Israel: On And Off the Tour

Benyomin Goldenish
takes his position
behind the plate.

Gezer, near Tel Aviv.
But for most of the chil-
dren, it's not the condi-
tion of the field, but the
opportunity to play that
counts.
That opportunity has a
strong Detroit connec-
tion. On the Michigan
Miracle • Mission,
Southfield resident Dave
Dombey and several
friends brought bags and
bags of bases, gloves,
helmets, balls and other
- equipment. Mr. Dombey
is co-chairman of the
American Friends of the
Israel Association of
Baseball. Oak Park resi-
dent Irwin Cohen is the
organization's national
development director.
Dr. Burt Faudem, for-
merly of West
Bloomfield, now a
Jerusalem resident,
founded the Israel
► Association of Baseball
as a vehicle to teach and
develop youth baseball
leagues in Israel.
Israel's players are

divided into five age divi-
sions across the country.
Several of those divisions
will compete later this
summer in age-group
tournaments of the
European Region Little
League World Series in
Germany. Most of the
players, according to Mr.
Dombey, are Israeli-
born.
"It's gaining in popu-
larity across the coun-

try," said Mr. Dombey.
"The biggest obstacle we
have in our growth is
coaching, equipment and
adequate playing sur-
faces. It's our goal to
raise money, to sponsor
teams and to furnish
them with the uniforms
and equipment they need
to compete."
On a cool April day in
Jerusalem, playing on
the YMCA field once

used for soccer, Juda
Lambert was pitching
high, hard fastballs to
catcher Benyomin
Goldenish. The infield
chatter was a combina-
tion of English and
Hebrew. Bubble gum
popped over intense
faces while grounders
were backhanded smart-
ly and flipped to first
base.
Yacov Riuner played

catch with his younger
friends during a clinic on
throwing and catching.
Dr. Faudem, wearing his
blue and orange Detroit
Tigers jacket, ran
between the two fields,
making sure both the
younger and the older
kids were progressing.
"We've got varying
degrees of ability here,"
said Dr. Faudem. "But
all of these kids are here
because they want to be
here. They talk baseball;
it becomes part of them.
It's really a good thing to
see them learn and have
so much fun."
Dr. Faudem started
the IAB seven years ago
because he missed the
Tigers and major league
baseball, and because he
wanted a baseball outlet
for his own children. -
His children are now --
c°
grown, and the players L
he coaches and works =
with now are his base-
ball "children."
By the time that April

93