Bradford R. Pilcher, writing in American Jewish Life magazine, has written a long and excellent essay arguing that Jews should support the Red Sox and reject the Yankees. The reasons involve a century of history, Moe Berg, Theo Epstein, and (most of all) the Denis Leary "eat your heart out Mel Gibson" incident. I agree with the essay, but does this change things at all?
Posted by Stephen Silver at June 21, 2007 05:01 PMOne small mistake, though... Despite the name, Epstein's not really Jewish. Otherwise, a great essay.
Posted by: jabbett at June 21, 2007 08:13 PMJabbett, Brookline High class of 1987 (I was a freshman when he was a senior) and Theo's not Jewish? Huh?
Posted by: Dave J at June 21, 2007 10:04 PMApologies if I got it wrong, but as I understood it, his mom's not Jewish. In fact, I'd be delighted if I got it wrong!
In any case, it's of no consequence: presence or absence of halachik semitism doesn't really affect one's job performance as general manager :)
Posted by: jabbett at June 25, 2007 09:54 AMRegardless of his technical Judaic status, Hitler would have thrown Theo in the oven. And if it was good enough for Hitler, who am I to argue? You'd think a guy named Epstein wouldn't be anything *but* Jewish, but then again, former defense secretary William Cohen was not a Jew either.
My aunt is a Gentile with the maiden name Rosenberg - and she didn't convert.
Conversely, I've dated a 6-foot-tall blonde-haired girl who WAS Jewish.
The point is, Theo's relatives also wrote the screenplay for "Casablanca." And that's pretty sweet.