Israel’s Most Popular Singer
Ishay Ribo (b. 1989) was born in Marseille, France to a family of traditional Sephardic Jews from Morocco and Algeria. When he was a child, the family became more religious and made aliyah. At 13, while studying in yeshiva, Ribo began writing music and took up playing the guitar. A few years later, he formed a religious heavy metal band with friends. During his time in the Israeli military, he served in the Technology and Maintenance Corps and sang in the IDF choir. In 2012, he was invited to work with popular Israeli musician Idan Raichel, and in 2014 with renowned rabbi (and composer) Yitzchak Ginsburgh. That same year Ribo released his debut album, which was certified gold. His third album went platinum, with the song Lashuv HaBaita becoming the number one song on Israeli radio. He followed this up with Sibat HaSibot, which became the most-played song on Israeli radio in 2021. Ribo’s unique style combines modern sounds and lyrics with ancient Biblical verses and even passages from across Rabbinic literature. (His popular Seder haAvodah, for instance, weaves together verses from the Yom Kippur prayer service and Talmudic account of events in Jerusalem’s Holy Temple.) Last week, Ribo became the first Israeli ever to perform at Madison Square Garden, to a sell-out crowd of over 15,000. Ribo’s music is beloved by Jews around the world, and by both secular and religious Israelis. He has been credited with bridging the divide between the two. He also has the distinction of being the most popular Orthodox Jewish artist on YouTube (currently with 314,000 subscribers and over 400 million views). Ribo has five children and still studies Torah regularly in a kollel (a Torah-learning institution for married men).
Rosh Hashanah Begins Friday Evening! Happy 5784!
Why is Rosh Hashanah the New Year if the Torah Doesn’t Say So?
Words of the Week
The celebration of Rosh Hashanah coincides with the sixth day of Creation, the day when Man was created… For it was man who recognized the Creator within Creation, and brought about the elevation of the entire Creation to that recognition, and thus to the fulfilment of its divine design and purpose.
– Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Abraham Michael Saperstein (1902-1966) was born in London and grew up in Chicago, the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants. From a young age, Saperstein was fascinated with sport, and played on his high school’s baseball, basketball, football, and boxing teams. Forced to drop out of university to support his struggling family, Saperstein never lost his dream of an athletic career, despite being just 5’3″ tall, and being a Jew in a time of rampant anti-Semitism. While working as a playground supervisor, Saperstein was given an opportunity to play for a semi-pro basketball team. He did well, and soon became the team’s coach, manager, and booking agent. In 1926, Saperstein founded his own basketball team, the Harlem Globetrotters.”Harlem” was not for its geographical location – it was based in Chicago – but because it was an all-black team. At the time, most sports leagues were for whites only, with separate leagues for black people. Basketball in particular was considered a “white sport”, with black players banned from the NBA. Saperstein and his original five players made just $8 (split evenly between them) in their first game. Throughout the difficult years of the Great Depression, Saperstein was the team’s coach, manager, driver, publicist, and even substitute player! The team was once described as “Four clean-limbed young colored men and a squat bandy-legged chap of Jewish extraction”. To make ends meet, the team had to play just about every night. Since most hotels did not allow black guests, Saperstein often snuck his players into his own room. The team quickly built a reputation for “ball-handling wizardry” and showmanship. In 1948, the Globetrotters played against the all-white NBA champions, the Minneapolis Lakers. To everyone’s shock, the Globetrotters won. A year later, they won a rematch. This proved once and for all that black players were just as good (if not better) than white players. The following year, the first black player (a former Globetrotter) was signed to an NBA team, finally breaking basketball’s colour barrier. That same year, the Globetrotters played in Madison Square Garden, the first time a basketball game sold out at MSG. Saperstein then established two more basketball teams in the US, as well as an international one. He also founded and owned several baseball teams. His ultimate wish was to own an NBA team, but he was thwarted time and again. Instead, he started his own competing league, the American Basketball League (ABL). To make it more exciting, Saperstein added a new line to the court and invented the three-point shot. The ABL did not last long, but the NBA soon adopted the three-point shot into its own league, forever changing the game. Saperstein was both a visionary and a tireless labourer. He took just one day off a year – Yom Kippur – and died of a heart attack while at work. Saperstein has been credited with revolutionizing basketball, making sports more entertaining, and most importantly, playing a key role in ending athletic racial segregation. One former player said the Globetrotters had “done more for the perception of black people, and the perception of America, than almost anything you could think of.” The Globetrotters still put on 450 shows a year, and have played over 26,000 exhibition games, in over 120 countries, making them one of the most popular and well-known basketball teams of all time.