When Tamir Goodman refused a basketball scholarship because observing Shabbat was more important to him then playing or practising, he attracted a lot of people’s attention. He also drew his share of praise.
That’s exactly what the former Israeli professional basketball player was privy to in Winnipeg recently, where he spoke to Jewish students at the University of Winnipeg.
The one-time member of the Maccabi Haifa team talked about his inspirational journey and pumped up the importance of putting his Jewish values first.
A case in point is Haifa Hoops for Kids, an organization he is devoted to which raises money for underprivileged youth in Israel to play ball and go to games.
A standout player at his religious junior high school, Goodman was dubbed the ‘Jewish Jordan’ and became internationally famous when he turned down a full scholarship to play for the University of Maryland.
He later accepted a similar offer from Towson University because they reworked their schedule to accommodate his religious observance.
Later, Goodman played professionally in Israel before retiring last year.
Charitable causes and inspirational appearances are where Goodman is now the star player.
After last summer’s Maccabiah games softball and baseball tournaments were delayed two days, a couple of Canadians are looking at the possibility of building a new sports facility in Israel.
Morrie Frydberg and Lorne Swartz would like to see a new, permanent facility in the Holy Land, to host the softball and hardball events at future Maccabiah Games events. Frydberg was frustrated at the 2009 Games when Maccabiah organizers rented space from the Baptist Village in Petach Tikvah. The games were stopped by local officials because the host village didn’t have the right permits for a large-scale event. That meant teams sat around idly for a few days waiting for the red tape to turn green. The fields don’t have an outfield fence and renting one is expensive for a short tournament. Frydberg says a new facility would create a venue for the Maccabiah and future competitions, and enable the sport to develop among Israeli youth.
The two Canadians are collaborating with Israeli partners in this venture, looking at leasing land near Tel Aviv or northern Israel, or purchasing property near the Baptist Village. The estimated cost is US $1 million for landscaping two fields, constructing a facility with change rooms, snack bar, offices and storage, and building spectators’ stands.
Funds for the project will be raised in Canada, the US and Britain.
As a kid who grew up in Canada with natural gas heating, cooking and a natural gas clothes dryer, it’s great news to see that a Canadian company, the Bontan Oil and Gas Company, based in Toronto, has found what could be up to $6 billion dollars worth of natural gas off the coast of Israel. This could mean even cleaner energy for Israel which has no formal diplomatic relations with its Arab neighbours who own oil.
The Jerusalem Post reports that the Canadian company had been exploring for natural gas off the coast of Israel, and announced yesterday that it had located what appears to be up to 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas off Israel’s coast in two separate sites.
Worth up to $6 billion, a press release on the company’s website announced that it “will have an indirect 71.625% interest in these prospects via its 75% equity interest in the Israel Petroleum Company which has acquired a 95.5% interest in the drilling licenses as well as an adjoining exploration permit from the current operator subject to approval by the Government of Israel.”
The two gas fields called the “Mira” and “Sarah” prospects are located just south of the Tamar and Dalit gas fields, where Delek Group Ltd and its partners, Noble Energy Inc, Isramco Ltd, and more located natural gas fields last year, with an estimated worth up to $40 billion. The new finds are in adjoining 154-square mile blocks found 50-100 kilometers from the Netanya-Hadera coast. The above picture illustrates where the original fields found last year are located.
The Chapman Petroleum Engineering company conducted a survey and this is what they found: “Based on our analysis, after consideration of risk, we have concluded that the potential of these prospects is of sufficient merit to justify the work program being proposed, and we therefore recommend and support the Company’s participation.”
If you’re in Vancouver and in the mood for a glass of good vino, you won’t have to look too hard to find it. Thanks to the hard work of International Cellars Inc., which represents Galil Mountain, Dalton Wines and Golan Heights Winery (the latter better known under their Yarden label), Israeli wines are now available in local liquor stores and in a handful of restaurants including Cactus Club, Gastown’s PourHouse and Kerrisdale’s Senova.
“We’ve been working with Israeli wine for the past two years and we’ve been very persistent,” says Normal Gladstone, company director. “Having these wines listed in restaurants doesn’t happen overnight - you have to keep at it until you finally make some progress. It takes time and exposure,” he reflects.
The restaurant listings occurred simply because Israeli wine is very good, Gladstone says. “The Galil Mountain pinot noir is very good, and when we presented it to Cactus Club they accepted it on its own merits.”
Based in Vancouver, International Cellars imports and markets wines from 12 countries. Israeli wines represent less than 1 percent of the company’s volume, and Gladstone only began marketing Israeli wines after being approached by the British Columbia liquor distribution branch.
“They said they had a need and some interest in listing Israeli wines for a special Israel section in their liquor stores,” he recalls. “It was exciting and interesting to us that they were willing to create an Israel section, as opposed to a kosher section.”
The challenge when it comes to Israeli wines is not just achieving exposure but also one of price.
“It would be nice to find Israeli wines with lower prices than what we have now,” Gladstone reflects.
The cost per bottle ranges between $18 and $40 today, mainly because Israel is a high-cost producer and doesn’t have large tracts of vineyards. That, coupled with the dollar-to-shekel exchange rate and the expensive cost of importing the wine across the ocean accounts for the relatively high price tag, Gladstone says.
He’s hopeful for the future of Israeli wine in Canada, though he says there’s much work to be done.
“Israel has a seat at the international wine table, but it’s at the end of the table,” he says. “It’s going to take a huge effort on our part as importers, and on the part of the Israeli trade commission to establish Israel as a wine entity. For now, the country is fighting for market share against well established countries like Italy, France and Spain - tough competitors.”
Canada's Ambassador to Israel drops the puck at the official faceoff for the Roger Nielson Recreational Hockey Tournament at the Canada Centre in Metulla. From left to right: Bob Wener, captain of the Ottawa team, Paul Henderson, Ambassador Jon Allen, Darryl Sittler, Joe Bazes, captain of one of the Israeli teams. Photo Credit: Nim Gluckman worldview.co.il
What was better, them visiting or us hosting?
An impossible call since we were in hockey heaven with two of the greatest hockey icons of the Maple Leafs, and even Montreal and Edmonton fans look at Henderson as a national treausre.
So it’s an easy call to make - ice hockey and Canada-Israel relations were the winners.
There is no doubt that all Israelis who met Paul Henderson and Darryl Sittler during their visit here were impressed. How couldn’t you be?
These two mensches (not Hebrew, but a Yiddish term meaning an upright and exemplary person) exemplify everything that is great about hockey and Canada. They were attentive to stories and questions. They were patient posing and signing and posing and signing. They were graceful. They were dignified. They were charitable. They shared with one and all, and everybody who met them came away impressed.
Those immigrants from Canada and ex-pat Canucks who work in the Holy Land were more than impressed… we were awestruck.
HENDERSON AND SITTLER WERE HERE!
Wow.
They watched the 72 Summit Series and 76 Canada Cup highlights with us. They shared their thoughts on what transpired, and what their lives have been like.
They’ve been out of uniform for decades, but they’re still superstars.
Henderson and his wife Eleanor said they’ve traveled to 55 countries, but there was always a scheduling conflict when they wanted to join groups going to Israel.
Henderson, a devoutly religious Christian had high expectations since he “knows the bible like the back of my hand.”
He said the trip for him was the best he’s ever taken.
I’m not going to edit… here’s exactly what he said: “I was absolutely blown away. I’m such an idiot why I waited so long to get to the Holy Land. It was so educational and very emotional too.”
Darryl Sittler and his wife Luba were both ecstatic. His long golden curls are now shorter and grey, but Sittler still has the commanding presence of the team captain responsible to the millions of fans who want the Leafs to finally win the Cup again.
“You hear about Israel and the political problems that go on the Middle East and it’s kind of there, but when you’re visiting here you understand the complexity of it,” Sittler said.
The Sittlers had the standard worries about security and a land they identified only with news headlines. But they checked with friends who told them that if they had the opportunity they should go.
After a week of hockey and holy sites, Sittler was adamant. “If people ask me - is it a worthwhile trip to go on? In a heartbeat,” was his answer.
Hockey tournaments are great, and we finished off the week in a great Canadian hockey way: having some beers in a pub watching the Habs-Senators game live on a big screen. It was Hockey Day in Canada last week and CBC was there not just at the tournament, but at the Dancing Camel Brewery in Tel Aviv where players, fans, the Sittlers and Hendersons and Canada’s Ambassador Jon Allen and his better half Clara came to celebrate hockey in the Holy Land.
Tournament organizer Danny Spodek summed it up perfectly: “Hockey is simply a great way to promote relations between Canada and Israel.”
Oh and here’s a video of TSN’s Rod Black, who also attended the tournament:
She’s been an artist for 50 years but it wasn’t until the last decade that Joy Caros began painting the portraits of the Israeli presidents and prime ministers. Last month she donated them to the Canadian Friends of Hebrew University, and those portraits, which arrived in Israel a couple of weeks ago, will soon be on permanent display in the Knesset.
Caros couldn’t be happier. “This is the ultimate honour for me,” she said in an interview in Vancouver. “All the dignitaries that visit Israel will see the portraits of the men who made Israel, and that’s important. Israel needs to have its prime ministers up there on the government walls, signifying that this is a valid country. That’s what this collection stands for.”<
Caros and her husband, James Rawlings, are strong supporters of Israel. “We believe G-d gave that land to the Jewish people and it should stay that way,” Rawlings says. Caros agrees: “I think Netanyahu is awesome and I’m anxious to meet him,” she says. “I think he’s the best thing that happened to Israel, and he’ll fight for the land.”
Caros may have an opportunity to meet Netanyahu when she travels to Israel in May 2010 and is honoured at an event held by Canadian Friends of Hebrew University. To date she has painted 18 portraits for Israel and still has another three to go. Each one takes approximately a month to complete and the portraits were independently valued at $9,500 each by the Petley-Jones Gallery in Vancouver.
The portraits were created as a gift for Israel, the majority of them completed between 1998 and 2000, Carols said. “I felt this was something I could do for Israel, because they didn’t have portraits of their prime ministers and presidents like most countries do,” she explains. “My husband and I are Zionists and we love Israel, so I thought, let me do this as a gift to the country.”
>Jews have helped her throughout her career, Caros added. Stanley Kramer commissioned her to paint the characters of the film “It’s a Mad, Mad World” in the 1960s and in Vancouver she has worked closely with Joseph Cohen of Sony, as well as families including the Segals, Wosks, Adlers and Malicks. She’s done portraiture for Hollywood Stars like Spencer Tracy, Jonathan Winters and Sammy Davis and is presently doing a series on the chefs of Vancouver.
Born in Trail, BC and mother to seven children, Carols started out sketching pastel portraits of Vancouver diners while they waited for their tables. Her work has taken her all over the world and she lived in California, the Caribbean, Italy, Switzerland, Holland, France and Israel before returning to Vancouver to be closer to her 18 grandchildren.
Still, this octogenarian is eager to keep at her art and plans to continue painting and travelling in the years to come. “Nowadays more and more people want portraits because an artist can breathe life into a portrait and make the subject more alive than photography can,” she says. “I’ve met some wonderful people all over the world doing this,” she adds. “The bible says your talent will put you before kings, and that is what’s happened.”
There are a hundred ways to rank the success of a hockey tournament, but you’d have a hard time finding a more amazing set of circumstances that what we have this week in Israel.
Israel Recreational Hockey Tournament Opening Ceremonies. From left to right: Canadian hockey icons Darryl Sittler and Paul Henderson, IRHA President Danny Spodek, and Canada's ambassador to Israel Jon Allen. Photo by: Nim Gluckman www.worldview.co.il
The 4th annual Israel Recreational Hockey Tournament started today. It’s only three days long with six teams, but with two days of play still to go I haven’t found a single player who cares that his or her team lost or won today’s games. This is one of those tournaments that just playing in it is a personal victory. The experience and excitement of being here overwhelm any competitive lust for victories, goals, assists, saves and statistics.
For starters, the guys and gals (there are several) are playing in an international tournament in the Holy Land. How many of you can lay claim to having traveled to the Middle East to play hockey?
Then, the guests of honour are Paul Henderson and Darryl Sittler. Even you’re from Montreal, these two outstanding hockey icons are a national treasure. Both of them scored winning goals for Team Canada in historic hockey tournaments: Henderson in 1972 against the USSR and Sittler in the 1976 Canada Cup against the top hockey countries of that time.
Canada’s Ambassador to Israel, Jon Allen, was flanked by Henderson and Sittler as he dropped the puck for the official faceoff. The national anthems of the three participating countries were sung, and the hats, shirts, tote bags and other memorabilia will be conversation pieces for years to come.
Six teams from Canada, the USA and Israel are battling for, well, for what? For the ultimate pleasure of traveling half way around the world to an international tournament in the Holy Land.
How many people get to do that? (Well heck, keep an eye out for registration dates for the 2011 tournament!).
The tournament opened today with two teams from Canada (Ottawa and Toronto), one from the USA, and three from Israel. Players range in age from 17 to 70 and include high school kids and a goalie grandmother. There’s even a father-mother-son combo on one of the teams. No body checks, no slap shots. Lots of skating and lots of fun.
Sitting beside Henderson and Sittler in the stands was, well, when I think of hockey greats of my generation these two names are among the top of the list.
It’s not often that you get to lace ‘em up on a road trip. It’s even rarer that you can do it in a different country and in the presence of two outstanding ambassadors of Canada’s great game.
I’ve alwasy been impressed with NHL stars who continue to represent hockey in their retirement. They are involved in their communities, they support charities of all sorts, they tirelessly sign autographs, pose for pictures, and answer the same questions hundreds of times. With grace. With presence. With humility. And with a smile that is genuine.
As great as they are on the screen and in the newspaper, I think they’re even greater in real life.
Oh yea, the Toronto team had two wins on the opening day over the Americans and one of the Israeli teams, and are tied for first place with the Ottawa team and the Israel green team (tournament sweaters in different colours: red, black and green for Israel, Toronto is yellow (or as their team says “gold”), and the USA is blue).
Paul Henderson is probably the most famous Canadian hockey personality of the 20th century.
And even more so for the Jews.
A year before the historic 1972 Canada-USSR hockey summit, I remember when the entire Jewish community of Toronto marched against the visit of the Soviet foreign minister (Kosygin, for you history buffs). We were protesting the Soviets treatment of Jews - banning our brethren from religious learning, jailing people for teaching the Hebrew language, and stripping people of their jobs for having the temerity to ask to go to Israel.
For Canadians who were oh, say 5 years old and above in 1972, the series was probably Canada’s historic pinnacle of the second half of the 20th century.
If you’re younger than 38, then it may really be difficult to conceive that back then, this thing called the Soviet Union was a threat to the democratic free world - with nuclear war constantly in the back of everybody’s mind.
In the world of sports back then, NHL players were barred from participating in the Olympics, but the commie “amateurs” from the USSR weren’t. Why? Because according to the Soviets they were simply doing their national service on the Red Army hockey team, and didn’t get a salary to play hockey - but rather to serve in the army. Everybody knew that they didn’t do any soldiering and hockey was their job, but the International Olympic Committee swallowed that phony baloney hook, line and sinker. And the Russians won the hockey gold medal every four years because our best weren’t allowed to play.
It may also be hard to imagine what it was like living with the threat of the Soviet empire - where freedom was squashed, dissent forbidden, choice non-existent. It’s an important part of history for Canadians and I hope they’re teaching it.
To the chagrin of all Canucks, the Soviets kept claiming hockey supremacy, so this series was indeed La Serie du Siecle - The Series of the Century. It was the opportunity Canadians had wanted: head to head our all-stars against theirs. And we Jews already had it out for the Soviets for decades. Many of us had family held as prisoners in the tyranny of Soviet communism. And we weren’t alone in 1971 as Canadians of Hungarian and Ukrainian origin and many others also came out to protest.
The series in 1972 was it. The moment of truth. The opportunity for the Great White North to kick some Soviet butt and show the commies that we were (and still are) the best hockey nation on the planet. That a democratic and free Canada could produce a better team than the scary communist robots of the Soviet Union who never smiled, never cheered, and looked like they feared being sent to Siberia if they screwed up on the ice.
And when it finally started? Wow, it was an awful awakening to a nightmare reality. After a quick two goals by Canada in the first minutes of the first game in Montreal, the Soviets stormed back, dominated, and won the that first encounter 7-3. We were in shock. We weren’t sure if we could recover. (Well, ok, fast forward and you know that we did.)
After four games in Canada with the Soviets ahead on 2 wins, a tie and a loss, the series moved to the USSR for the final four games.
What happened was that the closer the series got to reaching its final climax, the more the entire country was paralyzed from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island. It was the only story in the news. It was the only thing being talked about by everybody everywhere - newspapers, tv, radio.
It didn’t matter if you had never seen a game in your life - this was us against them, good against evil, freedom against tyranny. My mother and older brother made the trip to the USSR along with 3,000 other Canadians. The colourful clothing of the screaming, singing, cheering Canadians stood out madly in a sea of drab black and brown clothed Soviet fans at the Luzhniki arena in Moscow. The Canadians shouted themselves hoarse, sang, waved their flags, and sounded like they were 30,000 fans while the Soviets sat stoic and muted, waking only to either yelled “shaiba!” (puck) or whistle shrilly (their form of booing) interspersed with some polite applause.
Henderson scored the winner in games 6 and 7, and by the time the climactic game 8 was upon us - the entire country simply shut down. There series was tied. The tension across the country was almost overpowering as Canadians crowded around TV sets. The evening games in the USSR meant it was morning in Canada. Schools were only open so kids could watch the game, and offices and factories were either deserted or everybody stay glued to the screen.
The streets were so empty, there were reports afterward that crime was almost zero since the crooks were home watching the game too. As the clock ticked down, the score was tied in the final minute, and a tie was simply not good enough - we needed to win. A tie was as good as a loss. Simply out of the question.
Henderson played with such drive, intensity and determination that fate reached out with 34 seconds left in the game, touched Henderson for the third straight game and he fired home the winner.
The country erupted in united jubilation. It was stunning. It was astounding. It was a unique event in Canadian history that happened once and I doubt the circumstances will ever arise in the same way to unite the country as it did.
The team stopped in Montreal for a tumultuous reception, then Team Canada got back on the plane to Toronto. The welcome home reception at City Hall was held at night in a freezing torrential downpour. Tens of thousands of people simply stood there in Nathan Philips Square and got drenched. Nobody moved to shelter, nobody went home, since they were too bush wildly cheering Team Canada on the stage (who themselves were also drenched).
We had won. The USSR eventually disintegrated (but not before the Yanks won the miracle gold medal at the Olympics). For those of us Canadians who were around in 1972, the victory remains central to our memories of what Canada is and represents.
Four years later in 1976, the first Canada Cup was held pitting the stars of the world’s top hockey nations against each other for the first time. Canada hosted Czechoslovakia, Finland, Sweden, the USA and the USSR. Again, our reputation as the world’s best was on the line. Again, it was the first time our top professional players played the all stars from the world’s premier hockey nations. And again, we prevailed - this time with another Maple Leaf, Darryl Sittler, scoring the winner. Earlier that same year, the class-act Leaf captain put his name in the record books with an amazing 6-goal, 4-assist game - the most points ever in a single NHL game.
So now that I’ve come to the end of this important lesson in Canadian history you are very lucky - there will be no test and no final exam. Go watch videos of the two series and enjoy the intensity, the passion, and the top caliber hockey.
Thirty-eight years after the ‘72 series I look back at myself, just another high-school student who thumbed my nose at the stern announcement that it was absolutely positively forbidden to bring a radio to class to listen to the Canada-USSR games. Heck, at least half the guys in my class at Vaughan Road Collegiate in Toronto figured they’d never get detention, since half the school had radios in their pockets and earphone wires running under their shirts that week in 1972.
But this week in 2010, Henderson and Sittler are here in the Holy Land with us for our annual international recreational tournament. It’s their first visit to the Holy Land and I’m betting they and their wives are going to be more excited to be here than we are to be hosting them. These two guys were my childhood heroes and wow, they’re now here visiting us.
It is with great pride and admiration that the Israel Recreational Hockey Association welcomes the Hendersons and Sittlers to Israel. They are excellent ambassadors of Canada and we hope they will return as ambassadors of good will.
It’s an ancient and holy tongue that’s spoken by millions in Israel and it’s becoming ever more popular in Canada.
Hebrew’s expanding use as both a spoken and written language in Canada is obviously a direct result of the growing numbers of Israelis who now call the Great White North home.
But it’s also linked to some clever educational initiatives.
A case in point is Kachol Lavan, a Centre for Hebrew and Israel Studies located just north of Toronto, which offers a self described “unique adult Hebrew language program brought from Israel.”
Starting this coming February 2, teachers at the centre, located at Leo Baeck Day School in Thornhill, will be providing eager adult students with lessons in how to speak, read and write Hebrew.
The students will also learn about the Holy Land.
Classes will be held on Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings.
Kachol Lavan offers a host of other courses and activities in Hebrew, with curriculum including Torah studies, geography and the Jewish holidays.
When there’s no place like home, this Canadian-Israeli clicks her ruby red slippers and heads on over to Puah Cafe in Jaffa. Built with finds from the local flea market (Shuk ha Pish Pisheem), all the items at the cafe are also for sale. This place reminds me of any number of dives, and hangouts I used to visit as a student in Toronto. On Bloor, at the Green Room, or at any hip cafe in Kensington Market. I like that the place invites visitors to buy old furniture, dishes and decor, while munching on a scrumptious chunk of cheesecake just like your grandma might have made. The food is great, the atmosphere unique.
The service isn’t the greatest in town, but it’s a great place to be if you are tourist from Canada, or just happen to be stationed here in the Middle East for a few months or more. There are good vegetarian options as well.
More on what to do in Jaffa for cheap, over on the Big Falafel blog.
