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.
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