Menschwarmers

On the first night of the NBA draft on June 25, the most surprising team was undoubtedly the Brooklyn Nets. They had five first-round picks—and, for the first time in NBA history, kept all of them. They picked Egor Demin earlier than anyone would have predicted. And they used two of their picks—back-to-back at numbers 26 and 27—on this year's only Jewish prospects, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf.

Saraf, an Israeli guard, is a skilled pa...

In March 2025, Josh Goldenberg had all but given up his dreams of playing professional golf. Using his finance degree from the University of Pennsylvania, he took a job at Goldman Sachs. But when he saw an opening to play in a qualifying tournament for the RBC Canadian Open, he signed up and flew up north on a Sunday—so he wouldn't have to take work off—and ended up earning a spot on his first PGA Tour. Goldenberg shares his remark...

Jewish racing fans were thrilled to see rookie Robert Shwartzman win what's called "pole position"—the starting spot, ahead of all other racers—at this week's forthcoming Indy 500 competition. The surprise victory vaults Shwartzman into rare company as one of the only rookies to earn the feat, and sets him up to possibly become the first Jewish winner of the famous race since the 1940s. It's major international news—and p...

Yeshiva University's men's basketball team rose to prominence during a Cinderella run in the 2021-22 season, earning the league's longest winning streak under star Ryan Turell and snatching the number-one seed in Division III basketball. Now, the team is back in the national spotlight for a different reason: a new documentary that follows the boys as they navigate their 2023-24 season in a post-Oct. 7 world.

Rebound: A Year of Tri...

If you're the type of sports fan who wants to root for the most Jewish team in any given postseason, the Edmonton Oilers deserve consideration for your pick this NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. The Oilers may not be looking great against the Los Angeles Kings so far, having been blown out 6-2 on Wednesday night to fall 0-2 in the series, but they're still sporting not just one, but two Torontonian Jewish players in Zach Hyman and Jake Wa...

For many Jews, spring means Passover is coming. For the Menschwarmers, it means baseball season has started—and we're here to take a look at the top athletes in the MLB right now, including some of the league's highest-paid stars and young guys being shuffled around like baseball cards. We'll catch up on Alex Bregman, Max Fried, Spencer Horwitz, Bubby Rossman and many more. After that, we share some listener excitement about baseba...

Some might call Purim "March Madness", but in the sports world, that title is reserved for the NCAA men's Division I basketball tournament, when some of the world's brightest young stars prove their worth, with many holding NBA aspirations. And this year, in an unusual twist, three of the four number-one seeds are coached by Jews. There's Bruce Pearl, the storied coach of the esteemed Auburn Tigers since 2014; the Florid...

The pandemic famously sparked new public interest in golf courses, the outdoor sport one could argue was designed for social distancing. It was at that time that Jake Adams, a Jewish stand-up comic, started a new social media channel called "Country Club Adjacent". Leaning into his longtime love of the sport—including its famous exclusion of Jews—he began making videos that blended roast humour, self-deprecating Jewish jo...

The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, with an accompanying museum in Israel, recently announced their inductees for 2025—including former NBA star Amar’e Stoudemire, soccer announcer Andrés Cantor, Canadian cyclist Leah Goldstein and many others. But they're not just honouring veteran Jews—they're also trying to attract younger ones. With a rebrand and plans for an enhanced digital presence, the prominent Jewish sports inst...

On Jan. 21, the Prosserman JCC in Toronto will host the Canadian premiere of Israel Swings for Gold, the documentary sequel to the sleeper hit Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel, which followed the team's assembly and Cinderella run at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Reunited for the Tokyo Olympics, the Israeli baseball team—a hodgepodge of Jewish American rookies, former MLB players and native-born Israelis—wound up disappoint...

On Dec. 10, news broke that the Toronto Blue Jays were trading Jewish first baseman Spencer Horwitz to the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for second baseman Andrés Giménez and right-handed reliever Nick Sandlin. The CJN's sports podcasters, the Menschwarmers, have some mixed feelings about that: on the one hand, Giménez is an elite middle infielder; on the other hand, it's never easy to see your hometown Jewish player leave town.

Professional women's sports are having a banner year in 2024. The new pro women's hockey league welcomed record-breaking numbers in January; the WNBA has produced bona fide basketball stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese; and now, just last month, news broke that a Women's Pro Baseball League will launch in 2026—and it's being spearheaded by two Jewish industry vets.

One is Justine Siegal, who has racked up a Wikipedia...

We've just wrapped up one of the most special days in any Jewish sports fan's calendar: no, not Simchat Torah or Yom Kippur, but the so-called "sports equinox", a rare occurrence when all four major American sports leagues host games on the same day. Whether you're rooting for the Dodgers to win the World Series or gearing up for NFL season, yesterday there was something for everyone.

The only problem is that there aren't...

The leaves have begun falling and NHL season is around the corner, so the Menschwarmers are back with a hockey season preview. Will Zach Hyman thrill Edmonton fans with another 50-goal season? With Jack Hughes make the MVP leap? Will the Bruins ever re-sign Jeremy Swayman? We don't have any of these answers, but we have fun asking them.

Then, we move from the beginning of one sport season to the end of another. With baseball wrappi...

With the Summer Olympics in the rearview mirror, all eyes are now on the Paralympic Games, spotlighting the world's most impressive athletes with disabilites. Yet few know that it was a Jewish postwar doctor, Ludwig Guttmann, tasked with treating Second World War veterans with spinal cord injuries, who founded a small competition in Britain that would evolve into the modern-day Paralympics.

One sports history fan who knows the sto...

The Canadian Jewish world erupted with cheers when a young, musclar, mustachioed British Columbian named Ethan Katzberg won a decisive gold medal in hammer throw at the 2024 Paris Olympics. A Katzberg! Named Ethan! Whose father's name is Bernie!

Alas, after doing extensive research—contacting the local Jewish community in his native Kamloops, investigating his family history, scouring social media for clues—The CJN's Jewish sports...

In the days leading up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, numerous Israeli athletes have received anonymous death threats, proclaiming a repeat of the 1972 Munich massacre. A far-left French lawmaker denounced the Israeli delegation as being "not welcome in Paris." Rather than bowing out, Israel has been assured of 24-hour security by the French interior minister.

It's a tremendous amount of extra pressure on the country's top a...

It was the summer of 2016 when Sam Schachter and Josh Binstock—both Jewish beach volleyball players competing for Canada—just barely qualified for the Olympics, less than a month before the games were to start in Rio de Janeiro.

Eight years later, history is repeating itself.

Schachter (sans Binstock, instead with new partner Daniel Dearing) just recently qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, scheduled start on July 26. Once again...

We're entering the post-Shavuot dog days of summer, which means a wind-down for most Jewish athletes. After a short break, The CJN's sports podcasters return with a late spring catch-up to talk golf, baseball and the end of the NHL and NBA seasons.

Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried has emerged as a genuine candidate to win the 2024 Cy Young Award; Spencer Horwitz has firmly ascended to the majors; we're expecting Zach Hyman to ste...