Sandy Koufax, the lefty Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, was an exceptional athlete. He was a four-time World Series champion. He was a National League MVP. He was an All-Star for six seasons. He was the youngest three-time Cy Young winner, and the youngest player ever inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Like all exceptional athletes, Koufax is remembered, discussed and revered long after his professional retirement. But unlike other exceptional athletes, Sandy Koufax is not only a figure for the ages —a pivotal character for generations of baseball fanatics past and present. For many Jews, Sandy Koufax is just as relevant today as he was 50 years ago, at the height of his career.
Fifty years ago it was Yom Kippur, and Sandy Koufax made a very brave decison in its context — a decision to be true to himself as a person and as a Jew. He was faced with a cruel twist of fate: the opening game of the World Series in which he was scheduled to play fell on Yom Kippur.
It was the real-life version of the “The Jazz Singer.” One can readily imagine that Sandy Koufax grappled with an agonizing quandary similar to that of Jakie Rabinowitz, the fictional talkie character who had to decide between a Broadway debut and chanting Kol Nidre for his father’s congregation.
On that day, 50 years ago, Sandy Koufax chose to honor his family, his faith, himself, and attended Yom Kippur services instead of pitching the opening game. Again, recall the context. It was not only the sports world with its unbending demands. It was the world of a rather insecure American Jewry.
Koufax’s struggle, while still felt today, was far more acute in 1965: Can Jews fit into mainstream American society without renouncing their identity? On this score Sandy Koufax was a leader for his generation, showing that, yes, Jews can be athletes and compete at the top of the game, but do not have to be false to themselves in order to do so. Koufax said: I am an athlete. I am also a Jew.
Beyond his incredible contributions to baseball, he also earned a mark in American Jewish history. Fifty years later American Jews have raised the bar considerably on the content of Jewish identity. Knowledge of Hebrew is no longer an oddity; attendance at a Jewish studies class in a university or at a Talmud class in an outreach kollel is no longer unheard of; sitting in a sukkah or studying Torah on Shavuos night are no longer uncommon. American Jews walk for Israel and attend public menorah lightings. Even so, Koufax’s decision 50 years ago still empowers many Jews who face hard choices today: a university exam, a professional conference, a debut concert, on Yom Kippur or Shabbat. Many can still hark back to that proud moment.
If Sandy Koufax gave up pitching the opening game of the World Series, others learned, and continue to learn, to prioritize their faith, too. Not only for his accomplishments on the mound is Sandy Koufax remembered as the greatest ever Jewish baseball player.
Copyright © 2015 by the Intermountain Jewish News
