34 | FEBRUARY 9 • 2023 

T

he David Tanzman Memorial 
Tournament once again was a cele-
bration of basketball, friendship and 
sportsmanship.
Boys basketball teams from host Farber 
Hebrew Day School and five other small 
high schools from Jewish day schools com-
peted in the fifth annual tournament Jan. 
26-29.
Besides meeting on the basketball court, 
players socialized with old and new friends, 
and ate meals and spent Shabbos together.
Hebrew Academy (Montreal) won the 
tournament. The Heat beat Farber 62-36 
in the championship game and returned to 
Canada from Southfield with four victories 
in four games.
Also in the tournament field were Atlanta 
Jewish Academy, Columbus (Ohio) Torah 
Academy, Denver Academy of Torah and 
Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh.
The field was the same as the 2022 
tournament with the exception of Hebrew 
Academy, which replaced Fuchs-Mizrachi 
School from Cleveland. Fuchs-Mizrachi had 
won the tournament three straight times.
Farber high school students, including 
the basketball team, once again took the 
lead role in organizing the tournament, 
with guidance from school administrators 

and staff members.
Senior Avi Selesny and 
junior Micah Adler led the 
student effort as co-com-
missioners. Selesny said he 
gained a ton of experience 
working with then-senior 
Aaron Adler, Micah’s brother, 
on the 2022 tournament.
Now Micah is ready to take 
the reins for the 2024 tour-
nament.
“It’s a right of passage for 
the junior co-commission-
er to learn from the senior 
co-commissioner each year,
” Selesny said.
Josh Levisohn, Farber’s head of school, 

called the 2023 tournament a huge success.
“Every year, the tournament encapsulates 
what makes Farber so special. We have a 
community feel,
” he said.
“I love watching the interactions between 
our younger students and our high school 
basketball players, and seeing Farber alumni 
and alumni parents help out as volunteers 
and attend the tournament.
”
Levisohn said he once again enjoyed 
witnessing the camaraderie that occurs 
between basketball players from different 
schools off the court and between opposing 
teams during competitive games.
“There’s very little tribalism and great 
sportsmanship during games,
” he said. “If 
a player falls during a game, he usually gets 

Terrific Tanzman 
Tournament

PHOTOS BY PAUL FISCHER

SPORTS

Farber Hebrew Day School welcomes five 
teams for a weekend of basketball and 
friendship.

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Farber’s Ari 
Schon dribbles 
past a Hebrew 
Academy (Montreal) 
player during the 
championship 
game of the David 
Tanzman Memorial 
Tournament.

Avi Selesny

PAUL FISCHER 

Micah 
Adler

MICAH ADLER

