BY: JEREMY HASSON | JULY 12, 2023 | UPDATED JULY 7, 2024
Of all the major sports leagues in the United States, Major League Baseball has the most significant number of Jewish players, including minor league players. There are currently 12 Jews in the major leagues and 37 Jews in the minor leagues. And Israel’s baseball team, while most players are American Jews with little-to-no association with Israel, has two non-Jewish players out of 35. However, only one player was born in Israel.
I think it’s a little surprising—not that baseball is popular among American Jews, but how unpopular baseball is in Israel. The country of around nine million people has a national team, but not enough Israeli Nationals to fill the team—that is because Jewish players have had quite the success rate in the MLB, with members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame who are Jewish. Also, it’s not a super dangerous sport, so Jewish mothers (and mothers in general), who tend to worry quite a bit about their child getting injured at a young age, are more likely to let their kid play baseball rather than contact sports like football. There is a limited number of Jews in the NFL, but that’s another story.
In the U.S., part of the reason baseball is a popular sport with Jews is because of Jewish baseball icons like Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg, who put their religion before their mark–like when Sandy Koufax sat out Game One of the 1965 World Series to observe Yom Kippur, the holiest Jewish holiday and day of atonement where you refrain from eating, drinking, and working. Sandy Koufax doing that shows Jews that you can put your faith before your sport and still be admired—and yes, Sandy Koufax’s Dodgers won that World Series.
Israel still fields a team for international baseball tournaments like the World Baseball Classic (essentially baseball’s version of the World Cup), and the team is significant to Jews worldwide, whether you are in the United States, Canada, Israel, or a Jew anywhere. Though Israel’s population is majority Jewish with other minority religions, no matter the sport being played, whether in the Olympics or the World Baseball Classic, Team Israel doesn’t just represent Israel and Israelis but Jewish people worldwide. Jews make up 0.2% of the world’s population, so a small group of athletes has the power to unite the Jewish people and Israel in international sports competitions. As a Jewish baseball fan, I can genuinely say how incredible it is to have a group of Jewish men representing Israel for baseball. Team Israel shows that if Jews work together, they can unite a group of 14-15 million people (about twice the population of New Jersey) worldwide.
Many Jewish stars play for Team Israel. For instance, outfielder Joc (yes, that’s his real name) Pederson played for Team Israel, and so did Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer, who has family in Israel and speaks fluent Hebrew. Interestingly, not everyone on Team Israel speaks Hebrew or knows much about their family’s Jewish heritage—some players are more religious, and some are less religious. Some, in fact, aren’t Jewish at all, like Team Israel’s outfielder, Alex Dickerson, who has a Jewish spouse. They might be mostly Americans, and some players might not even be Jewish, but the uniting of the Jewish people still shows that Jews are a small yet mighty bunch. Team Israel shows the diversity of Jews.
Dean Kremer pitching for Team Israel (Photo via Major League Baseball)
And most people don’t know the process. How can one play for Israel’s baseball team even if they aren’t from Israel or have dual citizenship? Here’s how it works:
1) Be born to a Jewish mother, which according to Jewish law, or Halacha, makes you fully Jewish in the eyes of Orthodox Judaism (the most religious sect of Judaism).
2) Have at least one Jewish grandparent on any side of your family, which makes you eligible to become a citizen of Israel through their law of return.
3) Be born in Israel.
4) Go through the Israeli citizenship process and become a naturalized citizen.
OR
5) Have a Jewish spouse.
The team’s record isn’t excellent; however, what the group represents is more significant than wins or losses. And, for me, the team means the unity of Jews worldwide, from Israelis to Jews everywhere.
Works Cited:
Major League Baseball. Dean Kremer. 2023, JNS.org.
“The Law of Return.” The Jewish Agency, 15 June 2022, archive.jewishagency.org/first-steps/program/5131/.
“The Official Site of Major League Baseball.” MLB.Com, www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/roster/israel. Accessed 12 July 2023.
