Dear Friends,
Baseball season is officially underway, and even if you are not a fan of baseball, it is extremely difficult to not to catch Astros Fever. This is especially true for the Jewish community, whose very own, Alex Bregman, just received one of the largest compensation packages ever signed by a Jewish athlete.
As Jews we often share a heightened sense of pride when a Jew succeeds at the highest levels of anything, but for some reason, this shared pride is more profoundly felt when the rise to stardom takes place in the field of sports – think of Sandy Koufax, Mark Spitz and Aly Raisman. In part, this is because Jewish sports heroes are so rare (as comically depicted in this scene from the movie, Airplane).
Bregman’s story is all the more special because he is so proud of his Jewish heritage. Folks all over the country have been sending me articles that weave Alex Bregman’s bar mitzvah speech into the storyline. Even at the age of thirteen, Alex knew he wanted to bring goodness into the world through his prowess at the plate.
When I think about the future and how I can make a difference in the world, I want to be able to use my love of the game of baseball to be a good example and a good person,” he said. “I want to be a professional athlete who plays for the love of the game. . . and is a good role model for all of the kids who look up to baseball players.”
Alex Bregman is, certainly, fulfilling the dreams he articulated in his bar mitzvah speech, and in doing so he has expanded the leaflet described in the video clip above. The Houston Jewish community is proud to have him shine as a hero for our city, and as the baseball season unfolds, we will be cheering for him and our beloved Astros for many months to come. GO ASTROS!!!
L’Shalom,
Steve
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