Teaching Halachah Through Baseball: The Role of Mesorah (Inherited Tradition)[1]

Rabbi Shmuel Jablon

originally published in What's Jewish About America's Favorite Past Time? (College of William and Mary Press)

In the Beginning (or My Big Inning)….

I didn’t always think I was destined to be a rabbi.  When I was a teenager, I was convinced I was going to be a sportswriter.  As a twelve year old in St. Louis in 1981, a friend and I started our own baseball newspaper, The Redbird Chirps.  Since he is a month older than I, I had the designation as the presumed then-youngest sportswriter in America.   I have many fond baseball memories from that era. While I was learning about writing, I was able to interview some truly great baseball stars who were also truly great men.  I was privileged to speak with people such as my boyhood hero Lou Brock, “Satchel” Paige, “Cool Papa” Bell, Joe Morgan, Ozzie Smith, Ralph Kiner, Willie Stargell and many others.

One particular interview that stands out was in the dugout at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on a late spring evening in 1982.  My partner and I approached the Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (when he was managing the San Francisco Giants) for an interview.  He told me that he didn’t give interviews within a half-hour of game time.  “Please Mr. Robinson,” I said.  “We’re only thirteen years old.”  “Young man,” said the Hall of Famer, “Never use your age as a crutch.”  He then relented, and gave us an interview (and autographs) to go along with this valuable life lesson.  I took that lesson, and many others, to inspire me to use any talents I had in order to serve G-d and the Jewish people — and to never let my comparatively young age stand in the way of assuming tremendous professional responsibilities. 

I am sure that as a thirteen year old I did not grasp the full importance of Robinson’s lesson.  I didn’t even include it in my article (How could I have known that it, more than anything else, would stay with me as an adult?).   However, I clearly understood that many of the greats of the baseball world had their true greatness in the type of person they were (or were at least perceived by my young mind).  For example, my article on Robinson ended in a way that could never be accused of being unbiased.

During the 1981 off-season, Frank Robinson was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.  When he got the call from the Hall telling him he was elected, Robinson “felt very good about it.  I felt relieved and felt very fortunate, and very good.  I had a good career, played on a lot of good ball clubs, and that certainly helps you as far as your individual performance is concerned.  I knew I was up and thought that I would probably make it one day but it was nice to make it on the first ballot!”  He certainly deserves it!  Congratulations to Frank Robinson — a gentleman and a star! [2]

When I wrote about Willie Stargell, who was ending his Hall of Fame career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, I was similarly in awe.  As I remember, I am sure it was because he’d given me an autographed baseball and one of his famous golden “Stargell Star” patches (which he normally awarded to teammates for outstanding effort and accomplishment in a game),  as well as a great interview.  My article ended:

Willie Stargell’s very presence is awe inspiring.  He is soft-spoken and commands respect.  Former teammate and now coach Harvey Haddix described Stargell as, “A real gentleman!”  And that he is!!! [3]

Using Baseball in Jewish Education:

As a rabbi and the Head of Lower School at Fuchs Mizrachi School in Cleveland, I have acquired an interesting reputation as the “baseball rabbi.”  I’d like to think this is not only because of my past as the youngest sportswriter in America, nor only because of my outstanding collection of Cleveland Indians ties (which I wear to work) and memorabilia, nor even because when there is a question about kosher food at Jacobs Field (where there are two Glatt Kosher (adherence to the strictest standards of dietary laws for beef) hotdog stands under Orthodox rabbinical supervision) I get the questions.  I think it is because we have been successful both at using baseball as an incentive for Torah learning, and also in using some of the messages of baseball to emphasize Torah values. 

There is no question that baseball can be quite useful in cementing the bond between rabbis and students.  My students know that baseball has been (and remains) a part of my life.  It is part of what makes me a “regular person” in addition to a rabbi.  As many of them share this interest, baseball is part of what draws them to me.  They know that my questioning skills were sharpened as an interviewer of baseball players, and my love of history developed through reading countless books about baseball players and teams of the past.  I make use of this common bond (as well as extensive baseball knowledge) regularly.  Baseball makes its way into classes  about values and about history. 

Even as a young writer, I knew the importance of baseball players serving as good role models for American youth.  After our interview, I quoted my boyhood hero, Lou Brock, as saying, “The fans in St. Louis know baseball, they’ve been that way for years.  I hope that they, as well as all other fans, will remember me as a fine person.”  [4]Twenty one years later, I invited Andre Thornton (two time Cleveland Indians all-star) to our school, as he is an example of an athlete who is not just an entertainer, but is a role model.  He spoke to the students about his maintaining his deep faith despite enduring family tragedy (he lost his first wife and a daughter in an auto accident.), as well as of his service to the Cleveland community. [5]

My students also learn of the heroism of Jackie Robinson, who endured much abuse as the first African American in the modern major leagues.  Recently, I shared with students a beautiful, values-based poem written entitled “Life,” by Jim “Mudcat” Grant (a former 20 game winner with the Minnesota Twins after being not-so-wisely traded by, naturally, the Cleveland Indians).:

Life is like a game of baseball and You play it every day.
It isn't just the breaks you get, But the kind of game you play.

Stop and look the whole team over, You’ve got dedication there.
You're bound to be a winner with men who really care.

Your pitcher's name is courage; You need him in this game,
For truth and faith your keystone men, the grounders they will tame.

Your center-fielder is very fast though small and hard to see.
So watch him when he gets the ball, he's opportunity. .

At first base there's religion He's stood the test of time.
At third base there's brotherhood, The stalwart of the nine.

In the left field there’s ambition. Never let him shrink.
For in right field there’s a husky man, I’m told his name is work.

Your catcher's name is humor, he's important to the scheme.
While honor’s pitching from the bullpen, your game is always clean.

With love on your bench, you've perfection no less,
And a winning team, with joy and happiness.

The other team is strong, son greed, envy, hatred and defeat.
Are for strong infielders you'll have to buck to make your game complete.

Deceitfulness and a man called waste Are always playing hard.
Selfishness and jealousy, None can you disregard.

Carelessness and falsehood Are the big boys in the pen.
You'll have to swing hard, son, When you come up to them.

There's one more man you'll have to watch. He's always very near.
He's the pitcher for this team, I'm told his name is fear.

The game will not be easy. There'll be struggle, there'll be strife
To make the winning runs, For it’s played on the field of life.

So stand behind your team. There'll be many who'll applaud.
Just remember that you are the player, And the umpire there is God.[6]

Baseball has also served me well as an incentive for greater Torah study.  Providing incentives for learning (incentives are not to be confused with a prize only one student can receive.  Incentives can be achieved by any number of students who reach the desired high level) is reflected in the halachah of the seder night.  Rav Yosef Karo, in the definitive halachic work Shulchan Aruch, writes, “It is a commandment to give children candies and nuts in order that they should notice the changes (that happen seder night) and ask about them.” [7]  Rav Yisroel Meir haKohen (known as the “Chafetz Chaim”) explains that this is to encourage the children to stay awake through the story of the Exodus, and to ask questions.  Because teaching one’s children about the Exodus is the central commandment of the seder, the parent needs to assist the child in staying awake and maintaining interest, even quite late in the evening. [8] 

Rabbi Aviner explains, “The young child has love and desire for the Holy.  But sometimes there are many difficulties and obstacles — thus we help him…By giving a reward we assist him to overcome and to persevere on the good path. [9]

My students flock to ask challenging questions about the Jewish texts we learn and the prize of 36 baseball cards for particularly excellent questions is part of what promotes their Torah learning.  In our “Mishnah Clubs” students in grades four through six typically complete two tractates of Mishnah yearly (per club!).  Knowing that they will receive the reward of a Cleveland Indians baseball game at Jacobs Field (complete with a visit to the Kosher stand), provides an incentive for students to trek in the Cleveland winter snow or summer humidity — or to stay after school — for extra Torah study.  As Rabbi Aviner notes, the desire for Torah is already within the child. However, I use baseball to assist them in fulfilling this desire on a regular basis.  This will lead to them not only attaching Torah study to something else that is fun, but also to the sacred “habit” of Torah becoming engrained with them.

I even told my students that I believe Jacobs Field itself was built, at least in small measure, in order for us to have a place to go to reward the Mishnah Club!  This is based on the great Torah commentator Rashi’s comments to Genesis 1:1 where he writes, “The world was created…for the Torah that is called the first of His ways (Proverbs 8:22), and for Israel that is called the first of His harvest. (Jeremiah 2:3).”  It is also hinted at in the Babylonian Talmud, Avodah Zarah 2b, which tells the story of what will happen when the Messiah comes.  The nations that oppressed the Jewish people will come before G-d claiming that what they did (building markets, bridges, fighting wars, etc.) were all to enable the Jews to learn Torah.  G-d will chastise them, and tell them that they did it only for their own immoral purposes.  The Talmud, however, does not state that these things were done to enable the Jewish people to learn Torah.  It only states that the Persians and Romans certainly didn’t have this in mind (even if G-d certainly did).  Thus, even if the Indians organization and the city of Cleveland don’t realize this, there is little doubt in my mind that Jacobs Field was built for the Fuchs Mizrachi School Mishnah Clubs!  When one looks at the history of the Indians, and the amount of times the team may have moved away, as well as the amount of times taxes to build a new stadium failed, the building and success of Jacobs Field indeed seems like a near-miracle directed by the Divine hand [10]

Students also enjoy asking halachic questions based on baseball.  May one play ball on Shabbat?  Are baseball cards muktzeh (forbidden to move) on Shabbat?  May a Jewish player play in the World Series on Chol haMoed Sukkot (the Intermediate Days of the Festival of Sukkot)?  Such questions show their ability to integrate what we are learning in Mishnah and Jewish law to another area of interest.  Some have even written short articles on these subjects, which follow this essay.

Thus, the seemingly “this worldly” game of baseball helps me to elevate my students’ level of Torah study, and thus their spiritual lives, far beyond when they leave either my classroom or Jacobs Field!

Mesorah (Inherited Tradition)

One of most striking areas of similarity between Jewish values and those of baseball is the importance of mesorah – i.e., inherited tradition.

The foundation of Judaism can perhaps be best summarized by the first Mishnah in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers).

Moses received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua.  Joshua transmitted it to the elders, who transmitted it to the Prophets who transmitted it to the Men of the Great Assembly. [11]

The Torah was given, word for word, by G-d to Moses on Mount Sinai.  This includes both the Written Torah, known as the “Torah” or “Five Books of Moses,” and the Oral Torah (known as the Talmud) — much of which explains the commandments of the Written Torah.  The Written Torah was transmitted word for word, and the Oral Torah detail for detail, by Moses to his student Joshua.  It is the Torah that has been successfully transmitted throughout the history of the Jewish people.    Indeed, Maimonides codifies the understanding that the Torah we have today is identical to what Moses received as being a core Jewish belief . [12]  Jews who keep the Sabbath, dietary laws, laws of family purity, etc. derive tremendous strength from keeping G-d’s laws in essentially the same manner as they have been kept for nearly millennia. 

Respect for Different Minhagim (Inherited Traditions):

Interestingly, the concern for inherited tradition transcends that of Toraitic and even rabbinic laws.  Observances of minhagim (customs within normative Jewish life), passed down by families and communities, are a vital area in Jewish law and thus the mesorah (inherited tradition). [13] This has many practical implications in Jewish life. For example, the Hebrew pronunciations of both Ashkenazic Jews (Jews whose ancestors were from Germany and Eastern Europe) and Sephardic Jews (Jews whose ancestors were from Spain and North Africa) are acceptable.  However, when one is praying, most rabbis rule that one is obligated to pronounce Hebrew in the way of their ancestors, even if this is different than “modern Hebrew” commonly spoken in Israel. [14] Another example is that of the law enacted by the rabbis of the Askhenazim of not eating legumes on Passover.  In contrast to their Ashkenazic counterparts, the rabbis of the Sephardim never enacted such a law.  Therefore, we have two quite acceptable rabbinic positions, as well as an absolute obligation for Jews to follow their ancestral observance. [15]

Naturally, just as we must respect various halachic traditions in Judaism, we also try to respect different traditions within baseball.   Just as there are wonderful Jews who pronounce Hebrew, pray and observe Passover differently, there are differences between teams and even leagues.  Normative Judaism and normative baseball both find ways to accommodate differences.  For example, an Ashkenazi Jew who goes to a Sephardic synagogue must quietly pray using his own customs.  However, if he is asked to publicly lead the prayers, he must use the congregation’s pronunciation.  This is because of the rule of Minhag haMakom haMinhag — the custom of the place is to be the custom used in public.  Baseball has a similar system when teams playing are accustomed to different rules.  For example, the game always begins with a meeting at home plate where the umpire will not only accept the lineup cards, he will explain the stadium’s unique “ground rules” to the representatives of both teams.  Thus, the visiting team must adapt itself to the rules of the local stadium.  Similarly, an American League team that goes to play in a National League stadium (either due to inter-league play or due to participating in the World Series) must similarly adapt to the lack of the designated hitter.  These differences may be theoretically debated.  However, in practicality, equally acceptable rules and traditions are deserving of respect.

Although questions such as “Do you believe in the designated hitter?” may not have the same importance as, “Do you believe in the religious significance of the modern State of Israel?” there is a parallel in the need to teach mutual respect and love for those holding differing views.   This is what Rabbi Aviner calls “a divergence of opinions and not of hearts” and goes back well into Talmudic times.  The Talmud teaches:

Rav Aba said in the name of Shmuel: For three years the House of Shamai and the House of Hillel disagreed.  This group said, “The law is like us,” and that group said, “The law is like us.”  A Heavenly Voice came and said, “Both are the words of the Living G-d,” and the Law follows the House of Hillel.  When afterwards they asked, “If both are the words of the Living G-d, why has the House of Hillel merited to be the one to establish the Law?”  Because they were peaceful and humble, and they taught their words and the words of the House of Shamai, too.  Not only that, they repeated the House of Shammai’s words before their own.  This teaches you that all who diminish themselves are raised up by the Holy One Blessed be He.  All who chase greatness, greatness flees from them.  All who flee from greatness, greatness chases after them.  (B.T. Eruvin 13b)

Family Loyalties:

Parents pass on to children not only their love of the game and all that goes with it (from baseball card collecting to games of catch), but love of specific teams.  This becomes a vital part of family minhag (custom).  According to Memories and Dreams, the quarterly magazine of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, there are even fan clubs for teams that have long since moved away from their original homes.  The traditions of the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, Philadelphia Athletics and others live in the hearts of families of those who once faithfully attended their games. [16]

I have seen this intense familial loyalty towards baseball teams in my own work.  When I have arranged for Indians legends Bob Feller and Andre Thornton to visit our school, parents (and some grandparents) were as excited as their children.    Recently, I spoke with a grandfather of children in our school.  Both a devoted Orthodox Jew and Indians fan, he was proud of having taken his grandchildren to their first baseball games.  He also had some disappointment that his grandchildren did not have the opportunity to cheer for some the stars of the past.  “This was before your time, rabbi,” he told me, “but I remember players like Earl Averill.  He was a real mentch (gentleman)!  Today’s players are just interested in the money.  Even second rate, so called relief pitchers get millions of dollars.”  Of course, the thought of again watching the Indians — the beloved team of his youth — with his beloved grandchildren brought a smile to his face and tears to his eyes.

Some of the families who have grown up in Cleveland have even asked me how I could be an Indians fan.  When I explain that my parents grew up in Brooklyn and watched the Dodgers leave town, they understand that there was no “family team.”  When I explain how, as a teenage sportswriter, the management of the Cardinals (my home town team) was not nice to us, thus causing us look elsewhere for a favorite team, they nod with understanding at one who experienced the childhood pain of rejection.  Finally, when I explain that I went to Oberlin College, near Cleveland, and then decided it was time to again root for the hometown team, they smile as one who lovingly welcomes a convert to their midst.   Thus, they are no longer surprised at my intense loyalty for, and historical knowledge of, my adopted team (and appreciate my three year old son being able to identify “Chief Wahoo” from fifty feet away)!

            To be fair, though, not all of our students are devoted to the Indians.  I will always remember explaining to parents how I use baseball as a teaching aide and incentive in our school.  One father in the audience, a devoted New York Yankees fan, half smiled and said, “Ah, rabbi.  You say baseball, but you mean the Cleveland Indians!”  Indeed, he was very concerned that his son — a particularly close and devoted student of mine — not leave the family tradition of Yankeedom in order to follow his “rebbe” to join the long suffering tradition of the Cleveland Indians. 

The inherited baseball tradition has the amazing ability to literally connect generations within families and communities.  The slogan of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown reflects this.  “Preserving History. Honoring Excellence. Connecting Generations,” [17] is an apt slogan not only for the Hall of Fame, but for baseball itself.  This is a Jewish lesson.  The first Mishnah in Pirkei Avot (itself a “Hall of Fame” of Oral Torah giants), quoted above, makes reference to the connection of generations through the sacred transmission of Torah.  The Torah is passed from generation to generation and is given intact to us.  Later in that Mishnah, Torah teachers are bidden to “raise up many students” to preserve this chain of transmission.  Later in the chapter we are taught to honor the greatness of those who have demonstrated incredible excellence in Torah studies.  Yossi Son of Yoezer of Tzreyda says, “Let your house be a gathering place for the sages.  Cling to the dust of their feet and thirstily drink their words.” (1:4)   It is not surprising that baseball, which in its ideal state carries many similar values, resonates with many Jews. 

               Perhaps more than any other sport, baseball has focused on being “family friendly.”  Baseball games have an appeal, for Jewish families, not only because of the cerebral and historic nature of the game, but because a baseball stadium tends to be a place where families can safely go.  At Jacobs Field, as at other baseball stadiums, fans are told that a lack of proper language, running on to the field, throwing things, etc. will all result in ejection from the stadium and potential arrest.  The stadium has luxury boxes, to be sure; but unlike other stadiums, it also has a children’s playground. [18]  Kevin Keane, a broadcaster on WTAM Radio in Cleveland, discussed on his show that fact that attending a football game was simply not the same as attending a baseball game.  Though a football game may be a place for families, it’s not a place for families with young children!   He commented, “By the nature of the game, there is danger in football and the venue reflects that each Sunday.  We sure don't want to ever put our family in danger even if there's

a little part of us that enjoys that element in the NFL.  Baseball is wholesome 

family fun, football is a right of passage along the way to manhood in the American

male sports culture.” [19]

It is little wonder that while football may be entertaining to watch on television, it is unlikely to become part of a Jewish family’s tradition in anywhere near the same way as baseball.  It is unlikely that there will be a book, “What’s Jewish About Football?”  Football simply doesn’t resonate in the same way.

The bond of baseball tradition within families can be intensely powerful, and indeed bring families closer together (itself a very Jewish value).  In his beautiful book, Our Tribe, author Terry Pluto masterfully intertwines the history of his Indians with stories of the relationship between himself and his father.  Pluto’s father passed away after suffering more than four years from the effects of a major stroke.  It was their common love for baseball that helped them through difficult days.  He writes:

For my father and me, the Indians have been like a second family — a more interesting family.  When I was growing up, he talked to me of players from the 1920s through the 1950s.  Starting in the 1960s, we were on common baseball ground.  Since the stroke-enforced silence built a wall around his life, the Indians have been one of the few ways to penetrate it.  I can talk to him about this team, or the teams of his youth.  I can look at pictures of the players, and suddenly I realize that it’s like a family album…I thought of how he’d come home from work, and I’d convince him to take me to an Indians game; he’d come home, change his clothes — and we’d be in the car, on the way to the Stadium.  He could not have been home for more than fifteen minutes.  He had to be exhausted.  He could have said, “Let’s listen to the game on the radio, I’m tired.”  Instead he took me to the games…I remember my heart beating a little faster as we drove into the Stadium lot, and we could see the ballpark looming right in front of us — all 80,000 seats worth.  I remember the huge Chief Wahoo neon sign above it all…I remember those walks from the car to the Stadium, my little hand in his big paw, my hand lost in his — and feeling more secure than I ever did in my young life. [20]

As Pluto writes, “Baseball is not art, it’s not classical music- but when it glues a family together, it’s special and it’s important.” [21]

Messirut Nefesh (Self Sacrifice)

Baseball has a rich value of sacrifice.  Baseball players routinely intentionally bunt or hit long fly balls in such a way as they shall surely be out — but that will advance their teammate to another base.  Sacrifice bunts and flies don’t hurt batting averages; but they don’t help them either!  Nevertheless, a player who cannot properly sacrifice is not as valuable of a member of his team.  As a teenage sportswriter, I wrote about the value of the self- sacrifice of baseball players in volunteering for service to the nation.  When, as a fourteen year old, I reported on my interview with Ralph Kiner, I wrote:

He [Kiner] played three years in the Minor Leagues (1941-43) and was scheduled to be promoted to the parent Pirates.  Unfortunately, though, the governments of Germany, Japan and Italy changed his fortune.  He went into the military service and World War II.  He lost two and one-half years in the service.  However, he’s not sorry.  “World War II was a big war and you wanted to be a part of it…It was all part of the overall duty of everybody to go in if you could.  I volunteered for the Naval Aviation program and wound up being a flyer.  Looking back on it, it cost me a couple of years in the Major Leagues.  But I never looked at it as a problem.” [22]

Twenty years later, I used the example of Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller as an example to teach the Jewish value of messirut nefesh (self-sacrifice).  My students learned of Feller as an example of a baseball player who was not merely an entertainer, but who qualified as a hero.  Just two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941), he volunteered for the United States Navy; even though, as the sole support of his mother and ailing father, he would likely never have been drafted.  He missed almost four seasons as he served on the U.S.S. Alabama in combat.  This likely cost him a chance at 300 victories.  But when I asked him during one of his visits to our school if he had any regrets about volunteering, he told my students and me, “Of course not…I’m very proud of my military career; I am proud of the United States, I’m proud of my baseball career.” [23]  Clearly, Bob Feller represents the very Jewish value of messirut nefesh — self-sacrifice for a higher cause. 

Self-sacrifice is clearly a Jewish value.  For example, in the story of Purim, Queen Esther is afraid to go unannounced to King Ahasueros in an attempt to set in motion a plan to save the Jewish people from the genocidal designs of the wicked Haman.  Should the king not wish her company and be angered by her unannounced visit, she could be executed for this “crime.”  When she tells her uncle Mordecai that she doesn’t wish to go, he admonishes her that she has a duty to do what she can to rescue the Jewish people.  

If you are silent at this time, the Jewish people will be saved some other way; and you and your father’s house will be lost.  Who knows if it was for this occasion that you rose to the throne? (Esther 4:14)

Esther takes Mordecai’s words to heart.  She tells him to have the entire Jewish people fast and pray for three days.  She will then go to the king and, “If I am lost (killed) then I shall be lost.”  (Esther 4:16)  She is willing to sacrifice herself for the Jewish people.  Ultimately, her mission is successful and the Jewish people are saved.

Further, in Jewish law, one must sacrifice one’s life Al Kiddush Hashem (for the Sanctification of G-d’s Name) rather than transgress any of three core sins — idolatry, murder or sexual immorality.  One must even be willing to sacrifice one’s life over smaller issues if one is living under a ruler who is trying to destroy Judaism itself.  Though life has precedence over most things, some things are even more important than physical life. [24] 

The Closing Inning:

Of course, nothing can compare with the Divinely revealed, inherited tradition that is the Torah.  Yet, it’s undeniable that many of baseball’s core values are “Jewish.”  These include the values of inherited tradition, respect for different— though equally valid —practices, and the value of self sacrifice.  Perhaps this is why I have felt that, like everything in life, baseball can be properly viewed as a gift from G-d.