“Cleats and Jerseys” by Mort Laitner

In 1869, P.T. Barnum wrote, “‘Every cloud,’ says the proverb, ‘has a silver lining,’ and  so I did not despair.'”

A hundred years later, I  remembered my bubbe saying an old Yiddish proverb which roughly translates, “From all tragedies a bissel fun gut can be found.” 

To my astonishment, some rabbis even postulated: If it weren’t for the Holocaust the State of Israel might not exist. 

So where can be found the silver lining or the “gut”  from the massacre of 11 Jews in Pittsburgh?

Well, for sports fans in America, a Pittsburgh hockey team and two NFL quarterbacks, one from North Carolina and the other from Pittsburgh provided the answer. 

They sent a message of love to America’s Jewish community when it was most needed.

I first saw the message on FaceBook in a photo of a rack of  Pittsburgh Penguins’ jerseys hanging on white plastic coat hangers.

I smiled.

There it was,”For the first time in American history, the Jewish star was incorporated into a major professional sports team’s uniform.”

The Pittsburgh Penguins created this patch of pride.

I saw Iceburgh, the Penguin’s black and white tuxedoed mascot, framed in a Magen David.

This aquatic, flightless bird painted on a black and yellow six-pointed star.

Iceburgh skated and tightly held on to his hockey stick.

Iceburgh name sounded Jewish—Goldberg, Dannenberg, Fallsburgh,

Iceburgh’s beak scowled, as if he just read about the massacre in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Iceburgh’s posture demonstrated his desire to pound some anti-Semitic heads with that hockey stick.

What a bird!

What an appropriate patch!

What a show of support!

What a gesture of love!

And on the bottom of the patch the words read: STRONGER THAN HATE.

Instantly, I had become a Penguin fan.

The Penguins found a way to honor the eleven murdered at the Tree of Life Synagogue.

The Penguins acts of compassion became a holiday gift to a nation of grieving Jews.

The Penguins had handed us a stronger-than-hate shield.

A protective shield made of steel and love.

A protective shield made in a town as tough as steel.

A protective shield honed in the cry of a steel mill,

A shield now housed in the Commack, New York’s National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.

A shield emblazoned with a gold Star of David and written in bronze Hebraic-styled letters:

We Are With You!

Don’t Despair!

You are not alone!

We got your back!

We are stronger than hate!

And then in a brilliant act of tzedakah the players autographed their Jerseys so they would fetch a higher price at auction.

The team raised $348,705 for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh to support the victims of the shootings.

Yes, a little bit of good followed the Squirrel Hill tragedy.

The Penguins owners and fans with their hearts usually found on the ice, scanned the dark clouds floating above the Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena and found a silver lining.

So I wondered,”Why hadn’t the Pittsburgh Steelers emulated the Penguins?

“Were there no dark clouds in the skies above Heinz Field?”

USA Today provided the answer.

For the first time in American history two major Christian football players customized their cleats with Stars of David and wore them in an NFL game.

Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, wore and played in customized Nikes emblazoned with the words: STRONGER THAN HATE, and a yellow Star of David.

Cam Newton, quarterback of the North Carolina Panthers, wore similar Jewish star, stronger-than-hate cleats with the additional words: HATRED CAN’T WEAKEN A CITY OF STEEL.

I wondered if the Steelers or the Panthers were going to auction off Ben’s and Cam’s cleats.

I wondered why the leagues owner didn’t give every  player on the team customized shoes.

Then I reread P. T. Barnum’s quote.

He never mentioned the size of silver linings. 

But the size of the sports world’s acts of kindness, given in a period of darkness, gave us a reason not to despair.

 Bubbe, you were right.

 Some good does come out of every tragedy.

 

Mort Laitner, who resides in Cooper City, is the son of Holocaust survivors. He is a writer, producer, lawyer and a public speaker.

What the readers are saying:

“Cleats and Jerseys” is Awesome!—Steve

Absolutely love it Mort— Ricki

Hi Mort, very interesting….

Mort, Thank you for sharing. This is just beautiful. I got all misty eyed reading it. Are you available to do a writers’ workshop? —Donna

Glad to know this. Beautifully written.—Lefty

Good to know goodness exists.— Elaine

Very well said. It is an emotional essay. Thanks for putting your thoughts on paper and forwarding to me.—Ruth

Good story Dad. I enjoyed it.—Travis

Great story Mort!!!—Marianne

Nice—Barry

Nice!—Terry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“My Daily Dose” by Mort Laitner

I sip my daily dose of warm sweet coffee. 

The aroma bouquet fills my nostrils.

It’s 6:30 in the morning and darkness rests on my windows.

I hear a creaking on my roof—probably a raccoon or a raven.

I stare at my iPhone.

“Do I want my daily dose of internet, my fix, so early in the morning?”

I press the white on-button.

Icons appear—JPOST, the New York Times’ fancy cap “T” in Engravers Old English font, Debka’s feathered Indian pulling his bow and aiming his arrow and Facebook’s white “F” in a sea of blue.

Before I touch FB’s icon, I pause to think,

“Am I going to get “F”ed today?”

Am I asking for my daily dose of anti-Semitism?

After Pittsburgh, at least one Jew-hatred story finds its way onto the Net on any given day.

I scroll down and recognize a photograph.

It’s the wedding-party scene from “Fiddler on the Roof.”

Great memories!

Dad, Mom, my sister, and I see Mostel play Tevye on Broadway in ’64.

It’s my favorite Broadway musical—written by one of my favorite authors—Sholem Aleichem.

“Fiddler” was based on his story, “Tevye the Dairyman.”

You may ask, “How many times have you seen “Fiddler” performed?

“I don’t know.”

But I have seen it performed by professional, semi-professional and high school casts—not to mention seeing the movie five times.

A film in which Topol nailed the role of Tevye.

In the photograph, the groom, the tailor Motel Kamzoil, (I sing the words) rests on his knees, holding his crouching bride. (Tzeitel—Tevya’s oldest daughter)

His hands hold Tzeitel’s waist, Her hands cradle Motel’s bearded face. 

The bride wears a white wedding gown. The groom is covered in black—a black Hasidic beaver bent up hat, black leather boots and a black suit.

The Jewish men of Anatevka raise their joyous hands towards the heavens.

The masthead reads, “The New York Times.”

The headline reads, “Baltimore ‘Fiddler’ Disrupted by ‘Heil Hitler, Heil Trump’

Is nothing sacred in America?

Was this a scene from a Mel Brooks’ movie “The Producers?”

Would this Baltimore disrupter follow his “Heils” by singing “Springtime for Hitler in Germany?”

He didn’t.

But he raised his hand straight up in a Nazi salute.

Some theater-goers ran straight for the exits fearing a hale of bullets would follow the Heils and the salutes.

I wonder, “What would I do?”

Ushers escort the disrupter out of the theater. (He won’t be allowed back.)

The Baltimore police didn’t arrest the nut job. They said,”He’s protected by the First Amendment. You can find it in our Constitution. He yelled the words during intermission and he was drunk.”

Hadn’t these cops heard about the exceptions to the free speech rule? You can’t yell, “Fire” or “Heil Hitler” in a crowded theater playing Fiddler.

I expected the cops to give out prophetic advice: Alcohol has a way of freeing the tongue.

But they didn’t.

I think about the Tevye’s travails, This poor Jewish milkman, living in the Pale of Settlement, facing Czarist pogroms, trying to maintain the traditions of his people as outside disrupters encroach on his life.

I ponder the milkman’s words:

“A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no? But here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck. It isn’t easy. You may ask ‘Why do we stay up there if it’s so dangerous?’ Well, we stay because Anatevka is our home. And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: tradition!” 

I consider how Tevye’s traditions went up in smoke.

How he lost his balance, his fiddle and the roof over his head due to a dose of anti-Semitism.

Facebook and The New York Times inject me with my daily dose of anti-Semitism.

My head spins and my roof shakes.

I picture myself precariously balancing on my steep roof.

My black leather boots trying to gain traction on the tear-soaked shingles of my home.

As sunlight cuts through the blinds, I pick up my mug and sip cold bitter coffee.

 

Mort Laitner, who resides in Cooper City, is the son of Holocaust survivors. He is a writer, producer, lawyer and a public speaker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Blake’s Sixth Film Festival Set of Laurels” by Mort Laitner

Top Indie Film Awards has selected “Know About Us” to be included in their festival.

Congratulations to the “Know About Us” team– Blake Laitner, Michael Blackman, Def Davyne (Desmond Elias Ford) and LoLoRae (Lauren Dillinger).

This makes the sixth film festival acceptance of their music video.

Three continents—-North America, Europe and Australia.

Five nations—USA, Italy, Belgium, and Australia.

Two semi-finalist awards so far—Aphrodite Film Awards and Australia Independent Film Festival

KAU Team you made a top indie film and you deserve all these accolades.

Good luck on your future videos and on winning the next batch of film festivals.

To view video go to : https://youtu.be/b9puGTYRfXw