Today is Day 32 of the Omer. Netzach sheb’hod. Humility that leads to winning. Sometimes you have to look for the specific moment in a player’s career to really understand a combination of sefirot. Shaquille O’Neal is the definition of larger than life. At 7’1”, 325 lbs, Shaq was too big for even one nickname. The Big Aristotle destroyed baskets, dunked over everybody, and clowned … Continue reading Day 32: The Big Aristotle
Today is Day 31 of the Omer. Tif’eret sheb’hod. Humility that manifests in balance. It’s taken me a few days to wrap my mind around this week’s sefirah of hod and connect it to the world of basketball. In Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow, Rabbi Art Green writes that “Hod is the other side of wisdom, the self that bows before the mystery of what … Continue reading Day 31: The No-Stats All-Star
Today is 32 days, which is four days and four weeks of the omer: netzach she’b’hod. Daniel pointed out that if I didn’t do Koufax today, I’d have to write a whole other post about why not (and I’m behind on my posts!), so today’s pick is . . . Dodgers southpaw Sanford Koufax: seven-time All Star, four-time WS champion (and two-time WS MVP), three-time Cy Young … Continue reading day 32: the left hand of gd
Today is 31 days, which is three days and four weeks of the omer: tiferet she’b’hod. For some reason catcher Mike Piazza was one of the first players whom I knew I wanted to talk about. I’m so grateful I got to see him play at Shea Stadium during his last year as a Met. He didn’t play his whole career with that franchise, but when … Continue reading day 31: mike
Today is Day 30 of the Omer. Gevurah sheb’hod. Humility that manifests as power. In only three years in the WNBA, Breanna Stewart has been a 2x All-Star, League MVP, and WNBA Champion, while averaging 20.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.9 assists/game. That’s a small sample size, but she’s simply been the best wherever she’s been. She was the high school player of the year, … Continue reading Day 30: Breanna Stewart
Today is 30 days, which is two days and four weeks of the omer: gevruah she’b’hod. Thumbing through potentials today was brutal. I had thought to choose Hall of Famer Tim Raines, but there was that whole Pittsburgh drug trials thing. And then I considered Orlando Cepeda, but he was arrested for smuggling marijuana. (Look, pot should be legal, but agreeing to carry five pounds of … Continue reading day 30: regular jew
Today is Day 29 of the Omer. Hesed sheb’hod. Humility that manifests in generosity. The best NBA player to ever wear #29 was Paul Silas. Silas was a dominant rebounder and defender who won three NBA championships. The 2x All-Star and 5x member of the All-Defensive Team, nearly averaged a double-double over his 16 year career while scoring over 11,000 points and grabbing over 12,000 … Continue reading Day 29: Paul Silas
Today is 29 days, which is one day and four weeks of the omer: hesed she’b’hod. Intra-state rivalries are real in Texas: UT vs. A&M, Rockets vs. Spurs, Texans vs. Cowboys (actually not sure about that last). But even now that the Astros are in the AL, I just don’t care about the Rangers. Never have. Even though the Express decamped to Texas from Houston. Maybe … Continue reading day 29: el koja
Today is Day 28 of the Omer. Malchut sheb’netzach. Winning that manifests in Kingship. How do you become a King? By beating one. And that’s exactly what Andre Iguodala did with the Golden State Warriors in 2015, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers and King James, while winning Finals MVP.* After moving to the bench in the 2014-15 regular season and averaging 7.8 points/game, Iguodala proved his … Continue reading Day 28: Getting Iggy With It
Today is 28 days, which is four weeks of the omer: malchut she’b’netzach. It’s not an accident that, after only one in the first 20 days, four of the seven players in this week of netzach are pitchers. The position is a bit of a contradiction. On the one hand, pitchers are in the game relatively infrequently. In the modern era, starters usually only pitch once every … Continue reading day 28: wilbah
Omertime 