42 | OCTOBER 13 • 2022
SPORTS
A
fter a two-year
absence caused
by the COVID-
19 pandemic, the annual
Michigan Jewish Sports Hall
of Fame induction dinner has
returned.
It will be held Oct. 24 with
a familiar look at a familiar
place. The dinner will be at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
in Southfield, its original
venue. The first dinner was
held at Shaarey Zedek on Dec.
4, 1985.
The dinner moved from
Shaarey Zedek to the Jewish
Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit in West
Bloomfield about a decade
ago because the Hall of Fame
plaques were on display at the
JCC in the health club.
The plaques are no longer
accessible by the public
because of the closure of the
health club in September
2020, so the Michigan Jewish
Sports Foundation, which
oversees the Hall of Fame,
moved the dinner.
It was a bittersweet decision.
“For me, the best part about
having the dinner at the JCC
was taking the Hall of Fame
inductees and their families to
the place where their plaques
were going to hang,” said
foundation president Stuart
Raider.
Don Rudick, the new
foundation executive director,
credited foundation vice
president and executive
committee member
Larry Sherman with
“quarterbacking” the move of
the dinner back to Shaarey
Zedek.
Sherman was a 2010
inductee into the Hall of
Fame following his days as an
outstanding basketball player
at Oak Park High School.
“Shaarey Zedek is the best
place to move the Hall of
Fame induction dinner. It’s a
natural fit,” he said.
Sherman calls Shaarey
Zedek his home court. There
are several reasons why he
has given the synagogue that
designation.
“I started attending Hebrew
school at Shaarey Zedek when
they opened the doors there
in 1962,” he said.
Since then, he had his
bar mitzvah there (1965),
married his wife Joyce there
(1984), and celebrated the bar
mitzvahs, bat mitzvah and
b’nai mitzvah of the couple’s
children Jordan (1999),
Dustin (2001), Darrien (2006)
and twins Jared and Jolie there
(2011).
Rudick is eagerly awaiting
the dinner, which will begin at
6 p.m. after cocktails.
“This is exciting for me
for a couple reasons,” he
said. “First, we haven’t had
the dinner for two years.
Secondly, I’m looking forward
to having an impact on a
wonderful event.”
This year’s Hall of Fame
inductees are David Ginsberg,
Carrie Rose Goldman, JJ
Modell, Michael Rosenberg
and Adam Steinberg.
Ginsberg is a former Grand
Blanc High School and
Central Michigan University
basketball standout who
retired in 2005 after a long
career in education and
basketball coaching that
included 16 years as an
assistant coach at CMU.
Rose Goldman was a
tennis star at Bloomfield
Hills Lahser High School
and Boston University who
also was successful in United
States Tennis Association
tournaments. At age 16, she
was ranked 42nd in singles
and 23rd in doubles nationally
by the USTA in her age group.
Modell was an outstanding
golfer at Bloomfield Hills
Cranbrook-Kingswood High
School and Brown University
who has gone on to become
one of the top amateur golfers
in the state. He won a gold
medal this summer with
the U.S. masters team at the
Maccabiah Games in Israel.
Rosenberg is a senior writer
for Sports Illustrated who
formerly spent 13 years as a
sports reporter and columnist
at the Detroit Free Press. He’s
the author of a critically
acclaimed book, War As They
Knew It: Woody Hayes, Bo
Schembechler and America in
a Time of Unrest.
Steinberg has been a
collegiate tennis coach for 33
years. He’s currently at the
University of Michigan. The
Wolverines won the Big Ten
championship and made it to
the Elite Eight at the NCAA
tournament this past season.
The Hall of Fame inductees
aren’t the only ones honored
at the dinner.
This year’s Pillars of
Excellence recipients are
Dr. Harold Friedman, Brian
Gurwin and David Kamisar.
Friedman has been involved
for years with the JCC
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
For the first time since 2019,
Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of
Fame will have new members.
Hall Doors
Open Again
STUART RAIDER
Stuart Raider is president of the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation,
which oversees the Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.