy Pincus. Jonah and his grandmother were incredibly close and he still misses her to this day. In mid-April, Jonah broke one of his toes and all he was concerned about was whether he was going to be able to walk in the Race for the Cure. His toe healed in plenty of time and Jonah was able to participate. To him, that was part of the cycle of tzedakah that he started a few months back.”

Schools Step In
“As children see their parents involved in community service and giving back, most likely they will grow to emulate this behavior. But just as parents are instrumental in guiding their children towards a life of helping others, we believe that schools also should play an important role in laying the foundation for social responsibility,” explain Wendi Joblin and Doris Fox, Community Service Committee Co-Chairs at Stony Creek Elementary in Blue Bell, PA. After all, the women say, if schools provide our children with the basics of reading, writing and math, why should it stop there? “Most of us want to raise children who are giving, caring and thoughtful of others and we believe that public school can play a large role in helping us develop responsible, caring students and inspire citizenship.”
To that end, during the past the three years, the Community Service Committee has provided many meaningful ways for students and families to become involved in giving back to their community. “It has been amazing watching our families work together, collecting gloves and winter gear for needy kids, making sandwiches for a local soup kitchen and raising money for our local community zoo,” say Wendi and Doris. “Now we are ready to move to the next level—the formation of the Community Kids Club. This afterschool club, open to 3rd to 5th graders, will provide Stony Creek students with more in-depth and hands on exposure to community service and inspire students to begin at a younger age and make community involvement an enjoyable and integral part of their lives.”

For The Bat And Bar Mitzvah
“Thirty plus years ago community service was not emphasized in the schools. The only direct contact we had with helping others in need was the UNICEF box we brought around the neighborhood on Halloween,” say Cheryl Friedenberg and Valerie Franklin, the co-founders of The Mitzvah Bowl (themitzvahbowl.com). “Fast forward to children in today’s society—most elementary schools have a strong emphasis on service projects and tolerance. Children become compassionate, benevolent individuals when they experience hands-on projects that teach them about their communities.”
Even with this emphasis on early learning, Cheryl and Valerie recognized that there could be a better bridge between communities and bar and bat mitzvah students searching for projects with a meaningful connection. That prompted them to start the Mitzvah Bowl. They research area organizations that have a need in the community and provide bar and bat mitzvah students with local options for finding the most meaningful project, along with an organized online menu to help implement the requirements. Now that’s fast forward thinking.

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Children’s mitzvah projects are starting long before their bar and bat mitzvahs. Public schools, Hebrew schools and even preschools are joining parents in teaching kids the importance of helping others. These innovators—including some very impressive youngsters—show that the example can be set for our children from the youngest age. The Littlest Helping Hands At Beth [...]

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Children’s mitzvah projects are starting long before their bar and bat mitzvahs. Public schools, Hebrew schools and even preschools are joining parents in teaching kids the importance of helping others. These innovators—including some very impressive youngsters—show that the example can be set for our children from the youngest age. The Littlest Helping Hands At Beth [...]

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As a kid growing up in the ’60s in central Jersey we had our Saturday ritual that we called bologna and sand—Hebrew National deli sliced “Heshie, get your thumb off the scale!” bologna and Wonder Bread, entombed in the family’s one-ton steel ice chest and floating soggily by lunch time. We were packed into the Impala (a goyisha car) and driven to Sandy Hook State Park, which from anywhere in New Jersey was “down the shore.” After getting water logged enough for my parents to have a few “adult minutes,” it was time for soggy bologna, which grew crunchier with each sand filled bite. The gulps of “Goofy Grape” or “Rootin Tootin Rasberry” Funny Face drink did little to aid in washing down those “sand”wiches, and the half hour we had to wait to get back into the water seemed to last forever, but Mom was a strict enforcer of the rule. There were stories of kids who swam as late as even twenty-seven minutes after eating, and the tragic results that ensued. Those days were called the summer of baloney and sand by our family. Wouldn’t it be great to go back for a single day? I would even wait the thirty minutes…”Heshie, move that thumb!”

There are also memories of the Memorial holiday weekend, which marked the opening of another suburban Jewish ritual, the “swim club,” in our case Oak Crest Swim Club in Edison, NJ but that is another story for another time….

Dave Berman, former NJ kid

St. Augustine, FL

Reminiscences from Chutzpah’s Facebook fans who answered our online call to share their memories.

Four cranky people traveling in an undersized, overstuffed car headed for Atlantic City in the summer of 1963…on a day trip. Back in the trunk, two suitcases–the brown molded variety, probably handed down from a wealthy relative. In the back seat, my angry older brother and me. (He didn’t want to go.) Thankfully, an oversized cooler so big he couldn’t reach over and hit me separated us. So big, it could store a body, if we needed to…Front seat, Mom separated us and Dad threatening to pull over.

Just like Emerald City, Atlantic City gleamed as we made our approach. But on this day, my dad kept on driving past the swanky hotels and the boardwalk shops. The streets became more residential and quiet as we progressed. Then we stopped.

Lucy stood quietly at the water’s edge, a sentry of the ocean—massive, yet unthreatening. Her expressive eyes truly the windows of her soul. I was in love, captivated. Never mind that her paint was pealing or her hide was weathered. None of that mattered.

“This is Lucy,” my dad said. “Lucy made the ocean.”

“Really, Daddy? Really? No she couldn’t do that…” He assured me she really did. It was almost too much for a three-year-old to conceive, but it is a moment I have always remembered with love.

I have shared this story with my own three children on different occasions. Through the years their response has moved from astonishment to glib acceptance. I hope that they will share it with their kids.

We visit Lucy a lot these days, as we are now Margate residents. I like to remind them, “You know, Lucy made the ocean.” Adults now, they humor me, “Really, mom?…Okay.” —Lynn Taylor Gordon

My favorite memories: Going to Asbury Park from Belmar on Saturday nights and walking on the boardwalk with my family. Going on the carousel, through the funhouse giant, the turning tunnel and mirror room, and onto the bumper cars. Getting a candy apple and some taffy. Smelling the ocean and watching old couples pass by slowly. —Karen Azarchi

Being a 4th generation Longport resident, my fondest memories are going down the shore with my grandparents for the summer. They would pick up my twin sister and me and take us to the shore. We went fishing, crabbing, clamming, and to the Atlantic City Country Club with my grandmother for lunch. The rides on the Ocean City boardwalk and Atlantic City boardwalk, Lucy the Elephant, Lenny’s Hot Dogs. My grandfather used to say it was his piece of heaven and I agree. I still feel their presence and love even though they are not physically here with us anymore. My children are now the 5th generation in that home. I hope it can be passed on for 5 more generations. All of our memories live on at the shore. —Denise Kuritz

I have so many fond memories of the beach I could probably write a book! I grew up in Long Beach and had a wonderful childhood on the beach, the boardwalk and all of the games and rides. As a matter of fact, Tom and I just bought an apartment on the beach. It is not what is was then, but it’s still great. —Marilyn Siegel Wallen

I have great memories of Belmar. When I was little, about 4 or 5, my great grandfather Elias Shoner (who never worked on Friday night or Saturday) gave me a roll of nickels on Friday afternoon and after dinner would walk down 14th Street with me to the ocean so he could watch me play the pinballs at the arcade. On Sundays, we would all go to Spring Lake, get breakfast at Jerry’s coffee shop—always a toasted corn muffin with butter and strawberrry jam for me—and armed with all the leftover bread from the week, feed the ducks at the beautiful park. I could come up with truckloads of shore memories as my family had a house there from the 1940s till this day. —Julie Jacobson

In early May 2005, my boyfriend and I were walking on the beach in Ventnor when Barry pointed to this shell he thought was so pretty. I didn’t think it was that pretty, but I humored him and picked it up. Underneath it was a beautiful diamond ring. He then asked me to marry him…Years earlier when I was a teenager going down the shore, at the Chelsea, there was always that group of “older” people in a circle singing and play kazoos. I remember my dear friend, Sherry Gittleman, may she rest in peace, and I went down almost every week when we were 21. We stayed at Van’s, a house right next to Tony’s Baltimore Grill. Our room faced their exhaust. We stayed there because it was like $5 a night each. We went out for breakfast cheap. This is when I learned to put everything on hot dogs—more to eat. Went clubbing and bought a beer because it was cheap (did that once and hated it). Those were the days. —Sheila Levin Good

One of my memories is going to Atlantic City in the summer with my parents and staying at the Ritz. It seemed very over-the-top to me. It was a large and fancy hotel. Everyone got dressed up to go to dinner, my dad in his suit and tie, my mom and I in dresses and fancy shoes. In the dining room, we always sat at a table by the window and looked out at the ocean. We had a really nice waiter who treated us like royalty. He, too, was dressed up, in a white jacket, black pants and bow tie. I miss the aura of the 1960s at the Jersey shore. —Leslie Alper Feldman

The best days were when all of us were kids—we stayed at Aunt Bella’s, my paternal grandfather’s sister. Her hotel, The La Rochelle, was on New York Avenue. It reminded me of the hotel in the movie A Hole in the Head (1959) and had an awning just like the one on The Loretta Young Show. We little girls felt compelled to make an entrance and an exit every time we went through those doors. My parents worked in their deli seventy-three hours a week. Their only vacation was the week between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. When my parents were down the shore with us, it was spectacular—almost the only time we were all together. We all helped in the kitchen, making homemade gefilte fish, knishes, kreplach, strudel, Bubbie’s cinnamon sugar cookies and more. I remember everyone dressing up to walk up and down the Boardwalk, greeting old friends and meeting new ones. I only wish my boys had memories like our generation and so do they. —Sheri Kaytes Schwartz

To read more reminiscences or to add your own, please go to chutzpahmag.com and join the Chutzpah Magazine Facebook page to participate in future articles.

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As a kid growing up in the ’60s in central Jersey we had our Saturday ritual that we called bologna and sand—Hebrew National deli sliced “Heshie, get your thumb off the scale!” bologna and Wonder Bread, entombed in the family’s one-ton steel ice chest and floating soggily by lunch time. We were packed into the Impala (a goyisha car) and driven to Sandy Hook State Park, which from anywhere in New Jersey was “down the shore.” After getting water logged enough for my parents to have a few “adult minutes,” it was time for soggy bologna, which grew crunchier with each sand filled bite. The gulps of “Goofy Grape” or “Rootin Tootin Rasberry” Funny Face drink did little to aid in washing down those “sand”wiches, and the half hour we had to wait to get back into the water seemed to last forever, but Mom was a strict enforcer of the rule. There were stories of kids who swam as late as even twenty-seven minutes after eating, and the tragic results that ensued. Those days were called the summer of baloney and sand by our family. Wouldn’t it be great to go back for a single day? I would even wait the thirty minutes…”Heshie, move that thumb!”

There are also memories of the Memorial holiday weekend, which marked the opening of another suburban Jewish ritual, the “swim club,” in our case Oak Crest Swim Club in Edison, NJ but that is another story for another time….

Dave Berman, former NJ kid

St. Augustine, FL

Reminiscences from Chutzpah’s Facebook fans who answered our online call to share their memories.

Four cranky people traveling in an undersized, overstuffed car headed for Atlantic City in the summer of 1963…on a day trip. Back in the trunk, two suitcases–the brown molded variety, probably handed down from a wealthy relative. In the back seat, my angry older brother and me. (He didn’t want to go.) Thankfully, an oversized cooler so big he couldn’t reach over and hit me separated us. So big, it could store a body, if we needed to…Front seat, Mom separated us and Dad threatening to pull over.

Just like Emerald City, Atlantic City gleamed as we made our approach. But on this day, my dad kept on driving past the swanky hotels and the boardwalk shops. The streets became more residential and quiet as we progressed. Then we stopped.

Lucy stood quietly at the water’s edge, a sentry of the ocean—massive, yet unthreatening. Her expressive eyes truly the windows of her soul. I was in love, captivated. Never mind that her paint was pealing or her hide was weathered. None of that mattered.

“This is Lucy,” my dad said. “Lucy made the ocean.”

“Really, Daddy? Really? No she couldn’t do that…” He assured me she really did. It was almost too much for a three-year-old to conceive, but it is a moment I have always remembered with love.

I have shared this story with my own three children on different occasions. Through the years their response has moved from astonishment to glib acceptance. I hope that they will share it with their kids.

We visit Lucy a lot these days, as we are now Margate residents. I like to remind them, “You know, Lucy made the ocean.” Adults now, they humor me, “Really, mom?…Okay.” —Lynn Taylor Gordon

My favorite memories: Going to Asbury Park from Belmar on Saturday nights and walking on the boardwalk with my family. Going on the carousel, through the funhouse giant, the turning tunnel and mirror room, and onto the bumper cars. Getting a candy apple and some taffy. Smelling the ocean and watching old couples pass by slowly. —Karen Azarchi

Being a 4th generation Longport resident, my fondest memories are going down the shore with my grandparents for the summer. They would pick up my twin sister and me and take us to the shore. We went fishing, crabbing, clamming, and to the Atlantic City Country Club with my grandmother for lunch. The rides on the Ocean City boardwalk and Atlantic City boardwalk, Lucy the Elephant, Lenny’s Hot Dogs. My grandfather used to say it was his piece of heaven and I agree. I still feel their presence and love even though they are not physically here with us anymore. My children are now the 5th generation in that home. I hope it can be passed on for 5 more generations. All of our memories live on at the shore. —Denise Kuritz

I have so many fond memories of the beach I could probably write a book! I grew up in Long Beach and had a wonderful childhood on the beach, the boardwalk and all of the games and rides. As a matter of fact, Tom and I just bought an apartment on the beach. It is not what is was then, but it’s still great. —Marilyn Siegel Wallen

I have great memories of Belmar. When I was little, about 4 or 5, my great grandfather Elias Shoner (who never worked on Friday night or Saturday) gave me a roll of nickels on Friday afternoon and after dinner would walk down 14th Street with me to the ocean so he could watch me play the pinballs at the arcade. On Sundays, we would all go to Spring Lake, get breakfast at Jerry’s coffee shop—always a toasted corn muffin with butter and strawberrry jam for me—and armed with all the leftover bread from the week, feed the ducks at the beautiful park. I could come up with truckloads of shore memories as my family had a house there from the 1940s till this day. —Julie Jacobson

In early May 2005, my boyfriend and I were walking on the beach in Ventnor when Barry pointed to this shell he thought was so pretty. I didn’t think it was that pretty, but I humored him and picked it up. Underneath it was a beautiful diamond ring. He then asked me to marry him…Years earlier when I was a teenager going down the shore, at the Chelsea, there was always that group of “older” people in a circle singing and play kazoos. I remember my dear friend, Sherry Gittleman, may she rest in peace, and I went down almost every week when we were 21. We stayed at Van’s, a house right next to Tony’s Baltimore Grill. Our room faced their exhaust. We stayed there because it was like $5 a night each. We went out for breakfast cheap. This is when I learned to put everything on hot dogs—more to eat. Went clubbing and bought a beer because it was cheap (did that once and hated it). Those were the days. —Sheila Levin Good

One of my memories is going to Atlantic City in the summer with my parents and staying at the Ritz. It seemed very over-the-top to me. It was a large and fancy hotel. Everyone got dressed up to go to dinner, my dad in his suit and tie, my mom and I in dresses and fancy shoes. In the dining room, we always sat at a table by the window and looked out at the ocean. We had a really nice waiter who treated us like royalty. He, too, was dressed up, in a white jacket, black pants and bow tie. I miss the aura of the 1960s at the Jersey shore. —Leslie Alper Feldman

The best days were when all of us were kids—we stayed at Aunt Bella’s, my paternal grandfather’s sister. Her hotel, The La Rochelle, was on New York Avenue. It reminded me of the hotel in the movie A Hole in the Head (1959) and had an awning just like the one on The Loretta Young Show. We little girls felt compelled to make an entrance and an exit every time we went through those doors. My parents worked in their deli seventy-three hours a week. Their only vacation was the week between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. When my parents were down the shore with us, it was spectacular—almost the only time we were all together. We all helped in the kitchen, making homemade gefilte fish, knishes, kreplach, strudel, Bubbie’s cinnamon sugar cookies and more. I remember everyone dressing up to walk up and down the Boardwalk, greeting old friends and meeting new ones. I only wish my boys had memories like our generation and so do they. —Sheri Kaytes Schwartz

To read more reminiscences or to add your own, please go to chutzpahmag.com and join the Chutzpah Magazine Facebook page to participate in future articles.

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As a kid growing up in the ’60s in central Jersey we had our Saturday ritual that we called bologna and sand—Hebrew National deli sliced “Heshie, get your thumb off the scale!” bologna and Wonder Bread, entombed in the family’s one-ton steel ice chest and floating soggily by lunch time. We were packed into the [...]

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As a kid growing up in the ’60s in central Jersey we had our Saturday ritual that we called bologna and sand—Hebrew National deli sliced “Heshie, get your thumb off the scale!” bologna and Wonder Bread, entombed in the family’s one-ton steel ice chest and floating soggily by lunch time. We were packed into the [...]

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August 15, 2011

I watched the eight Republican candidates debate among themselves last week. Many of the opinion-makers of our country, early on decided to attack many of these candidates, most of whom either are themselves card-carrying members or adherents of the Tea Party as well as members of the Republican Party. All are seeking Republican Party support while advocating Tea Party positions on major issues, e.g., reducing or eliminating entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and slashing federal government expenditures.

Candidates like Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) have been described by some observers of the political scene as wackos or crazies. I think those views are now changing. I must admit here that I have used those words in describing the views of some candidates, but I won’t anymore. The eight participants in the debate handled themselves extremely well. While I was not persuaded by their arguments and views and remain a Democrat supporting many Democratic programs, I can well understand why they and their supporters demand changes in federal programs along the lines advocated by Tea Party philosophy. Michele Bachmann won the Iowa straw poll, coming in one percentage point ahead of Ron Paul. Tim Pawlenty came in third and has withdrawn from the race.

Liberal philosophy has adopted the Keynesian position that in times of recession and depression, government must prime the pump and spend its way out to achieve better times. The Tea Party view and that of the Conservative government of David Cameron in Great Britain adheres to the old-fashioned view that my mom often expressed: “You don’t spend money you don’t have.” That was my view when I was mayor of New York City and in my personal life. I have two credit cards. I have never paid charges on either of them over and above my actual purchases. I am one of those customers the credit card companies hate and may lose money on, if they are dependent on the usurious rates of interest they receive from those using their credit cards as access to bank loans.

When I was Mayor, I supported then and do now a GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) balanced budget imposed by the state legislature requiring New York City to limit its operating budget to what was reasonable to expect the City to receive the year of the adopted budget. The Tea Party believes in a balanced budget for the U.S. and wants to enact it into law by the adoption of a constitutional amendment. Liberals are horrified with the idea. My mother would have loved it. It seems to me to make sense, provided there is an exception when the U.S. is at war.

We were a lower-middle class family when I grew up in Brooklyn. Perhaps even poorer than we thought. My father made $65 a week. Our rent in Flatbush in 1941 was $65 a month – the then accepted ratio – and my parents were able to lead a reasonably decent lifestyle, bringing up three children and sending them to college. I believe my parents values would be described as politically liberal. Early on in my political career, I referred to myself as a liberal with sanity.

Mr. President, the country we all love is hurting enormously, with huge unemployment. Isn’t it possible to create work programs like the WPA (Works Progress Administration) and spend monies on infrastructure for bullet trains, repairing roads and bridges that are falling down and other truly needed capital programs by creating what we don’t have now – a separate capital budget (which states and cities have) that would permit borrowing and pay the cost of a capital item over its expected life, instead of maintaining the single unified budget which the U.S. currently has? I am not an economist, but shouldn’t that be considered? The need for jobs with our unemployment rate in excess of 9 percent is universally accepted.

People everywhere are asking why don’t you call the Congress back from their unearned vacations to address the huge problems now facing the nation. You can still win back the support of the public by publicly setting forth in detail your plan to address these enormous problems. It should be a plan fashioned not on consensus, but your plan and if your political adversaries oppose it, so be it. Then you must go over their heads to the vast public, appealing to its common sense, asking them to support you. Take your plan into the next election and make your proposed programs the referendum on which the public will be voting in the presidential election of 2012.

Remember what Harry Truman did in 1948 with the do nothing Congress? While Harry Truman is my political hero, you are far more eloquent than he was. You can bring the nation to your side if you convince people that what you are asking them to do is to join hands in self-sacrifice, sharing the nation’s burden proportionately to their economic status. We are a generous nation, a patriotic nation, a nation like no other in our diversity. Today, we are so divided and feel leaderless. You can bring us together and lead us to the promised land.

Mr. President, doesn’t it appear strange to you that the war in Afghanistan has been going on for ten years and this month of August, we have already sustained 51 deaths there? We spend billions annually on the military budget. Indeed, our military budget is equal in the aggregate to the military budgets of the next 17 nations. I suspect the Taliban spends less than $10 million on its military, maybe $50 million annually, and yet, they have fought us to a standstill. Shouldn’t we be getting out this year, instead of waiting for 2014, or as appears to be the case, staying permanently in a land where the people hate us?

Mr. President, we have been in Iraq for eight years. We have spent hundreds of billions fighting the insurgents in Iraq. Probably over a trillion dollars for the two wars – Afghanistan and Iraq – that are bleeding us, killing and injuring our young soldiers, ripping off the billions we send to rebuild their country, while our people are suffering in an economic crisis. Within the past week, Iraq’s premier aligned Iraq with Syria and Iran, our declared enemies. Syria is now engaged in killing its own citizens, shooting them down in the streets of Hama and other cities. Does it make sense that you criticize Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria, and now our supposed ally, the new Iraq, is supporting the butcher of Syria? While he is doing that, The Times reports we are negotiating with Iraq to stay past the end of this year with no date set for our leaving.

We are told Iraq needs our soldiers to protect it until Iraqi soldiers become able to do so. Mr. President, what happened to the Iraqi soldiers’ ability? That army eight years ago was the terror of the region. Mr. President, our country is hurting. Please take the actions needed to assure us someone is in charge.

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August 15, 2011

I watched the eight Republican candidates debate among themselves last week. Many of the opinion-makers of our country, early on decided to attack many of these candidates, most of whom either are themselves card-carrying members or adherents of the Tea Party as well as members of the Republican Party. All are seeking Republican Party support while advocating Tea Party positions on major issues, e.g., reducing or eliminating entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and slashing federal government expenditures.

Candidates like Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) have been described by some observers of the political scene as wackos or crazies. I think those views are now changing. I must admit here that I have used those words in describing the views of some candidates, but I won’t anymore. The eight participants in the debate handled themselves extremely well. While I was not persuaded by their arguments and views and remain a Democrat supporting many Democratic programs, I can well understand why they and their supporters demand changes in federal programs along the lines advocated by Tea Party philosophy. Michele Bachmann won the Iowa straw poll, coming in one percentage point ahead of Ron Paul. Tim Pawlenty came in third and has withdrawn from the race.

Liberal philosophy has adopted the Keynesian position that in times of recession and depression, government must prime the pump and spend its way out to achieve better times. The Tea Party view and that of the Conservative government of David Cameron in Great Britain adheres to the old-fashioned view that my mom often expressed: “You don’t spend money you don’t have.” That was my view when I was mayor of New York City and in my personal life. I have two credit cards. I have never paid charges on either of them over and above my actual purchases. I am one of those customers the credit card companies hate and may lose money on, if they are dependent on the usurious rates of interest they receive from those using their credit cards as access to bank loans.

When I was Mayor, I supported then and do now a GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) balanced budget imposed by the state legislature requiring New York City to limit its operating budget to what was reasonable to expect the City to receive the year of the adopted budget. The Tea Party believes in a balanced budget for the U.S. and wants to enact it into law by the adoption of a constitutional amendment. Liberals are horrified with the idea. My mother would have loved it. It seems to me to make sense, provided there is an exception when the U.S. is at war.

We were a lower-middle class family when I grew up in Brooklyn. Perhaps even poorer than we thought. My father made $65 a week. Our rent in Flatbush in 1941 was $65 a month – the then accepted ratio – and my parents were able to lead a reasonably decent lifestyle, bringing up three children and sending them to college. I believe my parents values would be described as politically liberal. Early on in my political career, I referred to myself as a liberal with sanity.

Mr. President, the country we all love is hurting enormously, with huge unemployment. Isn’t it possible to create work programs like the WPA (Works Progress Administration) and spend monies on infrastructure for bullet trains, repairing roads and bridges that are falling down and other truly needed capital programs by creating what we don’t have now – a separate capital budget (which states and cities have) that would permit borrowing and pay the cost of a capital item over its expected life, instead of maintaining the single unified budget which the U.S. currently has? I am not an economist, but shouldn’t that be considered? The need for jobs with our unemployment rate in excess of 9 percent is universally accepted.

People everywhere are asking why don’t you call the Congress back from their unearned vacations to address the huge problems now facing the nation. You can still win back the support of the public by publicly setting forth in detail your plan to address these enormous problems. It should be a plan fashioned not on consensus, but your plan and if your political adversaries oppose it, so be it. Then you must go over their heads to the vast public, appealing to its common sense, asking them to support you. Take your plan into the next election and make your proposed programs the referendum on which the public will be voting in the presidential election of 2012.

Remember what Harry Truman did in 1948 with the do nothing Congress? While Harry Truman is my political hero, you are far more eloquent than he was. You can bring the nation to your side if you convince people that what you are asking them to do is to join hands in self-sacrifice, sharing the nation’s burden proportionately to their economic status. We are a generous nation, a patriotic nation, a nation like no other in our diversity. Today, we are so divided and feel leaderless. You can bring us together and lead us to the promised land.

Mr. President, doesn’t it appear strange to you that the war in Afghanistan has been going on for ten years and this month of August, we have already sustained 51 deaths there? We spend billions annually on the military budget. Indeed, our military budget is equal in the aggregate to the military budgets of the next 17 nations. I suspect the Taliban spends less than $10 million on its military, maybe $50 million annually, and yet, they have fought us to a standstill. Shouldn’t we be getting out this year, instead of waiting for 2014, or as appears to be the case, staying permanently in a land where the people hate us?

Mr. President, we have been in Iraq for eight years. We have spent hundreds of billions fighting the insurgents in Iraq. Probably over a trillion dollars for the two wars – Afghanistan and Iraq – that are bleeding us, killing and injuring our young soldiers, ripping off the billions we send to rebuild their country, while our people are suffering in an economic crisis. Within the past week, Iraq’s premier aligned Iraq with Syria and Iran, our declared enemies. Syria is now engaged in killing its own citizens, shooting them down in the streets of Hama and other cities. Does it make sense that you criticize Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria, and now our supposed ally, the new Iraq, is supporting the butcher of Syria? While he is doing that, The Times reports we are negotiating with Iraq to stay past the end of this year with no date set for our leaving.

We are told Iraq needs our soldiers to protect it until Iraqi soldiers become able to do so. Mr. President, what happened to the Iraqi soldiers’ ability? That army eight years ago was the terror of the region. Mr. President, our country is hurting. Please take the actions needed to assure us someone is in charge.

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August 15, 2011 I watched the eight Republican candidates debate among themselves last week. Many of the opinion-makers of our country, early on decided to attack many of these candidates, most of whom either are themselves card-carrying members or adherents of the Tea Party as well as members of the Republican Party. All are seeking [...]

Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level 0 Ending uga_track_user: 1 Calling preg_replace_callback: ]*?)href\s*=\s*['"](.*?)['"]([^>]*)>(.*?) Ending uga_filter:

August 15, 2011 I watched the eight Republican candidates debate among themselves last week. Many of the opinion-makers of our country, early on decided to attack many of these candidates, most of whom either are themselves card-carrying members or adherents of the Tea Party as well as members of the Republican Party. All are seeking [...]

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The game of basketball was invented in 1891 by a minister, James Naismith, who believed that it would promote “muscular Christianity.” That game would be unrecognizable today with its peach baskets, players passing the ball but never dribbling (a minor adjustment never envisioned by Naismith) and final scores like 5-4. It wasn’t until Jewish immigrants at the turn of the 20th century adopted the “ultimate city game”—and over the course of a few decades, from the ’20s to the ’50s, added innovations in play and strategy—that it went from one requiring brute strength to one that stressed skill and strategy. In their hands, basketball, first conceived as a simple, easy to play (but hard to master) game, became the crossover dribbling, three-point bombing sport that it is today.
Contrary to cultural stereotypes, early in the 20th century, most Jewish kids played basketball and played it well. The old schoolyard cliché that “any Jew great at sports was probably adopted” didn’t hold water. Those of us compelled to debunk the notion of Jews “without game” need look no further than the game of the ghettos during that golden era, when the sport was indeed considered the “Jewish game.” Because basketball requires very little in equipment at its bare root level, ghetto kids could improvise with makeshift paper balls shot through the lowest rung of the fire escape (backboards were unheard of). Leagues sponsored by YMHAs, yeshivas and synagogues flourished—in addition to the benefit of keeping kids off the corner and out of trouble, rabbis also realized that these teams served a greater purpose by ensuring that kids kept willingly coming back to shul.
Almost all Jewish neighborhoods had their own teams, rivalries were in fact fierce, and there was no question that the best ball in the era was played in New York and Philadelphia, the cities with the largest Jewish populations. For the chosen few, proficiency in shooting the rock could land one a college scholarship (often the only way a poor Jew could hope to attend) and provide a portal into middle class America. College basketball was one area of life where Jews were rarely denied the right to participate, certainly not the case in many other sports. Not surprisingly, many players stayed local, creating an era of elite college teams like City College of New York (CCNY), Long Island University (LIU), New York University and Temple. After a good college career, Jewish players on early semi-pro fives could earn as much as $5 a game, a veritable fortune back then.
During this era, so-called “Jew Ball” evolved—what was first used as a slur or, at best, a backhanded compliment, the term came to define the style of play that was later lauded as the “thinking man’s” game. Incorporating defense and constant motion with the aim of hitting the open man, it was the antithesis of the foul-plagued “football style” offense that prevailed in the early days. Indeed it was a style crucial to the later success of the college and pro game, and one that seminal coaches like Nat Holman and later his protégé Red Holzman, and later on his protégé Phil Jackson, would refine to perfection. Why, if that guy Naismith hadn’t come up with a few now-antiquated rules himself, you could almost say Jews invented modern basketball.
Just as stereotypes unfairly label today’s black players, many were foisted on the Jewish players in the ’20s and ’30s. Jew Ball provided an easy mark for journalists like Paul Gallico, the eminent sports editor of the NY Daily News who expressed the goy “excuse” in a 1930s column, stating that “the reason that basketball appeals to Hebrews is that the game places a premium on an alert scheming mind, flashy trickiness, artful dodging and general smart-aleckness.” Players who lost to all-Jewish teams whined that the shorter Jews had “God-given better balance and speed.” Genetic advantage or not, the fact is that in 1930, in the biggest college game of the year, with NYU facing CCNY (both teams were undefeated), 9 of the 10 starters were Jewish. How cool is that?
After the second World War, in an era when the hoopla of March Madness was as yet inconceivable and pro ball was still a curiosity, a handful of mostly eastern teams would battle in the once prestigious National Invitational Tournament (NIT) at Madison Square Garden in college basketball’s showcase event. NIT championship games, up until the ’50s, often included CCNY, LIU or St. John’s, schools that perennially produced some of the best and most innovative basketball in the nation and whose Jewish-laden rosters were the toast of the town. And when local Jewish fans checked their morning papers to find out how the rest of the best had fared, most looked first to see how the “Mighty Mites” of Yeshiva University had done against the other beasts of the east.
Those were the glory days for Jewish basketball, when players were still referred to as cagers (courts used to be ringed with wire or rope mesh to keep play continuous and protect players from abusive fans), when they shot and passed with two hands and when dunks were reserved for doughnuts—under the old rules, touching the rim was illegal. Sixty years before Air Jordans, $3 could get you a pair of black high-top Chuck Taylor All-Stars (and a hamburger and Coke for lunch), shorts were, well, short, and cheerleaders wore letter sweaters and ankle socks. Fans waved pennants, not Styrofoam fingers. Yes, it was a time when stars with names like Heyman, Schectman and Schayes pounded the hardwood, and the Jewish players were truly kings of the court.
By the late 1940s the heyday of the Jewish basketball star had diminished for a variety of cultural and demographic reasons, including a mass migration of middle-class Jews to the suburbs. The crushing blow was probably the point shaving scandal that rocked college basketball after the 1950 season. That many of the culprits were players from CCNY and NYU (who accepted money from gamblers to lose games on purpose or win games but by less than the point spread) proved to be a death knell for New York City college ball. But for what the game is now, we pay homage to its past with Chutzpah’s guide to Jewish basketball, A to Z.

By Len Canter

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The game of basketball was invented in 1891 by a minister, James Naismith, who believed that it would promote “muscular Christianity.” That game would be unrecognizable today with its peach baskets, players passing the ball but never dribbling (a minor adjustment never envisioned by Naismith) and final scores like 5-4. It wasn’t until Jewish immigrants at the turn of the 20th century adopted the “ultimate city game”—and over the course of a few decades, from the ’20s to the ’50s, added innovations in play and strategy—that it went from one requiring brute strength to one that stressed skill and strategy. In their hands, basketball, first conceived as a simple, easy to play (but hard to master) game, became the crossover dribbling, three-point bombing sport that it is today.
Contrary to cultural stereotypes, early in the 20th century, most Jewish kids played basketball and played it well. The old schoolyard cliché that “any Jew great at sports was probably adopted” didn’t hold water. Those of us compelled to debunk the notion of Jews “without game” need look no further than the game of the ghettos during that golden era, when the sport was indeed considered the “Jewish game.” Because basketball requires very little in equipment at its bare root level, ghetto kids could improvise with makeshift paper balls shot through the lowest rung of the fire escape (backboards were unheard of). Leagues sponsored by YMHAs, yeshivas and synagogues flourished—in addition to the benefit of keeping kids off the corner and out of trouble, rabbis also realized that these teams served a greater purpose by ensuring that kids kept willingly coming back to shul.
Almost all Jewish neighborhoods had their own teams, rivalries were in fact fierce, and there was no question that the best ball in the era was played in New York and Philadelphia, the cities with the largest Jewish populations. For the chosen few, proficiency in shooting the rock could land one a college scholarship (often the only way a poor Jew could hope to attend) and provide a portal into middle class America. College basketball was one area of life where Jews were rarely denied the right to participate, certainly not the case in many other sports. Not surprisingly, many players stayed local, creating an era of elite college teams like City College of New York (CCNY), Long Island University (LIU), New York University and Temple. After a good college career, Jewish players on early semi-pro fives could earn as much as $5 a game, a veritable fortune back then.
During this era, so-called “Jew Ball” evolved—what was first used as a slur or, at best, a backhanded compliment, the term came to define the style of play that was later lauded as the “thinking man’s” game. Incorporating defense and constant motion with the aim of hitting the open man, it was the antithesis of the foul-plagued “football style” offense that prevailed in the early days. Indeed it was a style crucial to the later success of the college and pro game, and one that seminal coaches like Nat Holman and later his protégé Red Holzman, and later on his protégé Phil Jackson, would refine to perfection. Why, if that guy Naismith hadn’t come up with a few now-antiquated rules himself, you could almost say Jews invented modern basketball.
Just as stereotypes unfairly label today’s black players, many were foisted on the Jewish players in the ’20s and ’30s. Jew Ball provided an easy mark for journalists like Paul Gallico, the eminent sports editor of the NY Daily News who expressed the goy “excuse” in a 1930s column, stating that “the reason that basketball appeals to Hebrews is that the game places a premium on an alert scheming mind, flashy trickiness, artful dodging and general smart-aleckness.” Players who lost to all-Jewish teams whined that the shorter Jews had “God-given better balance and speed.” Genetic advantage or not, the fact is that in 1930, in the biggest college game of the year, with NYU facing CCNY (both teams were undefeated), 9 of the 10 starters were Jewish. How cool is that?
After the second World War, in an era when the hoopla of March Madness was as yet inconceivable and pro ball was still a curiosity, a handful of mostly eastern teams would battle in the once prestigious National Invitational Tournament (NIT) at Madison Square Garden in college basketball’s showcase event. NIT championship games, up until the ’50s, often included CCNY, LIU or St. John’s, schools that perennially produced some of the best and most innovative basketball in the nation and whose Jewish-laden rosters were the toast of the town. And when local Jewish fans checked their morning papers to find out how the rest of the best had fared, most looked first to see how the “Mighty Mites” of Yeshiva University had done against the other beasts of the east.
Those were the glory days for Jewish basketball, when players were still referred to as cagers (courts used to be ringed with wire or rope mesh to keep play continuous and protect players from abusive fans), when they shot and passed with two hands and when dunks were reserved for doughnuts—under the old rules, touching the rim was illegal. Sixty years before Air Jordans, $3 could get you a pair of black high-top Chuck Taylor All-Stars (and a hamburger and Coke for lunch), shorts were, well, short, and cheerleaders wore letter sweaters and ankle socks. Fans waved pennants, not Styrofoam fingers. Yes, it was a time when stars with names like Heyman, Schectman and Schayes pounded the hardwood, and the Jewish players were truly kings of the court.
By the late 1940s the heyday of the Jewish basketball star had diminished for a variety of cultural and demographic reasons, including a mass migration of middle-class Jews to the suburbs. The crushing blow was probably the point shaving scandal that rocked college basketball after the 1950 season. That many of the culprits were players from CCNY and NYU (who accepted money from gamblers to lose games on purpose or win games but by less than the point spread) proved to be a death knell for New York City college ball. But for what the game is now, we pay homage to its past with Chutzpah’s guide to Jewish basketball, A to Z.

By Len Canter

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The game of basketball was invented in 1891 by a minister, James Naismith, who believed that it would promote “muscular Christianity.” That game would be unrecognizable today with its peach baskets, players passing the ball but never dribbling (a minor adjustment never envisioned by Naismith) and final scores like 5-4. It wasn’t until Jewish immigrants [...]

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The game of basketball was invented in 1891 by a minister, James Naismith, who believed that it would promote “muscular Christianity.” That game would be unrecognizable today with its peach baskets, players passing the ball but never dribbling (a minor adjustment never envisioned by Naismith) and final scores like 5-4. It wasn’t until Jewish immigrants [...]

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If you live in NYC you had the opportunity to taste a French macaron (as they say it) free on French Macaron Day, initiated here on Sunday March 20 by Francois Payard, one of the foremost émigré chocolatiers from the motherland. In a world where a single one of these cookies costs between $2 and $5 (and they are nowhere more overpriced than at Maison du Chocolat, albeit a bastion of silken ganache and other treats, but still…), it seemed almost worth the drive in from my hinterlands in CT…until I remembered that gas is $4 a gallon and a round trip is about 7 gallons, best case scenario.

Just to show you how reality can never keep pace with trendy, macarons are already considered passé in some dessert circles. But still many people haven’t heard of, much less tasted a macaron, so it’s understandable that the New York Times would announce the freebie in the food section last Wednesday and then report on the events in today’s paper. The reporter even took the time to explain that a macaron is not a macaroon as in Passover coconut cookie macaroon. HOWEVER, I have two salient points to make. 1. One “o” or two, these are perfect for Passover because almonds substitute for flour the same way coconut does and 2. We are privileged to include Joan Nathan’s recipes for a variety of flavors here and in the new issue of Chutzpah.

Like the chocolate-covered ganache Chanukah gelt we brought you in our last issue, you can make this on your own. Don’t worry about the cracks the Times warns of. Having had the original at Laduree in Paris and those at Pierre Herme and other Jean-come lately’s, I can assure you that yours will melt in your mouth as easily as theirs. Of course, you haven’t really lived until you’ve sat down and eaten an entire box (as I typically do after begging any family member and friend who visits Paris to bring them back to me). If you’ve got the money for shipping, you can now get them from Florian Bellanger’s madmacnyc.com, he of Fauchon in Paris, Le Bernardin in NYC and most recently Cupcake Wars. And they’re reasonably priced. Don’t scoff at the rose flavor until you try it. Sublime!

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If you live in NYC you had the opportunity to taste a French macaron (as they say it) free on French Macaron Day, initiated here on Sunday March 20 by Francois Payard, one of the foremost émigré chocolatiers from the motherland. In a world where a single one of these cookies costs between $2 and $5 (and they are nowhere more overpriced than at Maison du Chocolat, albeit a bastion of silken ganache and other treats, but still…), it seemed almost worth the drive in from my hinterlands in CT…until I remembered that gas is $4 a gallon and a round trip is about 7 gallons, best case scenario.

Just to show you how reality can never keep pace with trendy, macarons are already considered passé in some dessert circles. But still many people haven’t heard of, much less tasted a macaron, so it’s understandable that the New York Times would announce the freebie in the food section last Wednesday and then report on the events in today’s paper. The reporter even took the time to explain that a macaron is not a macaroon as in Passover coconut cookie macaroon. HOWEVER, I have two salient points to make. 1. One “o” or two, these are perfect for Passover because almonds substitute for flour the same way coconut does and 2. We are privileged to include Joan Nathan’s recipes for a variety of flavors here and in the new issue of Chutzpah.

Like the chocolate-covered ganache Chanukah gelt we brought you in our last issue, you can make this on your own. Don’t worry about the cracks the Times warns of. Having had the original at Laduree in Paris and those at Pierre Herme and other Jean-come lately’s, I can assure you that yours will melt in your mouth as easily as theirs. Of course, you haven’t really lived until you’ve sat down and eaten an entire box (as I typically do after begging any family member and friend who visits Paris to bring them back to me). If you’ve got the money for shipping, you can now get them from Florian Bellanger’s madmacnyc.com, he of Fauchon in Paris, Le Bernardin in NYC and most recently Cupcake Wars. And they’re reasonably priced. Don’t scoff at the rose flavor until you try it. Sublime!

Start uga_filter:

If you live in NYC you had the opportunity to taste a French macaron (as they say it) free on French Macaron Day, initiated here on Sunday March 20 by Francois Payard, one of the foremost émigré chocolatiers from the motherland. In a world where a single one of these cookies costs between $2 and [...]

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If you live in NYC you had the opportunity to taste a French macaron (as they say it) free on French Macaron Day, initiated here on Sunday March 20 by Francois Payard, one of the foremost émigré chocolatiers from the motherland. In a world where a single one of these cookies costs between $2 and [...]

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'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level 0 Ending uga_track_user: 1 Start uga_get_option: account_id uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: account_id (UA-15887648-1) Ending uga_get_tracker: Start uga_insert_html_once: footer, Footer hooked: HTML inserted: Location is FOOTER Inserting HTML End uga_insert_html Ending uga_wp_footer_track: Start uga_shutdown Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level 0 Ending uga_track_user: 1 Footer hook was executed Start uga_get_option: footer_hooked uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: footer_hooked (1) Start uga_get_option: debug uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: debug (1) -->