Cong. Bnai Yeshurun is excited to announce that the movie “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel” will be shown Saturday, November 10, at 7:30 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Adult Education Committee, the Teen Department, and the David Frohlich, a”h, Youth Department. Refreshments will be served and there is no charge for the screening. Attending the event will be Jordy Alter, team equipment manager and vice president of the Israeli Association of Baseball. In addition, one of the three producers/directors, Seth Kramer, David Miller or Jeremy Newberger will be attending.
The movie is the story of the highly successful Israeli National Baseball Team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic that surprised the baseball world by finishing sixth in the world. The team consisted of American Jewish minor league and former major league players, like former Met and Yankee Ike Davis. Two of them were children of Israeli parents. Israel had to play in the last of four qualifier rounds in September 2016 at the Brooklyn Cyclones Stadium in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Four years earlier, Israel had lost its final game to miss out on qualifying for the World Baseball Classic. I attended the first of the three games. The crowd of Jews cheering for their home team was amazing. In March 2017 Israel won all three games and qualified for the World Baseball Classic in Korea.
The movie looks at the team going to Israel to make a connection with country they were to represent. They toured the country including the Kotel, Yad Vashem, Masada and the site of the planned Baseball Stadium in Beit Shemesh. All the players, most who had never been in Israel before, were moved by the visit. The movie then follows the team as it wins all four of its games in Korea, something no one expected. They were a team to be reckoned with. That qualified them for the semi-finals in Japan. If they won in Japan, they would go to Los Angeles to play in the finals. Unfortunately, they did not make it to the finals, coming in sixth place. Needless to say, Team Israel was a major success.
The movie is perfect for youngsters and teens, which is why the Bnai Yeshurun Teen and Youth Departments are co-sponsoring the event, as well as adults who love baseball and sports. Reviews of this movie have been great. We are especially proud to have Jordy Alter join us and talk about his experience as part of the Israeli Team. He is seen in the movie. He will also tell the crowd of the plans for Israel sending a baseball team to Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Everyone is invited to attend.
By Ira Jaskoll
Ira Jaskoll consults in sports management and marketing and teaches at Lander College for Men, Adelphi University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. He has coached at Heichal Hatorah, TABC and JEC, as well as many youth sports teams.
