A Rabbi's World: Of Giants and Jews
Posted By James BesserA Rabbi's World: Of Giants and Jews
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One of my earliest childhood memories is of Y. A. Tittle, former New York Giants quarterback, sitting on his knees with a bloodied face in Pitt Stadium after a loss to the Steelers. I grew up with the Yankees and the football Giants being two of the main focuses of my life. Mantle and Maris, Frank Gifford, Alex Webster… the stuff of my youth. So many fond memories!
I'm glad to say that twenty-seven years in the rabbinate haven't cured me of all my childhood habits, and I happily admit that the Giants' unanticipated Super Bowl victory last Sunday made me one very happy person. I was a kid again for the last few minutes of that game. I hung on every play, and let out quite the scream when Eli Manning found Plexico Burris in the corner of the end zone for what proved to be the winning touchdown.
My two sons- one in Israel and the other at a Super Bowl party in Manhattan- were furiously texting me. Ah, I thought to myself, I have succeeded as a parent. They're enjoying this as much as I am!
With the benefit of a few days to mull that incredible game over, I am amazed by the degree to which- like other truly memorable sporting events- it featured a meta-theme that transcended what was going on in the game itself. It was all about redemption.
Tom Coughlin went from having one foot out the door at 0-2 to a Super Bowl victory and, no doubt, a new and lucrative contract. Eli Manning went from being everyone's favorite whipping boy to a prince of the city. When you're a guest on David Letterman's show, you know you've become cool.
Manning spent most of the year playing the role of "lost child." Now he's ultimate cool. Joy comes in the morning, I guess…
While the kid in me celebrates what the Giants accomplished as a fan, the rabbi in me can't help but wonder at how the Giants did what they did; not just winning the Super Bowl, but running the table in the playoffs with every game on the road. Think about it. Towards the end of the season, the Giants were still finding ways to lose the games that would seal their status as a playoff team, and then- something happened.
How I'd love to know what that "something" was. What happens to- as I admit to calling them before the playoffs- the worst 10-6 team in the NFL that makes them an unbeatable juggernaut?
The answer, I suspect, is what they themselves said: they became a team. They were able to discover in each other something greater than themselves, and to submerge their own individual senses of self in the greater good of the ensemble. In so doing, they achieved at a previously unimaginable level of achievement.
Wouldn't you love to know what flipped that switch?
I would. And if I could find it out, I'd give it as a gift to the Jewish community, so that we could work as a team and not be at loggerheads so much of the time. Think of what we could do!
New York dreamin' on such a winter's day….