Monday October 7, 2013

I've Been Thinking:

Yesterday I spent a lot of time thinking about what happened on October 6, 1965. It was a Wednesday. I do not remember that day, but I know it is a day that shaped history.

It was the first day of the World Series between the Minnesota Twins and the LA Dodgers.

It was also Yom Kippur. And because it was Yom Kippur, Sandy Koufax the kid who made it from 48th Street in Boro Park, Brooklyn to the big leagues, said that he would not pitch in the opening game of the
World Series.

The decision was one which would shape the lives of millions of people - Jews and non-Jews alike. The press was stunned. How could Koufax choose not to play in the most important game of his life?

The answer was simple. Some things are more important than others.
More important, even, than baseball. It was more important to Koufax that he stand by his faith than by his team on that one day.
For him, tradition was important.

Sandy Koufax was not a religious man, he was a deeply Jewish man.
And for him, that meant Yom Kippur was more important than the first game of the World Series.

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