The Olympics came to a close this weekend, concluding our bi-annual celebration of athletic prowess and national pride. In a political climate where supporting one’s country is perhaps as hard as it has ever been, the Olympics offered a chance to bring people together under the auspices of sports, a bonding agent rather than a wedge.
Of course, that didn’t stop Vice President JD Vance from creating political drama, especially when he undermined his own administration’s stance and his own personal ideology regarding what makes someone an American. But overall, the Olympics concluded with generally positive feelings and goodwill.
Luckily, we aren’t far from the next international competition meant to bring out our devotion to our homelands. During the first week of March, we will see the return of the World Baseball Classic for the sixth time over the past two decades. A competition made up of teams from each of the major countries represented in Major League Baseball, the WBC has become a beloved event, with fans enthusiastic to see their favorite players representing their countries of origin in an exhibition tournament that feels far more significant than any March games usually do.
For the third time, Israel will field a team in the competition. Made up almost exclusively of American-born Jewish players, Team Israel has been a source of enormous pride and enthusiasm for Jews worldwide. A game of Jewish geography on the grandest scale, this is a perfect opportunity not only to see the Jewish homeland play exciting baseball, but also to encourage conversation about Israel that isn’t centered around conflict and victimization.
This does not, of course, diminish the global condemnation of Israel. The comments section on any post about the Israeli team is filled with the kind of anti-Zionist and antisemitic tropes that have become the standard in public discourse. There have even been calls for Israel to be banned from the competition for their political “sins,” even as countries like China, Venezuela, and (checks notes), yup, America get to participate unquestioned despite highly problematic political regimes.
Meanwhile, one of the most common non-political criticisms of Israel is that the team is made up of non-native Israelis, but rather cultural Jews identifying with their peoplehood more than citizenship. This argument doesn’t stand up to scrutiny, though, when team Italy and Great Britain are made up almost exclusively of similar non-resident players. It seems that wherever we go, Israel offers plenty of opportunities for condemnation, regardless of context or, well, facts.
Yet, despite the inevitable angst that comes from being a Jew in public, Team Israel’s place in the WBC is a gift to the millions of baseball fans who get to see representation in a sphere that has typically been coded as antithetical to Jewish stereotypes. As American Jews grow up in an environment that treats athletic achievement as a massive source of social cache, it is a beautiful thing to see a young person who has the same background and cultural understanding as I do represent my people on such a broad stage. Every Jewish sports fan can name the greatest ballplayers in history: Hank Greenberg, Sandy Koufax, Al Rosen, and Shawn Green. Add to that list the active heroes of the Jewish people (Alex Bregman, Max Fried, Harrison Bader), and it is easy to see why the phrase “wherever you go, there’s always someone Jewish” extends to the ball field.
When Israel lives out its mandate most beautifully, the nation is a source of communal pride and ideological safety for Jews around the world. There is perhaps no better embodiment of that idea than this, the chance to see our countrymen compete in a global tournament on the international stage.
Our chances of victory are, admittedly, not great, especially when facing powerhouses Venezuela and the Dominican Republic in the first round. But win or lose, simply being there is a massive chance for young Jews around the world to see themselves represented in a place that so many of us dream of one day being.
Baseball is just a sport. But anyone who loves that sport knows that it can also represent something so much bigger. Baseball can be a source of community, joy, passion, and admiration. Judaism can be a source of all of those things, too. So to get to see Israel represented on baseball’s most international stage can be an enormous gift to the Jews around the world who so badly want to feel that national pride without first defending our right to exist. Because isn’t that what Zionism is all about: finding a team we can call our own.
Austin Zoot is the Rabbi Educator at Valley Temple in Wyoming, Ohio.