38 | FEBRUARY 15 • 2024 J
N
T
he telltale squeak
of basketball shoes
on the parquet floor
reverberated in the Farber
Hebrew Day School gym for
four consecutive days as the
school hosted the sixth annual
David Tanzman Memorial
Tournament from Jan. 25-28.
The school hosted Jewish day
school teams from Columbus,
Toronto, Cleveland, Denver and
Pittsburgh in the premier small
school tournament in Jewish
high school basketball.
Started in 2018 by students
Ari Ershler and Ari Eizen, the
Tanzman Tournament is unique
in several ways. The students
play a large role in the planning
and running of the tournament,
including getting sponsorships,
running the livestream, clock
and book, recruiting teams and
organizing schedules.
In addition, the teams that
come to the tournament are
comprised of many players
who know each other from
camp or youth groups, so
the camaraderie among the
teams — both on and off the
court — truly sets the Tanzman
Tournament apart from other
tournaments.
“Tanzman provides small
schools an opportunity not
only to attend an out-of-town
tournament but also to compete
on the court,
” said Dr. Josh
Levisohn, Farber’s Head of
School. “When you combine
the competitiveness on the
court with the friendships off
of it, you find a tournament
that is really like no other. It’s
also amazing to see parents
from other cities who come
to cheer on their teams. The
environment is electric!”
The teams played round
robin games on Thursday
night, Friday and Saturday
night, and the playoff rounds
on Sunday. Fuchs-Mizrachi,
from Cleveland, emerged as the
champion once again, defeating
the hometown Farber team in
the finals.
For the Farber fans, the
highlight of the tournament was
a comeback victory on Saturday
night by the Farber Fire against
the Hillel Heat from Pittsburgh.
Down by 13 with just 4 minutes
left, the Farber press caused
several turnovers, leading to
three three-pointers and two
fast break layups. Still down by
one with 12 seconds left, Farber
forced a steal and a layup with
eight seconds left to cap the
comeback and send the crowd
into a frenzy. That win also
sent the Farber squad to the
championship game on Sunday.
In addition to the games,
the tournament includes a
Shabbaton with all of the
teams staying in homes in the
Southfield area.
The Shabbaton took place at
the Young Israel of Southfield,
which warmly greeted all of the
teams for the entire weekend.
Farber high school operations
coordinator Naomi Gardin
captained the professional
side of the effort and, in her
honor, friends from Southfield
dedicated the lead sponsorship
of the tournament to the
memory of Naomi’s father,
Moishe Goldstein, who passed
away just one month ago.
Next year’s Tanzman
Tournament is scheduled for
Jan. 23-26.
Farber Hebrew Day School holds sixth annual Tanzman Tournament.
A Tournament Like No Other
RACHEL LOPATIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
OUR COMMUNITY
The Farber
team and staff
Dr. Josh Levisohn, Gideon Lopatin, Micah
Adler, Naomi Gardin and Elianna Jacobs