A Jewish youth then, however, also had to reserve a corner of his heart for Art Shamsky, a fringe player and a rare Jew in the major leagues. Hebrew school lessons about the importance of religious custom were driven home by the fact that Mr. Shamsky wouldn't play on the Jewish
The story has received much attention because it's so complex and curious: It's not every day that one of the best college basketball teams in the country courts a player whose religion forbids him from playing between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. (There's talk the school will petition to shift Saturday games to the evenings.) Or whose wearing of a yarmulke, or skullcap, poses a conflict with rules that outlaw "head wear" on the court.
A high school star
This tale has a long way to go before the lanky, 6-foot-3 redhead at the Talmudical Academy in Pikesville steps on the court for
That Tamir has garnered this much ink on the sports pages, however, is uplifting for many Jews, who admire their ethnic heroes in the arts, medicine and other endeavors, but rarely in big-time sports.
As Baltimorean M. Hirsh Goldberg wrote in his book, "The Jewish Paradox," Jews crave sports heroes of their own partly to combat the stereotype of Jews as "thinkers instead of doers." Or, as
Another era
Earlier this century, the hard-scrabble, urban Jewish ghettoes produced athletes who became famous in their own right: pro basketball star Dolph Schayes; pioneering pro quarterback
Tamir's nickname -- "JJ" for "Jewish Jordan" -- isn't the only indication of the thirst among Jews for one of their own to cheer in the sports world. There are so few Jewish-born stars that the comic
Web sites are even devoted to this arcane topic. One, JewishSports.com, names Pittsburgh Steeler punter
A lot of people who have never seen Tamir's shine will pray -- er, wish -- that he prospers.
Andrew Ratner is a deputy editorial page editor.