With practice almost everyday, and games every Friday night, keeping up with the CHS boys varsity basketball team requires a lot of time and effort, but when you can’t drive to practice or games because of your religion, it gets even tougher.
Junior Jacob Glassman plays on the basketball team and observes Shabbat, which begins every Friday at sunset and continues until Saturday at sunset. Shabbat is known as the day of rest in Judaism where certain actions deemed “work” are not allowed. Orthodox Jews, like Glassman, are prohibited from engaging in 39 activities during Shabbat.
¨There is a biblical prohibition on Shabbat to light a fire,” Glassman said. “Because starting a car involves lighting a fire, observant Jews refrain from driving. Because of Shabbat, I am unable to drive to and from Friday night basketball games.”
Glassman has attended almost every basketball game this year, but because most games are on Friday, he has to plan ahead to get to and from the games while still following Shabbat.
“When I have a Friday night home game, I walk home,” Glassman said. “My house is around a mile from school.”
But not every game is at CHS. Sometimes away games are at schools like Richard Montgomery and Blair.
According to Glassman, when he has an away game, he and his family “reach out to the extended Jewish community”and he stays with a host if walking is too far. Most of the time the people they stay with are friends of friends who are open to providing hospitality due to Shabbat.
The decision to play basketball was not an easy one for Glassman, and having to juggle between huge commitments is a constant struggle.
Glassman has had to miss Saturday morning synagogue because of a game or practice and has also had to miss basketball-related events because of Shabbat or a special religious occasion.
“The question I keep asking myself is, ‘Is it worth playing basketball at the expense of compromising my observance,’” Glassman said. “It took me months to decide, and even today, I am still unsure whether I made the right decision, though I do love basketball.”
According to varsity basketball coach Robert Bean, Glassman “is a great teammate” and as “a great player.” He is “very enthusiastic about the sport and tries to get his teammates pumped up.”
“Jacob is everything that you want in a player,” Bean said. “He is extremely committed, and he is one of the hardest working players.”
Bean typically expects all players to be there every practice, but Glassman’s case is different.
“He actually has another commitment in his life that we want to honor and allow him to juggle along with his commitment to basketball,” Bean said. “There aren’t many players who would be able to handle that.”
When Glassman skips practice, it is never to rest; rather, it’s to participate in his faith and be with his community, which impresses Bean.
“He has to walk very long distances to still be committed to his sport,” Bean said. “We’ll have a game Friday night at Richard Montgomery, and he’ll walk home with his family, which is like four miles.”
Although he has to balance his religion with basketball, both are very important aspects of his life and he is always able to fall back on the support of his family.
“I am grateful that I have been put in this position because life is not clean cut,” Glassman said. “It forces prioritization and compromise.”