Wrestling With Sandy Koufax

by Josh Barkin

In my childhood home, baseball was a religion. Sandy Koufax was the chief deity.

My dad is a huge Dodgers fan. My sister is a huge Dodgers fan. My mom and my Bubbe are huge Dodgers fans. My brother and I know our way around Dodger Stadium better than we ever knew the way to school, and since I was three or four years old I attended almost every Opening Day there. (When I spent a year studying in Jerusalem, my dad emailed me a picture of his Opening Day tickets, just to mess with me. I didn’t talk to him until he apologized.) When I was growing up, my dad told me, “Josh, your mom and I would be very upset if you marry a non-Jewish girl. But we’d find a way to get over it. We’ll love you anyway. But if you marry a Giants fan, I’ll say kaddish.”

An autographed picture of Sandy Koufax adorned the dining room in my parents’ house. My Bubbe calls him “Sandyleh.” When I’m having a bad day, I listen to Vin Scully’s call of Sandy’s perfect game in 1965. I own a Dodgers jersey adorned with number 32.

Suffice it to say that I’m a Sandy Koufax fan.

Soon, Torah Aura will publish a Instant Lesson about Sandy Koufax as part of our “Jewish People” series. Rabbi Ron Isaacs wrote the lesson, and I edited it.

I have to admit that it kind of bothers me. While Sandy Koufax is certainly a Dodger hero, I’m not so sure if he’s a Jewish hero.

Making Hanukkiyot

by Laurie Bellet

I having been asked recently for project ideas to create functional, beautiful hanukkiyot that are fire safe when the candles burn all the way down. This is a tough one.

As many of you have painfully discovered, families do not always use proper caution when burning candles in the ‘traditional’ wood base with hex nut candle holders and the low flame has ignited more than one family’s holiday table. Others of you may have learned that, if you have used the projects featuring pieces that can be glued with ordinary school glue, the heat from burning candles can loosen the glue and render the creation unstable.

Before we consider the options, it is reasonable to second guess the value of making hanukkiyot in the supplemental classroom. I think that making hanukkiyot is best left to youth events, family education and party times because the time spent, while admittedly entertaining is not educationally productive. With that cautionary note out of the way…