Menschwarmers

On Dec. 10, news broke that the Toronto Blue Jays were trading Jewish first baseman Spencer Horwitz to the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for second baseman Andrés Giménez and right-handed reliever Nick Sandlin. The CJN's sports podcasters, the Menschwarmers, have some mixed feelings about that: on the one hand, Giménez is an elite middle infielder; on the other hand, it's never easy to see your hometown Jewish player leave town. Horwitz—who came on this podcast in March 2023, in between suiting up for Team Israel and his breakout debut with the Jays—started making a name for himself in Toronto, with a .265/.357/.433 slash line, 12 home runs and 40 RBIs in 97 games played during the 2024 season. He was drafted in 2019 but only recently began making a name for himself on the field. And while we recorded today's podcast episode mere hours after Horwitz was traded to Cleveland, it would be another couple hours until Cleveland turned around and traded the Baltimore native to the Pittsburgh Penguins. So you won't hear any reference to that subsequent trade in this episode. But you will hear the Menschwarmers discuss other major Jewish-adjacent deals in the MLB, Timothée Chalamet's surprise appearance on College GameDay, and the Israelis who've secretly raced in the infamous Dakar Rally. Credits Hosts: James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver Producer: Michael Fraiman Music: Coby Lipovitch (intro), chēēZ π (main theme, "Organ Grinder Swing") Support The CJN Follow the podcast on Twitter @menschwarmers Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Menschwarmers (Not sure how? Click here)

Professional women's sports are having a banner year in 2024. The new pro women's hockey league welcomed record-breaking numbers in January; the WNBA has produced bona fide basketball stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese; and now, just last month, news broke that a Women's Pro Baseball League will launch in 2026—and it's being spearheaded by two Jewish industry vets. One is Justine Siegal, who has racked up a Wikipedia page full of "firsts", most prominently as the first female coach hired by an MLB team. She's also coached Israel's national baseball team and founded Baseball For All, an organization that provides opportunities for girls to get involved playing baseball. Her co-founder of the WPBL is Keith Stein, the Canadian owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball club, which plays in Christie Pits. But how exactly does one start a new league from scratch? How will they find the players—and inspire young girls to take up baseball instead of softball? Justine Siegal joins the Menschwarmers for a candid conversation about her goals and challenges in starting the WPBL and shares a bit about what her life was like growing up as a Jewish girl—often mistaken for a boy. And before that interview, the hosts chat about the soccer riots that erupted in Amsterdam last week. Was it a pogrom, simple soccer hooliganism, or something in between? Credits Hosts: James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver Producer: Michael Fraiman Music: Coby Lipovitch (intro), chēēZ π (main theme, "Organ Grinder Swing") Support The CJN Follow the podcast on Twitter @menschwarmers Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Menschwarmers (Not sure how? Click here)

We've just wrapped up one of the most special days in any Jewish sports fan's calendar: no, not Simchat Torah or Yom Kippur, but the so-called "sports equinox", a rare occurrence when all four major American sports leagues host games on the same day. Whether you're rooting for the Dodgers to win the World Series or gearing up for NFL season, yesterday there was something for everyone. The only problem is that there aren't many Jewish connections to baseball or football right now. Basketball, on the other hand, has a surprising handful of Jewish players making a real impact. All-Star Domantas Sabonis is still undergoing a Jewish conversion while playing for the Sacramento Kings; Israeli player Deni Avdija was recently traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, where he's making a big impact as a starter; and recent second-round draft pick Amari Bailey is now with the Long Island Nets, angling to work his way back to the NBA. Plus, there's another Great Jewish Hope on the horizon: an Israeli draft prospect with lottery buzz named Ben Saraf is making waves in Germany. Plus, Gabe and James chat about the unconventional rise of BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff, Max Greyserman's breakout year on the PGA Tourk, and a South African rugby player with perhaps the most diverse name in all of pro sports: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Credits Hosts: James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver Producer: Michael Fraiman Music: Coby Lipovitch (intro), chēēZ π (main theme, "Organ Grinder Swing") Support The CJN Follow the podcast on Twitter @menschwarmers Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Menschwarmers (Not sure how? Click here)

The leaves have begun falling and NHL season is around the corner, so the Menschwarmers are back with a hockey season preview. Will Zach Hyman thrill Edmonton fans with another 50-goal season? With Jack Hughes make the MVP leap? Will the Bruins ever re-sign Jeremy Swayman? We don't have any of these answers, but we have fun asking them. Then, we move from the beginning of one sport season to the end of another. With baseball wrapping up, we look at the postseason picture with Harrison Bader, Alex Bregman and Max Fried all in the mix to make it to the World Series. Credits Hosts: James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver Producer: Michael Fraiman Music: Coby Lipovitch (intro), chēēZ π (main theme, "Organ Grinder Swing") Support The CJN Follow the podcast on Twitter @menschwarmers Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Menschwarmers (Not sure how? Click here)

With the Summer Olympics in the rearview mirror, all eyes are now on the Paralympic Games, spotlighting the world's most impressive athletes with disabilites. Yet few know that it was a Jewish postwar doctor, Ludwig Guttmann, tasked with treating Second World War veterans with spinal cord injuries, who founded a small competition in Britain that would evolve into the modern-day Paralympics. One sports history fan who knows the story well is Alana Schreiber, a journalist with New Orleans Public Radio, vocal advocate for adaptive sports, and former guest on Menschwarmers. she returns to the show to gab with host Gabe Pulver about the Jewish origins and inspiring Jewish athetes who continue the tradition of defying expectations today, including track star Ezra Frech, Canadian boccia phenom Alison Levine, and the eight Israeli athletes who are bringing home medals in swimming, rowing and wheelchair tennis. Also in this episode: Gabe and co-host James chat about the NFL season coming up, Olympic wrestler Amit Elor's fight against online antisemitism, and the anniversary of the Munich massacre. Hear former Canadian Olympian Allan Leibel recall living through the Munich Games in real-time. Credits Hosts: James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver Producer: Michael Fraiman Music: Coby Lipovitch (intro), chēēZ π (main theme, "Organ Grinder Swing") Support The CJN Follow the podcast on Twitter @menschwarmers Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Menschwarmers (Not sure how? Click here)

The Canadian Jewish world erupted with cheers when a young, musclar, mustachioed British Columbian named Ethan Katzberg won a decisive gold medal in hammer throw at the 2024 Paris Olympics. A Katzberg! Named Ethan! Whose father's name is Bernie! Alas, after doing extensive research—contacting the local Jewish community in his native Kamloops, investigating his family history, scouring social media for clues—The CJN's Jewish sports podcasters, the Menschwarmers, conclude that Mr. Katzberg is not in fact a member of the tribe. (His official media attaché on the ground, Caroline Sharp of Athletics Canada, confirmed to The CJN she is "quite sure that he's not Jewish.") But fans of Jewish and Israeli athletes need not fret. Even though Ethan Katzberg is almost certainly not Jewish, there are enough openly Jewish athletes worth celebrating. Israel won a record-setting seven medals, while Diaspora athletes excelled specifically for the United States and Australia in fencing, wrestling, rowing, water polo, swimming and more. In this Olympic roundup, hosts James and Gabe recap a thrilling two weeks of international competition and analyze where the Jewish community fits in. Credits Hosts: James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver Producer: Michael Fraiman Music: Coby Lipovitch (intro), chēēZ π (main theme, "Organ Grinder Swing") Support The CJN Follow the podcast on Twitter @menschwarmers Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Menschwarmers (Not sure how? Click here)

In the days leading up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, numerous Israeli athletes have received anonymous death threats, proclaiming a repeat of the 1972 Munich massacre. A far-left French lawmaker denounced the Israeli delegation as being "not welcome in Paris." Rather than bowing out, Israel has been assured of 24-hour security by the French interior minister. It's a tremendous amount of extra pressure on the country's top athletes, who are already under stress to compete internationally and make their country proud. At the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the Holy Land's delegation came out with a record-breaking 90 athletes—and won two golds and two bronzes, their best showing ever. Can they improve this year in Paris? To guide us through the top Olympic sports to watch, the Menschwarmers are joined by Ido Rakovsky, the sports editor at Haaretz covering the 2024 Summer Games. And before that, the hosts walk through some notable Diaspora Jews worth keeping eyes on as the games kick off on July 26. Credits Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers or TikTok @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

It was the summer of 2016 when Sam Schachter and Josh Binstock—both Jewish beach volleyball players competing for Canada—just barely qualified for the Olympics, less than a month before the games were to start in Rio de Janeiro. Eight years later, history is repeating itself. Schachter (sans Binstock, instead with new partner Daniel Dearing) just recently qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, scheduled start on July 26. Once again, he's racing to get ready to compete on the world stage with less than a month to prepare—and this time, it's a stage that's been built directly in front of the Eiffel Tower. Schacter joins Menschwarmers to share what his journey's been like, how he handles life as a Jewish athlete in global competition, and how he's prepping for Paris. Before that, hosts Gabe and James recap the biggest news in Jewish sports, including Israeli NBA player Deni Avdija's sudden trade to the Portland Trail Blazers and burgeoning NHL star Zach Hyman's remarkable run through the Stanley Cup Finals. Credits Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers or TikTok @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

We're entering the post-Shavuot dog days of summer, which means a wind-down for most Jewish athletes. After a short break, The CJN's sports podcasters return with a late spring catch-up to talk golf, baseball and the end of the NHL and NBA seasons. Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried has emerged as a genuine candidate to win the 2024 Cy Young Award; Spencer Horwitz has firmly ascended to the majors; we're expecting Zach Hyman to step up if the Edmonton Oilers want to survive in the Stanley Cup Finals; and we offer congratulations to Yam Madar, an Israeli basketball player currently playing in Turkey, whose draft rights have been retained since 2020 by the Boston Celtics—who just won the NBA Finals. Credits Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers or TikTok @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

It's May, which means you can still wish people a happy Jewish Heritage Month. You can also wish them a happy Asian Heritage Month—because, in Canada, both minority groups got their politically fluffy cultural celebrations crammed into the same 31-day timespan. To honour the stuffing-together of both heritage months, the Menschwarmers wanted to take a look at a different minority group with some solidarity in mind: Asian athletes. The similarities and societal hurdles between both Asian and Jewish athletes are striking, with both groups coming from largely immigrant communities, facing stereotypes about mathematic abilities and flippant derogatory comments. To examine the subject, we invited on Adrian Lee, an opinion editor at the Globe and Mail who is also a longtime sports fan and good friend of the hosts. They discuss these themes and more, including the complicated relationship between minority fans and players who share their ethnicity—and even rattle off a few Asian-Jewish athletes worth remembering. Credits Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers or TikTok @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

You may not be familiar with Rickwood Field, America's oldest baseball field. It isn't used by any Major League Baseball teams. It's not even regularly used by the team it was built for, the Minor League Birmingham Barons in Alabama. But it's still standing—more of a working museum than a proper field, hosting occasional games and special events, preserving the sport's complicated history. That will change on June 20, 2024, when the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants face off at Rickwood to commemorate Juneteenth, in honour of the field's status during the Negro leagues. The field will undergo intense renovations and updates in preparation for media attention unlike any it has seen in more than a century, telling stories of the many historical figures involved in its creation—including several key Jews, such as team owner Abe Saperstein and Yankees announcer Mel Allen. One person helping to share these stories with modern audiences is Alana Schreiber, a producer with New Orleans Public Radio. She's spearheading a new radio documentary called Road to Rickwood, produced by NPR with help from the MLB, and hosted by comedian Roy Wood Jr. A longtime listener of Menschwarmers, Schreiber joins to discuss the project and all the complex Jewish themes within. Credits Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers or TikTok @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

By now, you've probably had one seder. You may have even had two seders. But it's time for an annual CJN tradition totally unlike those slow-moving family get-togethers: the Menschwarmers' Jewish baseball seder. Combining the start of baseball season with the week of Passover, our Jewish sports experts have rewritten the haggadah to focus on Jewish baseball legends and potential future stars, from Hank Greenberg to Spencer Horwitz, with commemorations and celebrations in between. And before that, as always, the boys give a roundup of the latest news of Jews in sports, including Jewish NHL stars dominating the playoffs, Max Homa's near-win at the 2024 Masters Tournament and whether New Orleans Pelicans fans consider themselves Zionists. Credits Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers or TikTok @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

This weekend, the long-running Jewish comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm will air its final episode. Over more than 20 years, creator Larry David did more than redefine what improv comedy could look like in a single-camera sitcom—he also showed the world what diehard Jewish sports fandom looked like. But before the show plays its iconic theme song one last time, the hosts of our Jewish sports podcast, Menschwarmers, wanted to pay tribute to what they've decided is the most Jewish sports TV show of all time. It's unlikely we'll see another TV program so unabashedly Jewish embrace baseball, basketball and golf in the same culturally specific way, so let's dive in and remember some of the show's best sports episodes and gags. Plus, the boys talk about Zach Hyman's recent "Jew-bilee", scoring 50 goals this season (to much acclaim and a little antisemitism), as well as Jewish golfers to root for this month and Jewish NHL players worth keeping eyes on ahead of the summer Olympics. Credits Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers or TikTok @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

Mitch Albom has sold tens of millions of copies of his popular inspirational books—among them Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven and The Stranger in the Lifeboat—but never has the Jewish author focused so explicitly on Judaism until his latest book, The Little Liar. Set in Greece during the Holocaust, the novel tells the story of a young boy who never tells a lie—until he is tricked into doing so by a Nazi officer, changing the trajectory of his life after he war. Albom will be in Toronto to discuss the book at Beth Tzedec Congregation on Feb. 29, but before heading north, he spoke to The CJN's sports podcasters to discuss his decades-long career as an award-winning sportswriter. On this week's episode of Menschwarmers, Albom drops by to share stories of dining over subs with Brendan Shanahan and how he came to write "Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)" for Warren Zevon. Plus, hosts Gabe and James recap the latest news in Jews and sports, including the now-infamous incident involving two Jewish fans being removed from a Toronto Raptors game and how the new Netflix docuseries about Formula 1 racing focuses its debut episode on Jewish Montrealer Lawrence Stroll. Credits Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers or TikTok @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

They say two events can be a coincidence, but three make a trend. And in the past month, three Jewish or Israeli athletes have been controversially kicked out of the public sphere. First, Israel's hockey team was barred from competing in an international match in Bulgaria—the decision was reversed, and Israel wound up winning the tournament. Around the same time, the Jewish captain of South Africa's cricket team, David Teeger, was relieved from his captaincy after vocally supporting Israel on a public stage; the saga resulted in tremendous backlash from activists on both sides. Finally, this week, Canadian cyclist and motivational speaker Leah Goldstein learned her keynote address at an International Women's Day event in Peterborough would be cancelled because she served in the Israel Defense Forces more than 30 years ago. Within days, organizers decided to simply scrap the entire event. These trends extend beyond the world of sports into broader culture. The CJN has covered numerous examples of Jewish artists, playwrights and comics having performances heavily protested or outright cancelled. In this week's episode of Menschwarmers, producer Michael Fraiman joins host Gabe Pulver to give a rundown of these controversies and ask the inevitable question: How does it all end? Related links Champion cyclist and IDF veteran Leah Goldstein felt ‘angry and heartbroken’ after being disinvited by a women’s festival Prominent Canadians in Israeli hockey speak out after the IIHF abruptly banned Israel from competition ‘A very dangerous precedent’: Two Jewish theatre artists respond to Victoria, B.C.’s Belfry Theatre cancelling a play set in Israel The cancelling of culture: What happens when arts and politics collide in Canada during the Israel-Hamas war Credits Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers or TikTok @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

Feb. 7, 2024, marks the 28th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day, a global movement that aims to inspire and encourage young girls and women around the world to get active, play sports and break boundaries. But the barriers are real. There are societal prejudices and fewer opportunities for girls to get into sports—and even more stereotypes about Jews as un-athletic, giving young Jewish girls twice as many hurdles to overcome. Chelsey Goldberg knows those hurdles firsthand. Growing up in California, her only option to play hockey was to play in a local boys' league, eventually rising the ranks of women's hockey to play professionally in Canada and the United States. She spent years lobbying the Maccabiah Games to create a women's hockey division—a fight she won in 2022, when she became the captain for Team USA at the Maccabiah, winning silver. Goldberg joins Menschwarmers co-host James for a frank talk about the value of sports for women and girls and what the future looks like. Plus, Gabe and James take a deep dive into the keffiyeh controversy that overtook the recent NHL All-Star Game in Toronto, in which the singer of the national anthem wore a piece of clothing that vaguely resembled a keffiyeh. And we respond to a few listeners to wrote in after our last episode about Jewish NHL players. Credits Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers or TikTok @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

This weekend, on Feb. 3, Toronto will host the NHL All-Star Weekend—and it might just be the most Jewish one yet. There are three (maybe four?) Jews playing, including two of the three Hughes brothers (Quinn and Jack), the New York Rangers' Artemi Panarin, and Jeremy Swayman—who may or may not be Jewish, with different media outlets putting out conflicting reports. It's just one of the big Jewish sports stories happening this month. A major Super Bowl ad on antisemitism is debuting next weekend (listen to The CJN Daily episode about the making of that commercial); Israel's U20 national hockey team dominated their division at a controversial international tournament (read more about Canada's players on the team), which almost saw them banned for alleged security purposes; and golfer Daniel Berger made a promising return from an injury that kept him off the greens for over a year. The CJN's sports podcasters recap all these stories and more in the latest episode of Menschwarmers. Credits Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers or TikTok @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

On January 6, 2024, a record-breaking 13,361 attendees filled an arena in Minnesota to watch their new women's hockey team trounce visitors from Montreal. The game made history as the biggest crowd on record to turn out to watch women's hockey—and it happened less than a week into the start of the newly formed Professional Women's Hockey League. Kaleigh Fratkin was excited to see it happen. She wasn't in Minnesota that day, instead preparing for her own matchup as part of Boston's PWHL team. (As a new league, none of the teams have monikers or logos yet.) But Fratkin—possibly the PWHL's only Canadian Jewish player, who grew up in Burnaby, B.C.—has spent more than a decade playing the sport. In previous leagues, she's broken records as a leading scorer among defenders, leader in penalty minutes and championship winner. With Boston, she brings veteran wisdom and grit to a league that's already made a huge international splash—but needs to keep momentum going to avoid a collapse and cultivate broader interest from audiences. Fratkin joins The CJN's sports podcasters to pull the curtain back on what it's been like as a pioneer player in this new movement. And before that, hosts Gabe and Jamie catch you up on the latest news in Jewish sports, including a late-breaking relevation that Israel has been indefinitely removed from the International Ice Hockey Federation, and the announcement a new Netflix docuseries that could shed light into the Jewish conversion of NBA All Star Domantas Sabonis. Credits Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers or TikTok @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

Hanukkah is a festival of light, hope, gambling with dreidels (maybe a sport?) and remembrance—and so, this week, in the final episode of Menschwarmers for 2023, we remember eight crazy Jewish sports stories from a great year. Our list includes shout-outs for the historic Canadian Open held at the Oakdale Golf & Country Club and Israel's triumphs in baseball and soccer; individual mazel tovs for rising stars like the Blue Jays' Spencer Horwitz, the three hockey Hughes brothers and MMA fighter Natan Levy; and breakdowns of more recent stories, like Mark Cuban selling the Dallas Mavericks. So grab a latke, gather round the hanukkiah and settle in for a candlelit recap of the year 2023 in Jewish sports. Credits Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers or TikTok @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

At 24 years old, Lior Berman has already spent years playing NCAA Division I basketball for Auburn University in his home state of Alabama. But it was only this past summer that the walk-on athlete—and the only Jewish player on the team—got promoted to a full scholarship. The 6'4" guard decided to stick around for a fifth year, taking a few classes after graduating with a degree in industrial design, continuing to learn the game under one of college basketball's most outspoken Jewish coaches, Bruce Pearl. While Berman is appreciative of being able to keep living and playing just two hours from his home city of Birmingham, he also remains laser-focused on his true goal: playing professionally in Israel. He's visited a handful of times, having played for the Maccabi USA Open Men's Basketball team, and even visiting once with his Auburn Tigers, where some of his Christian teammates got baptized. Berman joins Menschwarmers to chat about his relationship with Coach Pearl, his journey so far, and what it's been like as one of the few openly proud Jewish basketball players competing at the highest level of college sports. Credits Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.