Ladies Night, An Evening With Hadassah
Adam has scheduled another speaking engagement in his hometown of Livingston, NJ. He’ll be speaking to members of the Livingston chapter of Hadassah, a Jewish women’s organization, on Thursday night, January 22 at 7:30 PM, at Temple B’Nai Abraham, 300 E. Northfield Road. Adam’s novel, Coaching Ira, is loosely based on his teen years growing up in Livingston, so he’ll talk about the influence the township had on the story, as well as read a few passages. For more info, contact Adam.
Buy cheap LotensinNotes from Fair Lawn/Glen Rock USY
You’re an up-and-coming pro athlete yearning for superstar status in your given sport. A very important game is coming up, where if you do well, it could mean big-time bucks, talk shows, kids wearing your jersey and the admiration of millions…not to mention your own teammates. But wait! You’ve just checked your PDA (or your publicist has) and realized that there is a conflict – in more ways than one! This crucial game is to be played on the holiest day of your religious calendar!
Quite the dilemma. So, what do you do? Do you surrender all the wealth, fame and fan adulation to spend the day in a house of worship, observing the faith to which you are so devoted? Or, do you skip the holy day – play instead of pray – in order to bring home the big check and make the fans and your teammates happy?
This question was posed to the bright and responsive group of high schoolers who make up the membership of Fair Lawn/Glen Rock USY. My November 9th speaking engagement was part of USY Awareness week, a program designed to increase the awareness of United Synagogue Youth – the international Conservative Jewish youth group that inspired my novel, Coaching Ira.
As expected, I got a mixed response from the crowd. Some of the kids figured one Yom Kippur away from synagogue was no big deal for all of the career enhancement you could get from playing on the Jewish holy day. Jewish athletes voicing this kind of sentiment, kids and adults alike, are not alone. Jewish football players like offensive lineman Lenny Friedman and baseball players like Boston’s Gabe Kapler and the Dodgers’ Shawn Green have played on the most sacred days of the Jewish year. Green, however, has since benched himself on Jewish high holy days very much aware of his role-model status to young, Jewish athletes.
Other kids in the group went the “Sandy Koufax” route, claiming they would not partake of sports on the high holys regardless of the bounty they would receive at day’s end. Religious observances and spiritual well-being aside, these teens felt that by being in synagogue instead of in a stadium on the Day of Atonement, they would look better in the public eye; their uncompromising devotion to their faith and their non-negotiable decision to observe it would make a better story, and in time all the other aforementioned rewards would come.
After this rousing debate, we cooled off with some Jewish sports trivia, which I purposely made neither too Jewish nor too sports. Multiple choice made things a bit easier as well. Winners received Israeli Soccer Team t-shirts and an encyclopedia of Jewish athletes published by the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (courtesy of event coordinator Harry Melzer). Afterwards, Adam signed copies of his “Jewish basketball novel,” Coaching Ira, the story of a quirky team of USY basketball players which is based on the author’s own playing days.
Fair Lawn/Glen Rock USY is an exceptional group of kids and their enthusiasm during the discussion was overwhelming. Best of luck to Chapter President Melissa Zeevi and Religious/Education VP Danielle Montag in their future plans, and thanks to Harry Melzer, Miriam Zeevi and advisor Darin Gaba for inviting me to speak.
Buy VantinHaving Your Judaism…and Your Sports, Too
As part of USY Awareness Week, Adam spoke to members of the Fair Lawn/Glen Rock (NJ) chapter of USY on November 9th. The author served up a brief history of the Jewish sports experience and led a discussion and debate on the conflicts that arise when being a Jewish athlete.
Buy Diovan hct onlineHurley. Shandler. The Baller. The Writer.
On Sunday, May 4, Adam will join former Duke and NBA great Bobby Hurley, Jr. at a dinner to honor the last five season of Rumson, NJ, USY/Kadima basketball teams — the same USY Basketball upon which Coaching Ira based. At the Sunday evening dinner, to take place at Rumson’s Congregation B’nai Israel, Adam will reminisce about his own USY playing days and talk about the origins of his novel. Hurley will likely discuss his storied basketball career, but not before spellbinding the crowd with the milk-in-the-newspaper trick.
For more info contact Barry Lewin, 732-842-1800.
Buy Forzest without a prescriptionDouble-Dip – Two Speaking Engagements to Recap
At Princeton Hillel
Wow, my first book tour event. I’m still floored by the notion that people actually want me to come and educate them on certain subjects. Me, the guy who had to cut early morning classes in college because he stayed up all night to compete in SEGA hockey tournaments.
And what a way to start a tour – at the Jewish Student Union of Princeton University, a profound pillar of learning and…well, more learning. No pressure or anything. I had an image of super-intellectual co-eds walking about campus smoking pipes and wearing mortarboards. I would be wearing a black turtleneck that I got for half-off at Today’s Man.
Yes, one would think that addressing such an erudite and knowledge-thirsty crowd would be intimidating; that my audience would have tongues at the ready to ask me some Rubik’s Cubian zinger following my presentation. Yet, this was not the case. I found the informal, intimate dinner gathering at the Princeton Hillel to be not only comfortable and enjoyable, but a perfect way to kick off a book tour.
The students were receptive, asked some really good questions and even laughed at some of my jokes. (The really unfunny ones, too.)
The crux of my presentation centered around Jews in Sports Culture. For more on the event and what I discussed, read Jeff Milgram’s Princeton Packet article.
A tip of the yarmulke to program director Kate Lester, who had the extraordinary vision to invite me.
At AABGU-New York City
First, I’ll tell you what AABGU (www.aabgu.org) is all about. (Don’t worry, this isn’t a public service announcement.)
The American Associates of Ben Gurion University of the Negev (exhale) is the American support flagship of Israel’s most active and popular university. It’s a school that values plurality, accepting students of all races, religions, nationalities and socio-economic backgrounds, not just well-off Israeli Jews. The place is Oz without the munchkins…they are growing food in the desert and raising aqua farms! They are developing cures for wasting diseases and are making such advances in science and technology that you wonder why you haven’t heard more about it. All of these breakthroughs are meant to better the world at-large, not just the state of Israel.
Adam with the good folk of AABGU.
At this event, I conducted a brief talk on the roots of Coaching Ira and read a few “teaser” chapters to get everyone into the story. By the end, the guests and I were all in our short shorts, organizing a pick-up game.
A portion of all book proceeds went to the AABGU Student Life Program, which provides much needed scholarships to Israeli students devastated by the economic crisis in that country.
Our door prize winner was Leah Perel, who went home happy with a personally signed copy of Coaching Ira.
Adam with Coaching Ira cover boy Lon Samuelson at AABGU book reading.
If you’re interested in having me speak at one of your events, please contact me via the Contact Adam link on the right. I don’t do balloon animals or saw ladies in half, but I do have some fun, educational programs that can be tailored to suit your group’s needs.
Buy HimplasiaTwo Events to Catch Adam
Now’s your chance to see what I look like, sound like and, if you get close enough, smell like! Like a nervous Marcia Brady giving her speech for debate class, I will be lecturing, book signing and book reading at the following institutions, and, yes, picturing you all in your underwear.
My first event takes place at Princeton University’s Hillel, or Jewish Student Union. The event is open to the public. Princeton. It’s an up-and-coming school that’s doing great things with education, so I’m sure one day you’ll hear about it. Here are the details of the event:
Adam D. Shandler offers a short lecture with implied and attempted humor on the Jew’s Place in Sports Culture. A Q&A will follow, and time permitting, a Coachinng Ira book signing.
Date: Monday, November 18, 2002
Time: 6 PM
Address:
Center for Jewish Life, Princeton University
70 Washington Road, Princeton, New Jersey
For more info and to reserve a seat, contact Kate Lester, Program Director at (609) 258-2288, or klester@princeton.edu.
Event #2 happens on New York’s famed Broadway, though I won’t be singing from Oklahoma! or dressing up like a cat.
The American Associates of Ben Gurion University have been kind enough to host a Meet the Author Event featuring a Coaching Ira book reading and signing. Coffee and cake will be served and the event is open to the public.
Date: Tuesday, November 26, 2002
Time: 6-8:30 PM
Address:
The Conference Room at AABGU
1430 Broadway, 8th Floor
(between 39th and 40th Streets)
New York City
A portion of all books sold at this event will be donated to the AABGU Student Life Scholarship program, which provides higher education for Israeli students. For more info, visit www.aabgu.org.
For more information and reservations, please contact Rebecca Weinstein at (212) 687-7721, ext. 110, or TomorrowsLeadership@aabgu.org.
Hope to see you there. Bring a book for me to sign, a hand for me to shake and a baby for me to kiss.
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