NBA star Amar'e Stoudemire heads to Israel after discovering Jewish roots
'This is my dream,' tweets New York Knicks forward en route to Holy Land.
By Haaretz Service Tags: Israel news Jewish World Israel basketballU.S. basketball star Amar'e Stoudemire landed in Israel on Wednesday for a voyage of discovery after learning he has Jewish roots. Stoudemire's agent said the New York Knicks forward was planning a weeklong visit to learn about the country and explore its religions.
On Wednesday afternoon, Stoudemire posted to his Twitter account, Amareisreal, "Jerusalem is a beautiful city, I'm at a cafe eating a late lunch. I'm learning Hebrew by the min. Keep up !! Shalom."
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Amar'e Stoudemire |
| Photo by: Reuters |
On Monday he Tweeted, "On the flight to Israel. This is going to be a great trip. The holy land. Learn about it," he wrote, adding "ze ha'halom sheli" - Hebrew for "this is my dream."
According to an Army Radio report, the Florida native plans to spend time in Israel learning Hebrew, having recently learned he has a Jewish mother.
News of Stoudemire's trip quickly had Israeli basketball fans abuzz with speculation that they might one day see him playing alongside another Jewish NBA star, Omri Casspi, on Israel's national team.
So far there is no indication that Stoudemire is here to stay - although for the moment, Israel seems to be getting along just fine without him, beating Great Britain 86-82 on Tuesday and Belgium 69-64 on Wednesday.
Stoudemire left the Phoenix Suns earlier this month to sign a $100-million, five-year deal with the Knicks.
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On how much Jewish is Jewish enough If we had these kind of "Jewish" standard I'm not sure that many of our grandparents could have immigrated to Israel Let get off of our high horses and welcome anyone who wishes to be an Israeli or Jewish and contribute in a positive manner to the State of Israel if they come from Europe, Asia, Africa, America or Mars
that Adolf Hitler had Jewish ancestry ................but was in denial about it....
http://www.shalomlife.com/eng/13446/Newly_Discovered_Jewish_NBA_Star_Travels_to_Israel/
Welcome to the tribe Amar'e. Now that you are a part of the chosen people, don't screw it up. Use it for good reasons and stand up for your people in time of need. Baruch Aba
If we countinue all this , we shall se that nearly many people on Earth have Jewish roots. In this way shall strenghten the identity of who is a Jew or not .
who appears to be significantly paler then he is. So perhaps his mother's mother was non-African Jewish? Or maybe just PR stunt for his new NYC Knicks fans.
This is no insult nor do I mean any harm.Its just amazing the stupidity of European, and American white Jews, that they believe the ancient Israelites were white. Job the prophet said "my skin is black upon me" and there is Amos "Israel you are like Ethiopians to me"Genisis opens up talking about Ethiopia. counless instances opens
but welcome to the clan Amare.
Jews from all over the world look different. Don't listen to what your European relatives tell you and research for yourself. The oldest synagogues in the Western Hemisphere were in the Caribbean where a lot of Blacks are. There are Black Jews all over. Barbados had the 2nd oldest synagogue and St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands had the third oldest in the Western Hemisphere. Brazil had the fourth and the USA had the third. So YES, there are Black Jews and HaShem is calling them home.
So Eran Assenti, David Assenti, Avi Gola, David Bluthenthal, Jordan Farmar, Shawn Weinstein, Lenny Kravitz, Avi Fogel, Chanan Colman, Goapele, Drake, Craig David, Yaphet Kotto, Shyne, Sylven Landesberg, Lisa Bonet, Slash, Shai Biruk, Amir Taga and many more don't look Jewish to you either I guess...
jewish relationsship is far deeper as many would know."Moses and Monotheism" by Sidmund Freud could help better understanding.
wish you enjoing staying here.
people in class houses etc
Israel ALREADY shows the world that it's a multi-cultural society, oaf. If you weren't so blindly anti-Israeli, you might have know that already.
Fits in with the quality of your other postings.!
There is nothing greater than coming to Israel as a Jew. I'm glad to hear that you are excited about visiting our home!
uhh, sure-who converted her?-reverend wright?-and, why does he look nothing like Mel Stottelmeyer???
Don't be so qucik to doubt, there are plenty of halachically Jewish blacks out there.... As the saying goes, the truth is often stranger than fiction.
People of all races practice Judaism, as is the case with the various other religions of the world. "God" isn't discriminatory, so why should his worshipers be?
His maternal grandmother is Ashkenazi; his mother is of mixed (European and Black Ancestry), ergo his jewishness
Look at a map, Israel is much closer to Africa than it is to Poland, Of COURSE there are Black Jews. look up B'chol Loshon-"in Every Tongue" or MaNishtana.net. or Jews in All Hues.
We are a people (Israel) that has our own religion (Judaism). Welcome Amar'e!
everyone knows about the jewish family. he is a descendant of avremele stoude meyer, and the grandson of that famous rebbe from nairobi, meyer stoude meyer
It's hard to believe Amare Stoudemire is Jewish, but it's surely good PR for the Knicks. Beyond their most famous support, Spike Lee, for sure the Knicks have a lot of Jewish fans.
israel is the new bronx
There is something missing in this story,. For instance, how did he not know about his mother? How did he discover her religion after so many years?
Either he decided to investigate his past or a relative told him, surely you could reach this on your own..
He probably did decide to investigate his past or a relative told him, however shouldn't that be part of the story (if not half the story).
Take that Allan Houston & Charlie Ward!!
crazy news
with Palestinian flags and chants Free Palestine everywhere he plays ? As all Jews around the world, he becomes a legitimate target for not taking a pro Palestinian stand now, you know.
For the few people that watch the NBA, they don't care about BDS. I'm glad to see that you don't differentiate between Jews and Israelis. It makes it easier to ignore the illegitimacy of such claims. It's just funny to me to think of crowds of flag waving Palestinians yelling at Stoudemire during a game that they won't buy his jersey. Wow, you're showing him!
Distinguising Between Jews & Israelis is like distiguishing Arabs and Palestinian Arabs. The only difference is the geographical location and differing childhood experiences.
Hahahahahaha. It will never happen. He's may be Jewish, but he represents the USA.
Because his NBA contract is not insured to protect the NY Knicks. He's already pulled out of playing for the US team for this reason, thus he won't be playing alongside Casspi on the Israeli team.
because as some posters pointed out, Jews and Palestinians have the same Y-chromosomes so he can play for Palestine and represent his new country as well. :-)
Just like Jordan Farmar, he would rather rep the U.S. Unlike Farmar, he has been selected. Enjoy David Bluthenthal, and good luck with Jon Scheyer, especially with Romania and Trinidad & Tobago showing interest in Dan Grunfeld and Sylven Landesberg respectfully.
wont get a rise out of us with your nonsense
Don't sell this guy short. He looked terrific in the NBA summer league. He played for the Heat but got knocked out with a sharp poke to his eye in the 2nd ga me and never returned. Coach Spoelstra had some very positive things to say about him. He particularly liked the way Jon spread the court which might have been good for the three kings.