T

hey’ll be coming from 
Atlanta, Cleveland, 
Columbus, Ohio, 
Denver and Pittsburgh to 
play basketball this week at 
Farber Hebrew Day School in 
Southfield.
Five high school teams 
from small Jewish day schools 
like Farber will join the host 
team at the fourth annual 
David Tanzman Memorial 
Tournament.
The Thursday through 
Sunday (March 3-6) tourna-
ment is another sign of life 
slowly getting back to normal 
two years after the start of a 
worldwide pandemic.

The tournament wasn’t held 
last year because of COVID-19 
mitigations. There wasn’t even a 
Farber basketball team last year.

Thankfully, basketballs will 
be bouncing and shots will be 
swishing this week at Farber. 
And lives will be changed.

“While basketball is a ‘good 
excuse’ for everyone to get 
together, our tournament isn’t 
just about basketball,
” said 
Josh Levisohn, Farber’s head of 
school.
“The players get re-acquaint-
ed with friends and meet new 
friends. They have a chance 
to broaden their horizons in a 
positive environment. And they 
spend Shabbos together.
”
The tournament is named in 
honor of one of Farber’s found-
ers. The school opened as Akiva 
Hebrew Day School in 1964.
After David Tanzman’s death 
in 2016, Farber high school 
students created the tourna-
ment as a way to demonstrate 
his love for basketball and 
devotion to Jewish day schools.
Organizing and running the 
tournament is truly a commu-
nity effort.
Farber high school students, 
including the entire basketball 
team, do much of the heavy 
lifting with guidance from 
school administrators and staff 
members.
About half of Farber’s 60 
high school students have 
helped put together the tour-

Basketball is 
Back at Farber

22 | MARCH 3 • 2022 

Jewish day school hosts fourth annual 
David Tanzman Memorial Tournament.

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Here’s the Farber Hebrew Day School basketball team that will 
compete in the fourth annual David Tanzman Memorial Tournament.

FARBER HEBREW DAY SCHOOL

Ari Selesny

SELESNY FAMILY

Aaron Adler

ADLER FAMILY

OUR COMMUNITY

