NJOP Director Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald speaks this week on a very difficult topic: The guilt that we feel sometimes when we didn't really do anything wrong. For example, when you are riding your bike and a child darts out in front of you and the child is injured. It isn't the bike riders fault, but they still feel guilty. This is similar to the story of Steve Bartman. Steve Bartman is the man famous for reaching for a foul ball during a 2003 Chicago Cubs playoff game and tipping it away from the Cubs' outfielder. Some thought that error cost the Cubs a chance at the World Series. Steve Bartman became a pariah. He had to be escorted out of the stadium for his safety. For 14 years he was held accountable for that loss. This year the Cubs won the World Series after a 108 year drought and the franchise decided to make amends and give Steve a World Series ring as a way to redeem what he was put through for the last 14 years. It reminds us that baseball is just a game, but what happened in 2003 affected a person's life. The guilt that we feel sometimes when we aren't really responsible, when we did what any normal person would have done, can still become something we live with for the rest of our lives. Hopefully that is healthy guilt that makes us stronger and better and reminds us to be more careful in times to come. Mazel Tov to Steve Bartman on receiving this prestigious honor.

Mazel tov to Chicago Jews!

It has been announced that finally, after all these years, a kosher stand will be opening at Wrigley Field, making kosher food available during Cubs games.

The stand, called DanZtand, will sell Romanian hot dogs, Romanian sausages and super pretzels. It will be operated by Danziger Kosher Midwest Catering and will be supervised by the CRC.
source: Dan's Deals 

awesome! After all these years... mazel tov! Enjoy! and #GoCubsGo

Maybe in the merit of offering kosher food opportunities t the Jewish fans (and anyone else who wants to enjoy), the Cubs will play better in the second half of the season...

Outside of Wrigley Field, a Hasidic Jew tried to wrap me in tefillin. "It's for the Cubs!" he said. "They need every blessing they can get."

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 13, 2015

yes, Bet Shemesh had snow...



this year is our year!

Shofar Flash Mob At Wrigley Field



If there was one place I would expect a shofar flash mob to happen, it would not be at Wrigley Field. Maybe it was an attempt at an exorcism of the Billy Goat curse on the Cubs. That means next year is our year!

From his mouth to Mashiach's ears!

Lou Piniella is gone. He has announced that at the end of the season he will be retiring from coaching the Chicago Cubs.

That means the job of manager is up for grabs. There have been a lot of names thrown about already... Here is my vote.

I say give Ryne Sandberg the job.

Ryno is one of the most popular choices, but probably the least likely of the choices. He is most popular because he is a popular figure in Chicago baseball. he represents playing the game how it should be played. He was a great player and the fans love him, and naturally want him as coach.

I have a different reason. In addition to that reason, that is.

Ryne Sandberg has been working his butt off to get an opportunity. Some guys with big names just come in, cash in no their name, and land big jobs very quickly. Whether or not they are any god.

Ryno has not done that. He was going to work his way up and learn the system from the bottom up. Ryno has spent 4 years working his way through the minor league system, with relative success.

He has shown dedication to the team, he knows the game, he knows the Cubs, and he has worked hard to put himself in position for this.

True, he has no big league experience, but you can only get that experience one way - by being given the job.

It is time for Ryne Sandberg to be brought up and given a shot at managing the Chicago Cubs.

Not just next year. I say give him the reigns right now. Let him get his feet wet right now, even if just as an assistant to Lou, since this season is basically done with anyway.

Ryno has worked hard, and it is time to move him up. This was the eventual goal anyway. Now is a perfect opportunity.

The Cubs have brought in big name managers the past few times they needed to fill the job, and those guys all failed, mostly miserably. Saying Ryno does not have enough experience is meaningless at this point for the Cubs - the guys with experience have not done anything successful, so it is time to try something new.

I vote Ryne Sandberg for Manager of the Cubs.

The Cubs got the go-ahead Wednesday to hold a nighttime concert at Wrigley Field on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, but they’ll bend over backwards to minimize conflict.

Mike Lufrano, Cubs senior vice-president of community affairs, said the time of the Saturday, Sept. 18 concert — by either the Dave Matthews Band, Paul McCartney or Phish — will be pushed back until after sundown, when Yom Kippur ends.

Because the Sept. 17 concert coincides with Kol Nidre, the start of Yom Kippur, the Cubs have reached out to all three synagogues in the area: Anshe Emet, 3751 N. Broadway; Anshe Sholom, 540 W. Melrose and Temple Sholom, 3480 N. Lake Shore Drive.

“It’s really parking that they’re most concerned about. You won’t hear it because they’re far enough away. But, it’s fans coming to hear the concert at the same time people are going to worship,” said Lufrano, who is Jewish and plans to miss his first Wrigley concert to celebrate the holiday.

It is nice of them to be sensitive like this, but I find it totally unnecessary and even ridiculous. They can't have their party because the Jews have to go to synagogue and need parking spaces?

At least the article doesn't say the Jews demanded it. This is simply a public relations move on the part of Wrigley management.

Sorry for the digression, but "the Hawk", Andre Dawson, deserves a big mazel tov. Dawson was finally voted in to the Hall of Fame, his 9th time being on the ballot.

In todays era of the long ball, his home run stats don't measure up, but in his day he was one of the best. He was a classy player, and a leader, and he earned this election.

These are the types of people Tzippi Livni's top aide called "Tchach-tchachim" the other day.

They were on my train home last night from Tel Aviv. I always get to know when there is a Beitar Yerushalayim football (soccer) game, because their fans come from all over the country. They pile into the trains and buses by the hundreds and make their aliya la'regel to Jerusalem's Teddy Stadium for the game. They sing the team songs, they cheer and scream, they taunt people, and this is all before the train has even left the first station!

I had the pleasure of sitting on the train last night with my friend Shlomo. Us both being from Chicago, and being Cubs fans, it led to a humurous conversation about the Beitar fans.

We came to the conclusion that Beitar fans are similar to Cubs fans. The Cubs are unusual in the sense that they attract fans from all over the United States, especially from states that do not field their own team. Beitar jerusalem also has a tremendous fan base all over Israel, and not just limited to Jerusalem, the teams home city.

While studies have been conducted to determine why the Cubs have such appeal, I am not aware of any such studies into the makeup of the Beitar fan.

(Maybe Shlomo will comment and remind me of some of the other comparisons we came up with during our ride that are eluding me right now)

It seems though that the Cubs did much better yesterday than Beitar did. While the Cubs won their game 5-0 on the back of a Big Z no-no, Beitar played to a score of a no-no closing with a tie at 0-0.
Such a low scoring game in baseball would be sold off as a great pitching duel and still be exciting to watch. The Beitar game is being sold off as lackluster, mediocre and a disappointment.

While the Bear from the North, Russia, has been beating up on the Georgians, the baby bears, the Cubs, are hopefully going to be beating up on some other Georgians, the Braves, later today...

Go CUBS Go!!!



(yeah, I know the comparison is crass and insensitive)

And then of course there is Stephen Colbert comparing the Chicago Cubs futility to Iraq...

Thanks to hubscubs, I found the following video... Today is Opening Day for the new MLB season and this, of course, is the Cubs year to finally win it. 100 years of waiting is long enough.

Just a quick thought on the steroid scandal rocking baseball right now with the release of the Mitchell report... out of all the players listed of having taken steroids or suspected of doing so, and there are some pretty big names on the list, Sammy Sosa's name does not appear anywhere..

At the time when Balco broke and everyone was talking about Bonds and McGwire and some others, Sosa's name came up often as having been suspect of taking steroids as well. He could not shake the suspicions at the time because of his home run performance. It kind of dogged him down. Now it turns out he is not on any of the lists...

It still could be he took steroids and just has not yet been found out with enough evidence to get into the report, but this was pretty thorough and if his name is not on the list, his reputation should be cleared..

Some people might owe Sammy an apology for those accusations...though he still used a corked bat (at least in one game)..

With two men on and two outs Aramis strikes out looking. Again. He is still 0 fer playoffs. Get rid of his big fat contract.

CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!

Playoffs! World Series! Here we come!

And the Cubs are involved in yet another brawl in the Friendly Confines....

I think this curse of the Chicago Cubs is getting out of hand.... This is a theory I have never heard before and they are going to try to oust the curse/jinx.

I hope it works.