fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann) (05/01/85)
Check out this week's Sports Illustrated. In the "Scorecard" section on page 9 is an article entitled "Roundball Rabbis." Below is a (mixed quote/paraphrase) summary of the article: It seems that a few basketball players who couldn't quite make the grade in American pro-basketball have been recruited to play pro-basketball in Israel. Each of Israel's twelve pro-basketball teams is allowed to recruit one foreign player per year, but many American players evade the rules by becoming Israeli citizens. To avoid the standard waiting period, a gentile can obtain citizenship by marrying a Jew or by converting to Judaism. The scandal: Some players received suspect quickie conversions which are being challenged by the Israeli government. In Israel the question of who is a Jew is an intense religous, social and political issue. Now it's a sports issue as well. That's serious! Frank Silbermann