Today is Day 8 of the Omer. Hesed sheb’gevurah. Love emanating from strength. Kemba Walker is a special person. It’s hard to find someone who has something bad to say about him. For this project, I’ve generally given weight to how long a player has worn a particular jersey number, but even though this is the first year that Kemba has worn #8, he’s … Continue reading Day 8: Kemba
Today is Day 7 of the Omer. Malchut sheb’hesed. Love that manifests as Kingship. It’s the final day of week 1, the week of hesed. According to the kabbalistic way of counting the Omer, each week ends with the attribute of malchut, meaning kingship or sovereignty. So on Day 7, when love manifests itself as royalty, we are going with The King in the North. … Continue reading Day 7: The King in the North
Today is Day 6 of the Omer. Yesod sheb’hesed. Within love, there is righteousness. There could be no other choice for day 6 of the Omer than the great Bill Russell. Russell is the greatest winner in the history of the NBA and arguably the greatest player in NBA history. In 13 seasons, he won 11 NBA Championships. All Russell cared about was winning and … Continue reading Day 6: The Tzadik
Today is Day 5 of the Omer. Hod sheb’hesed, the gratitude and humility that comes from a deep place of love For Day 5, hod sheb’hesed, I’m going with a member of the Fab Five, Juwan Howard. Howard was the first member of that famed class to commit to Michigan and was responsible for helping recruit the other four members: Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Jimmy … Continue reading Day 5: Fab Five Alert
4/12 – Netzach sheb’hesed Today is Day 4 of the omer. Netzach sheb’hesed. From love, there emerges eternity. One of the things that’s becoming clearer to me is that while the sefirah of the week is primary, the way that it manifests on each day will be different. During this week of hesed, it is loving-kindness that motivates everything, even if what is visible to … Continue reading Day 4: Dolph Schayes
Tif’eret, often translated as beauty, compassion, or harmony, is the perfect integration of hesed (love) and gevurah (power). So on Day 3 of the Omer, we are going with the woman that Doris Burke calls the “most versatile women’s basketball player that we have ever laid eyes on.” The 2x WNBA MVP and the 2016 WNBA champion is the perfect blend of power and finesse. … Continue reading Day 3: She Got Game
Tonight is day two of the Omer. Gevurah sheb’hesed. Within loving-kindness there is restrictive power. I had the privilege of celebrating my birthday this year by attending the best game of the 2019-20 NBA Season, a 141-133 double overtime victory for the Boston Celtics over the visiting LA Clippers. Besides seeing the Celtics win and Jayson Tatum dominate down the stretch, the highlight for me … Continue reading Day 2: Kawhi not?
Today is day one of the Omer. Hesed sheb’hesed. Within loving-kindness there is loving-kindness. Which basketball player (who wore the #1) most embodies pure hesed? That is our goal, as we begin the Omer tonight. For the first week, we will focus on players who embody hesed, an open-hearted, free-flowing form of loving-kindness. Each day will carry a secondary value, but today is all about … Continue reading Day 1: Pure Loving-Kindess
Sticky post
Sports lovers rejoice! While the entire Jewish world is focused on Passover, as soon as the first day of Passover is over, we are headed to Omertime! The Omer is a 49 day period between Passover and Shavuot when it’s a mitzvah to say a blessing and count each day. This incredibly simple, two minute nightly ritual, is also deeply mystical and can be the … Continue reading We’re Going to Omertime
When I haven’t stepped on the court in a long time, from the moment I pickup a basketball, I am on fire. I cannot miss. Figuratively speaking that is. (My shooting percentage is not 100%). But I feel like I cannot miss. After a long layoff, with little warm-up, I am in the flow of the game. The first few times this happened, I thought … Continue reading The Undeserved Grace of Passover
Omertime 