40 | FEBRUARY 23 • 2023 

T

he Hebrew Academy 
of Montreal basketball 
team had to take a long 
and winding road to make it to 
Farber Hebrew Day School in 
Southfield.
After two canceled plane 
flights and an unplanned 
overnight stay in New York 
City, the Hebrew Academy 
entourage finally arrived at 
Farber in time for the reason 
for its trip.
The Heat made the most 
of their stay here last month, 
winning the championship 
of the fifth annual David 
Tanzman Memorial 
Tournament, a six-team 
competition between small 
Jewish day school high schools.
While taking home the 
championship trophy was 
fun, said Hebrew Academy 
coach Morrie Levy, what his 
team will remember most 
about the trip is the hospitality 
it received from the Farber 
community.
“Our kids loved their host 
families,” Levy said. “They had 
their laundry done, they were 
fed even though we got plenty 
of food at the tournament … 
one of our kids went home 
with a box of kosher Duncan 
Hines brownie mix. He loved 
the brownies, so his host 
family made sure he went 
home with a box of them.”
Snowstorms in Montreal and 
Detroit canceled their flights 
between the two cities, so the 
17-member Hebrew Academy 
group ended up flying from 
Montreal to New York City to 
Detroit.
While in NYC, the Hebrew 
Academy group spent a few 
hours overnight at a home in 
Queens that is the residence of 
a family member of a Hebrew 
Academy assistant coach.
“We got to the home about 
midnight and left about 3:30 in 

the morning because we had a 
6 a.m. flight to Detroit,” Levy 
said.
While some of their 
teammates slept at the gate 
at LaGuardia Airport in 
Queens waiting for the flight, 
Hebrew Academy players 
Eden Sorek and Aidan Knafo 
were wide awake, continuing 
their independent study of the 
Talmud.
After arriving in Detroit, the 
Hebrew Academy group took 
Uber rides to Farber and got 
there at about the same time as 
was originally planned.
This was Hebrew Academy’s 
second appearance at the 
Tanzman tournament. 
The Heat took second 
place in 2019, losing in 
the championship game to 
Fuchs-Mizrachi School from 
Cleveland.
Hebrew Academy replaced 
three-time defending 
tournament champion 
Fuchs-Mizrachi in this year’s 
tournament field.
The Heat were on fire at this 
year’s tournament, winning all 
four of their games including 
a 62-36 victory over Farber 
in the championship game. 
Hebrew Academy small 
forward Gabe Bodokh was 
named the tournament’s Most 
Valuable Player after averaging 
about 25 points per game.
The four wins gave Hebrew 
Academy a 7-3 record for the 
season.
There are no seniors on the 
Hebrew Academy team. In 
fact, there never are seniors, at 
least in U.S. terms. High school 
ends in the 11th grade in 
Quebec. There are about 250 
students in grades 7-11 at the 
Hebrew Academy.
Besides Sorek, Knafo and 
Bodokh, also on the Hebrew 
Academy basketball team 
are Nathan Amar, Eliyahou 

It took extra effort for the Hebrew 
Academy of Montreal basketball 
team to fly to Farber and win 
the David Tanzman Memorial 
Tournament championship.

Brownie Points

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SPORTS

TOP: Hebrew Academy of Montreal basketball team assistant coaches 
Shalom Zobin (left) and Daniel Shaul and Coach Morrie Levy arrive 
home with the David Tanzman Memorial Tournament championship 
trophy. ABOVE: Hebrew Academy of Montreal basketball players Eden 
Sorek (left) and Aidan Knafo study in the early morning at LaGuardia 
Airport during their team’s unplanned stop in New York City on their 
way to Detroit. 

PHOTOS COURTESY HEBREW ACADEMY OF MONTREAL