46 | JUNE 18 • 2020
Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
accessible at www.djnfoundation.org
The Boys of Summer —
in Israel
T
he beginning of this
summer is not like
those of the past. Due
to the coronavirus pandemic,
the usual public events and
leisure activities that have
long defined the
summer season
will be much dif-
ferent. For one
example, take
our American
pastime, base-
ball.
Baseball
has long been
an integral part of Detroit’
s
history. Indeed, the Detroit
Tigers’
opening day is usually
the unofficial beginning of
summer, but this year, no one
knows when Major League
Baseball will begin. So, for
readers starved for baseball
stories, I found some inter-
esting stories for you in the
William Davidson Digital
Archive of Jewish Detroit
History about Little League
baseball in Israel.
As I looked through the
Archive to research this topic,
I quickly discovered that the
Detroit Jewish community
has had ties to Israeli baseball
since its beginning.
Baseball is an all-American
sport, and one might not think
that it has much of a presence
in the Middle East. However,
the first Israeli Little League
was established in 1987, and
the sport of baseball has
grown in Israel ever since.
Currently, the Israeli Little
League has about 50 teams
and 700 kids, and one full-
sized baseball field in Petach
Tikvah. Expats and their fam-
ilies make up 80% of the play-
ers, but native-born Israelis
are increasingly enthusiastic
about the game.
Randy Kahn of Houston
made his second visit to Israel
in 1985. His first visit was
in 1976, when he lived on
a kibbutz for four months.
During his second visit, Kahn
was playing baseball with his
nephews when many neigh-
borhood kids joined in. After
seeing such a positive local
response to baseball, he decid-
ed to start a baseball league
in Israel, leaving behind his
comfortable sales position in
Houston. Kahn’
s idea came to
fruition with the help of the
Israeli Association of Baseball,
which he founded in 1986.
The third season of orga-
nized baseball for youth in
Israel was just beginning in
1989 when Detroiters decided
to help. There was a sponsored
drive in Metro Detroit for
which the Jewish community
collected as much baseball
equipment as possible to send
to Israel for the Little League
season. Detroiters Irwin
Cohen, Dave Dombey, Bob
Sternberg and Phil Applebaum
organized the drive as mem-
bers of the Detroit Committee
of the Israeli Association of
Baseball. The committee was
founded to support the growth
of Israeli baseball leagues.
Dave Dombey, a photog-
rapher from Southfield, was
present at the first organized
youth baseball game in
Israel. His photograph of
that game was included in
the July 24, 1987 issue of
the Jewish News. Dombey
became co-chair of the
American Friends of the
Israeli Association of
Baseball and, subsequent-
ly, was heavily involved
in the world of Israeli
baseball.
The Jewish community
of Detroit has long been
invested in the Israeli base-
ball league. Through the
sport, Detroit Jews have
another deep-rooted
connection to Israel.
Yael Eichhorn, the guest
writer for this week’
s
“Looking Back” page, is a
student at Michigan State
University and the 2020
Detroit Jewish News
Foundation Summer
Intern.
-
Yael Eichhorn
Detroit Jewish
News Foundation
Intern
h the
have
d
.
st
a
te
Intern.