8 | APRIL 14 • 2022 

W

hen I was first 
approached to 
contribute to 
this year’s Passover edition, 
I didn’t really know what 
to write about. The Jewish 
calendar and the baseball 
calendar tend 
to line up so 
that Passover 
falls in the 
transition 
period between 
spring training 
and the regular 
season. To 
write about my experience 
celebrating Passover as 
a professional baseball 
player strays far from many 
traditional celebrations, but 
perhaps that is exactly what 
makes my story interesting. 
I love my job, but it’s not 
very lenient when it comes 
to having a life outside of 
baseball during the season. 
If there is a game, players 
are expected to be there. 
It makes sense. Taking a 
personal day is not fair 
to the fans who pay their 
hard-earned money to 
attend a game and see their 
favorite players. While 
Hank Greenberg and Sandy 
Koufax famously missed 
games during the Jewish 
High Holidays, more often 
than not, the schedule of the 
baseball season means that 
we, as players, miss birthday 
parties, weddings, and 
sometimes the births and 
deaths of loved ones. It also 

leads to some improvisation 
when celebrating religious 
holidays around the baseball 
schedule.
For the first eight years 
of our marriage, my wife, 
Jamie, and I have created 
new family traditions 
during the baseball season. 
For Passover, our tradition 
has become rolling with 
the punches and making a 
celebration happen however 
we can. One year during 
spring training with the 
Boston Red Sox, we used a 
dog treat as a shank bone 
and a bottle of hot sauce as 
our bitter maror because 
we were moving the next 
day and that is all we had 
available. 
A few years later, we 
celebrated the night before 
Major League Baseball’s 
Opening Day while I was 
with the Baltimore Orioles. 
After an evening practice, 
we ordered take-out and 
had an abbreviated seder at 
11 p.m. on our hotel bed. 
During the rare year 
when we have actually been 
more settled, we’ve invited 
our non-Jewish teammates 
to celebrate with us. But 
more often, it seems we end 
up scouring whatever city 
in which we are currently 
residing for a Jewish deli 
that offers a take-out seder. 
We have even celebrated 
on FaceTime with our 
family while driving on 
the interstate; on our own 

exodus from spring training 
to the regular season. 
This year, I will start the 
baseball season playing 
with the Detroit Tigers’ 
AAA affiliate, the Toledo 
Mud Hens. Jamie and I are 
excited to become a part of 
the greater Detroit Jewish 
community. Passover for us 
will be during our first road 
trip of the year, so Jamie 
and I will celebrate at the 
team hotel in Des Moines, 
Iowa (unfortunately not a 
mecca for Jewish delis). 
I am proud to be a Jewish 
professional baseball player 
and to represent those who 
came before me. Jamie and 
I have embraced the idea 
that doing something for 
the Jewish holidays, even if 
it is rustic or strays from the 
norm, is much better than 
doing nothing. Celebrating 
freedom is one of the 
central themes of Passover, 
and we are grateful to be 
able to celebrate in our own 
unique way as I continue to 
live out my dream.
So wherever and however 
you celebrate Passover this 
year, I hope you enjoy your 
holiday and create lasting 
memories with your family. 
Chag sameach from my 
family to yours. 

Ryan Lavarnway plays catcher for 

the Toledo Mud Hens.

essay
Hello, Metro Detroit 
Jewish Community

Ryan 
Lavarnway

ON THE EVE OF 
continued from page 6

with Secretary of State Antony 
Blinken and Israeli Foreign 
Minister Yair Lapid in a beauti-
ful illustration of a new Middle 
East that is looking forward to 
advancing peace, friendship 
and mutual protection.
Locally, we at the Jewish 
Community Relations Council/
American Jewish Committee 
(JCRC/AJC) – Detroit, will 
continue to rally Israel’s friends 
in the interfaith community 
to be ready to add their 
voices to ours. We are deeply 
grateful to Michigan’s elected 
officials, including Reps. Levin, 
Stevens and Upton, who have 
expressed both their horror at 
the 11 lives recently lost and 
their solidarity with the people 
of Israel. Furthermore, we are 
taking the lessons we learned 
last Ramadan, especially 
during Israel’s Guardian of the 
Walls conflict with Hamas in 
May, to be more vigilant and 
vocal as we stand up for Israel. 
Currently, our organization 
is gathering pro-Israel groups 
in Detroit, as well as several 
that are national, to strategize 
ways we can collectively 
advocate for Israel. Together, 
we will use every method we 
can to get the word out.
Let us not only pray but also 
commit ourselves to work hard 
to defend our Jewish State and 
people wherever they may face 
those who want to destroy 
them. Let us be strong with 
our allies and with each other 
so that Israel will continue to 
be a beacon of hope, diversity 
and peace for our world. Am 
Yisrael Chai — Israel is alive and 
strong. 

Rabbi Asher Lopatin is Executive 

Director of the JCRC/AJC. Adar Rubin 

is Israel Associate at JCRC/AJC.

PURELY COMMENTARY

