Soccer with a cap on the head: The athletes who are proud to wave their Judaism

Itai Schechter, Shahar Speyer, Adina Yakobovitz, more and more names join the club and declare: We keep Saturday, we will not participate in games close to the Sabbath. And you will be surprised: Groups overseas are honoring the request more than groups in the country

Shema Israel, Itai Shechter on left (Photo: Danny Maron)

Omar noble, Ethan Tibi, Itai Schechter, Maccabi Tel Aviv players (Photo: Danny Maron)

About three years have passed since Schechter issued a skullcap with me, put on his head and read 'Shema Israel' after conquering Gol in a game against Bnei Sakhnin, in a move that caused controversy but also marked a change in Israeli football. If until a few years ago, the place of religious football and basketball players was only in the synagogues league after the Herring and Tollent and not on Saturdays and Israeli dates, in recent years the popular sports in Israel have undergone a real revolution, so it is no longer uncommon to find players who proudly carry the dome and peephole ( At least before and after the game.)

Football is leading the trend. In the past, the Premier League football games were all held on Saturday, but today the schedule is now available on Sundays and Mondays. It is possible that the move to three days of games, along with the fact that groups - such as Betar Jerusalem - have announced that they will not play home games on Saturday, are among the causes of the change.

Take, for example, Shahar Speer, who plays Hapoel Marmork and even was invited to the youth team until the age of 19, or the young player Adina Yakobovitz who found that for him as a religious player it is better to play abroad in non-Israeli teams, where he is more widely understood. Ohad Edelstein, who currently plays in the Ashdod Sports Association In the third league, after playing at Kafr Kassem football club, he said in an interview that his needs are taken care of as a religious player, for example, the coach will not go to sit and he can return home or stay near the stadium.

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Give up on the dream

But the situation is not yet clear. Despite protests from players who asked not to play on Saturday and despite the changes in the industry, being a religious footballer is still not a simple business. When player Omri Alon, who played in Hapoel Hadera in 2018, realized that the team was going up to the Premier League, he also realized that jingul between the central Saturday games and keeping the commandments would be an impossible task. The player chose to leave the club despite being among those who helped raise him.

Among religious footballers there are also quite a few who were not born or raised with a dome, some understand that the difficulty is great and choose to quit the game and some are strengthened after they retire. Actor Idan Tal has starred in dozens of shows in the national team and scored goals in the media of the big teams in Israel, today he walks around with a kippah and tassel and makes sure to learn Gemara regularly.

Snir Guetta, or Rabbi Snir Guata, was among those who chose to give up soccer to earn the Sabbath. He played in the Premier League in Hapoel Ashkelon and after repenting, realizing that he could not avoid games that were too close to sit, he chose to leave the sport and focus on religion. Incidentally, among the students of Rabbi Guetta you can also find Itay Schechter (the one with the dome and the tassel from the beginning of the article), actors Chen Ezra, Eyal Golse and more.

Covered shoulders, Naama Shapir (Photo: Oded Karni)

Naama Shapir Maccabi Ramat Hen Actress

Sleeves are the new trend

The basketball court is also a fertile ground for religious players, or actually religious players. Naama Shapir made history in the American Women's College League when she first stepped on the hardwood as the first religious player. Shapir excelled in the game and was invited to the Israeli women's team, but here she had to struggle. According to her belief, Shapir did not want to play with bare arms and was initially allowed to play with a shirt under the game vest. In 2011 FIBA ​​Europe, the European basketball organization decided to ban Shapiro from playing with her undershirt, appeals were filed, petitions were filed and applications were sent - but the organization was on its own. Shapir did not despair and ended up playing with elastic sleeves that covered her bare shoulders.

A group of religious basketball players - yes, a whole group - can only be found in the land of unlimited possibilities. The Yeshiva University basketball team presents good basketball and wins against teams of other colleges and universities across the United States, with the team calling itself, why not? Turn off!

Yair Baumann may not be a familiar name yet in any home of basketball fans, who still has not won many minutes of play - but he can't be missed because of the dome he attaches to his head with a pin. Bauman, a Maccabi Rishon Lezion player, is one of the only major league players in Israel to hope that one day more religious players will find their place on the hardwood.

Struggle on Saturday and Sif

Not just football and basketball. The State of Israel is teeming with many other sports in which religious athletes compete. One of them is Yuval Freilich, who competes with Sif. Freilich won the gold medal at the European Championships for six years ago, but one of the most recognizable struggles with him was the fight for Shabbat. The sectional competitions usually take place on Saturday, and in order to compete, Freilich petitioned the High Court in a lawsuit not to move his competitions from Saturday to Saturday. The fight fails, but he continued big and even manages to form an Israeli hope for a medal at the upcoming Olympics.