10/19/2026
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The Frank L. Wiley Junior High football program wasn’t much to cheer about back in the early 1980s. Maybe that’s why I won the starting quarterback job in ninth grade as a five-foot-something Jewish kid. I wasn’t terrible—and believe me, that’s high praise. So when I tried out for the high school football team the next year, that was a completely different story.
It quickly became apparent that a short quarterback who couldn’t see over the offensive line probably wasn’t destined for varsity football. So I did the next best thing. I joined the choir.
As many of you know, I’ve remained a football fan my entire life. During my fourth year of rabbinical school, Debbie bought me a football for Hanukkah. I couldn’t wait to bring it to school and throw it around with one of my classmates.
Looking back, we must have looked ridiculous, playing catch in the student lounge while everyone else was immersed in Talmud. They looked at us as if to say, “Shouldn’t you be studying?” They were probably right. But as the great rabbinic teaching goes, “This too is Torah.” Years later, I discovered that football could, in fact, teach Torah.
Read more here: https://templeshalomdallas.org/blog/erev-rosh-hashanah-5787-telling-a-jewish-story/
