SPORTS
T
he David Tanzman Memorial
Tournament returned to Farber
Hebrew Day School in Southfield
this year after a one-year absence caused by
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the unexpected layoff, the tour-
nament was a slam dunk.
Players on six basket-
ball teams from small
Jewish high schools of
less than 100 students
competed, socialized
with new and old
friends, and ate meals
and spent Shabbos
together over four busy
days during a weekend
in early March.
Here are some rave
reviews of the fourth
annual tournament,
named for a Farber
school founder and
basketball fan and orga-
nized mainly by Farber students:
“Fantastic camaraderie, a model for
sportsmanship, a feed good event, as pos-
itive an experience as we hoped, and it
brought the Farber community together,
”
said Farber head of school Josh Levisohn.
“The tournament went amazingly well.
I’m so happy we had it,
” said Farber bas-
ketball player Aaron Adler, a tournament
co-commissioner, who praised Naomi
Gardin, Farber’s administrative assistant,
for her work “single-handedly” organizing
meals for the players.
“
All the teams had a great time,
” said Avi
Selesny, also a Farber basketball player and
a tournament co-commissioner.
This was the first time the Atlanta Jewish
Academy competed in the tournament.
AJA assistant coach
Neil Kalnitz said he
was “tremendously
impressed” with how
Farber organized
the tournament, and
AJA players were still
talking about the good
time they had several
days after returning
home.
“The Farber com-
munity was very wel-
coming,” Kalnitz said.
“We normally stay
in a hotel when we
travel for a tourna-
ment and don’t interact much with the
host community.
“This time, all of our players and
coaches stayed with host families, which
was great (there were 22 host families).”
While the basketball competition was
tough, Kalnitz said, players bonded off
the court and were menches with each
other.
Fuchs Mizrachi School from Cleveland
won the tournament for the third time
in four years. Rabbi Avery Joel, head of
school, was the team’s chaperone this
year.
“The basketball in the tournament is
Fun, food, friendship and an amazing
comeback by Farber make for a
memorable weekend
Terrific
Tanzman
Tournament
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
34 | MARCH 31 • 2022
ARI ERSHLER
Beth Adler, mother of Farber
basketball players Aaron and
Micah Adler, was one of the
volunteers who prepared nine
meals for the six Tanzman
tournament teams.
Israeli soldiers Benji Marcus (left) and
Ari Ershler, former Tanzman basketball
tournament players from Hillel Academy of
Pittsburgh and Farber, watched their current
teams face each other in the tournament via
live stream in Israel.
RACHEL LOPATIN
Farber’s Aaron Adler drives past a
Columbus Torah Academy player.
RACHEL LOPATIN