Can Ryan Braun Do Teshuvah?

An interview with the Detroit Tigers' new manager Brad Ausmus about his Jewish heritage spread out over a half page in yesterday's Detroit Free Press. The interview was an excerpt from the new book by Larry Ruttman, “American Jews and America’s Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball”. Ruttman's interview concludes with a prediction that Ausmus will one day become a manager of a Major League Baseball team and of course that prediction came true earlier this month when the Detroit Tigers announced his hiring.

In the two weeks since that announcement many people in Detroit -- and outside of Detroit -- have asked my opinion about the Jewishness of Brad Ausmus. That's an easy answer, I explain, because his mother is Jewish and therefore he's Jewish. However, that doesn't seem to be enough for many people. They seem to be troubled by the fact that Ausmus isn't the ideal Jewish character for Jewish baseball fans to be excited about. Growing up with a Protestant father, having a Christmas tree in the house each year, and never becoming a bar mitzvah bothers many who want to be excited about this new Jewish manager (it should be noted that Ausmus isn't the only Jewish manager currently in Major League Baseball since Bob Melvin, the manager of the Oakland A's, also has a Jewish mother and coincidentally was also a catcher at one point for the Detroit Tigers).

Ausmus has been very candid about his Jewish background and like Ryan Braun he acknowledges that Judaism didn't feature very prominently in his upbringing. In fact, both Ausmus and Braun fall very neatly into the category of Jewish American that many were surprised about in the recent Pew Research Center study. I have cynically explained to people that having Jewish baseball players in the Major Leagues and Jewish managers are statistical anomalies. After all, make up a very small percent of the U.S. population and when you factor in that many professional baseball players aren't from the U.S., the chances of a Jewish professional player are very small. Therefore, we don't have the luxury of choosing the type of Jewish player.

Yes, it would be easier to feel Jewish pride over a Jewish baseball player who plays like Hank Greenberg, refuses to play on Yom Kippur, attends a synagogue, practices a virtuous life off the field, and donates a portion of his salary to Israel and local Jewish causes. However, we have to take what we get. And that is why we should feel proud that Ausmus (and Bob Melvin) is a manager. He's honest about who he is as it relates to his Jewish heritage, explaining, "I was not brought up in any religion, I wasn’t bar mitzvahed. I married a Catholic girl and have two daughters. Other than the holidays we spent with my grandparents, there really wasn’t much Jewish religion or Catholic-based religion in the household. I think my mom enjoyed Christmas more than anyone, because she didn’t have it as a kid growing up."

Alexander Gould Goes From Weeds to Israel

Last night Showtime aired the 100th episode of its long-running hit Weeds. However, one of the show's most popular actors wasn't watching it when it was first shown since it was the middle of the night for him.

Alexander Gould plays "Shane Botwin" on Weeds, a show about a middle class family from California that gets into the marijuana growing and distribution business after the head of the family suddenly dies. Over the course of the past eight seasons Gould's character has transitioned from a little boy to a young man before our eyes. He has shot a mountain lion, made a terrorist video in which he beheads a little girl, bit his opponent's foot in a karate match, murdered his mother's Mexican nemesis, lost his virginity, become a police officer, and stolen a gang banger's sports car. But that was just acting.

Alexander Gould (far right) moves into Beit Nativ with his USY peers.

Now, he's putting his acting career aside for the year and is adjusting to life in Israel. While fans of the show watched last night as the Botwins returned to their roots in Agrestic, Alex Gould was sleeping in his bed at Beit Nativ in Jerusalem.

Gould is a participant on United Synagogue Youth (USY)'s gap year program called Nativ (Hebrew for "path"). Like other 18-year-old Nativers, Gould is studying in Jerusalem and will volunteer in other areas of Israel. He's currently studying at Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus (Nativers choose between the Hebrew U. track, an Ulpan -- intensive Hebrew language class -- or the Conservative Yeshiva). Early next year, he'll begin his community service project in Yerucham. Following Nativ, Gould will begin college at Clark University in the fall of 2013.

Alexander Gould (far left) and fellow Nativers before Shabbat services.

Gould made his acting debut at the age of six and gained worldwide acclaim as the voice of Nemo, the title character of Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo animation. Before Weeds, Gould had several guest starring roles on television series like Ally McBeal, Malcolm in the Middle, Law and Order: SVU, Supernatural, and Pushing Daisies. He also was the voice of Bambi in the movie Bambi II and had a voice over role in Curious George. Gould has won awards for his voice over work and for his supporting role in Weeds. In 2007, he won Best Young Ensemble in a Feature Film for his role in How to Eat Fried Worms.

While his co-star Justin Kirk has more of a Jewish themed role and has offered more Hebrew phrases during Weeds' eight seasons on Showtime, Gould screamed the first words of the "Shema Yisrael" during a karate match in an early episode. After spending the year in Israel and learning Hebrew, perhaps Gould will take on future roles in which Hebrew is required.

Despite his busy acting and voice over career, Gould was an active member of USY, the Conservative Movement's youth group, during his high school years. That involvement led him to apply for the Nativ program. Rabbis and youth advisers who got to know Gould through his USY participation in the Far West region during the past few years report that he's a great, humble kid with a lot of friends and is very funny. For Gould, spending the year on Nativ with his Jewish peers is a welcome change from being home schooled as a Hollywood actor.

While Weeds might not have caught on in Israel, it's still likely that Alexander Gould will be recognized in Jerusalem this year. Fortunately for his teachers at Hebrew University, Gould doesn't have the R-rated potty mouth of his TV persona.

Getting Chai on 'Weeds' - Jewish Themes Galore on the Showtime Hit Series

Fans of the long-running Showtime series “Weeds” know that writer and creator Jenji Kohan is not afraid to pepper the show with Jewish themes. While the show, now in its final season, has changed its flavor over the years and gained some critics, many devotees still enjoy the story about a marijuana-selling widowed mother from the suburbs and her family’s experiences.

Throughout the different webs of relationships, Kohan, who is Jewish, has managed to bring esoteric Jewish concepts into the series, including in a recent episode that featured ruminations on the power and purpose of immersing in the mikvah. Perhaps because the show is on the subscription-based Showtime network, its Jewish essence hasn’t been widely covered, but Kohan, who considered attending rabbinical seminary, has taken on some controversial Jewish subjects in the past eight seasons. Here are the top Jewish references:

* Unveiling (Season 1, Episode 8): It’s likely that many viewers thought this was a funeral service at the cemetery, but Jewish fans recognized the ritual as the unveiling of Judah Botwin’s tombstone. Once the family returns from the cemetery, Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) explains her day to the Drug Enforcement Agency agent who becomes her boyfriend: “It’s where they unveil the gravestone. It’s a Jewish thing. I know you’re thinking, ‘She doesn’t look Jewish.’ I come from Welsh stock … I’m not Jewish. My husband. He’s dead now. He was Jewish.”

Showtime

The episode also tackles the controversial topic of Jewish lineage when the Orthodox rabbi tells the Botwin boys, Silas (Hunter Parrish) and Shane (Alexander Gould), that they are not legitimately Jewish because their mother isn’t Jewish and they had never converted to Judaism. The young Shane is hurt by the news and takes out his aggression on his wrestling opponent, whose foot he bites after yelling “Sh’ma Yisrael!”

* Rabbinical School (Season 2): Nancy’s out-of-work brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk) decides the best way to keep from returning to military service will be to become a rabbi. He enrolls in the fictional Hamidrash L’Torah rabbinical school, where he falls in loves with the dean, the attractive Israeli Yael Hoffman (Meital Dohan). While much of the ongoing rabbinical school experience is silly, some rather serious issues are discussed, including Andy’s theological convictions, which come up while he is writing his admissions essay.

* Euthanasia (Season 4, Episodes 2 and 3): The Botwins leave the Agrestic/Majestic community after it burns and relocate to the home of Nancy’s father-in-law. There they find Lenny Botwin (Albert Brooks) and his mother, Bubbie (Jo Farkas), who is hooked up to a ventilator. The Auschwitz survivor regains consciousness and asks Lenny to kill her. The Botwin men discuss the wisdom and ethics of euthanizing Bubbie, but in the end Lenny agrees to have Nancy kill Bubbie.

* Sitting Shiva (Season 4, Episode 4): While shiva is one of the most well-known Jewish rituals, not many television shows have accurately portrayed it. This episode focuses entirely on the Botwin family sitting shiva for Bubbie at son Lenny’s insistence. Several laws and customs of shiva are mentioned during the episode, including the understanding that family members should not cook for themselves. A shiva candle is lit, and friends and neighbors come to pay their respect.

* Levirate Marriage (Ongoing): While Andy mentions the Jewish concept of a Levirate marriage to his sister-in-law Nancy at one point in the show’s history, the theme is an ongoing one. The Torah dictates that an unmarried man must marry his brother’s widow, but that applies only if the widow has not had children. So even if the law would not apply in Nancy and Andy’s case -- both because she already has children and she is not Jewish -- the constant and sometimes awkward attraction between them seems continually to remind the viewer of Andy’s enjoyment and frustration over the hunt.

* Bris (Season 5, Episode 8): Nancy gives birth to Tijuana Mayor and cartel leader Esteban Reyes’ baby boy, but the father (Demian Bichir) refuses to sign the birth certificate for fear of its effect on his political career. Andy signs the birth certificate as the boy’s father and insists on a brit for the baby, whom he promises to raise proudly as his Jewish son. At the brit, baby Stevie is given the Hebrew name Avi Melech (son of a king).

Showtime

* Mikvah (Season 8, Episode 5): At the end of this episode, Rabbi David Bloom (David Julian Hirsh), the rabbi/hospital chaplain, finally confronts Nancy, who has been secretly swimming in his backyard swimming pool. This is the same rabbi who talks theology with Andy at the hospital when he is concerned about Nancy’s well-being after she is shot in the head at the end of the previous season. When Nancy explains that swimming in the pool feels like a sort of rebirth for her, the rabbi explains the Jewish concept of tevillah (immersion in a mikvah). This is likely the most spiritual and New Age definition of the mikvah ritual that has ever been offered on television.

Kohan has said that she’s not afraid to take on inherently Jewish concepts on the show no matter how esoteric they may be. For the many Jewish fans of "Weeds," there have been many instances of surprise and pride over the years after unpredicted mentions of a Jewish ritual or theme. As the final season comes to a close, there may just be more Jewish references to come.

UPDATE: I just received word that the show filmed scenes for an episode at Adat Ari El synagogue in Valley Village, California last week. They used the historic chapel for one of the scenes. I'm thinking this can mean a Nancy-Andy or a Jill-Andy wedding... We shall see!

Originally published at JTA.org and cross-posted to the PopJewish.com blog.

Ryan Braun Wins Appeal of Suspension for Failed Drug Test

Trivia question: How many Major League Baseball player have successfully won an appeal of a suspension resulting from a positive drug test? The answer is only one. And that is Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers' Jewish superstar.

Ryan Braun should feel vindicated after successfully appealing his 50-game suspension (Getty Images)

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel just reported that Braun won his appeal "not so much on contesting the result of the test but the testing process itself, some kind of technicality." Apparently, there was some question about the chain of custody that Ryan Bruan's urine sample went through for his test.

Major League Baseball's 50 game suspension for Braun would have been devastating to the Brewers and to the reputation of last year's NL MVP.

Last December, popular sports blogger Ron Kaplan of the NJ Jewish News (and Kaplan's Korner) asked my opinion on Braun's alleged positive drug test. I said:

I remain hopeful that the test was faulty and that Braun will get his good name back. It is a sad and unfortunate turn of events for this very talented player. Jewish children are in need of good role models and no matter if Braun doesn’t count in many people’s Halachic definition of a Jewish person, he has served as a good role model during his Major League Baseball career as he has been in the public spotlight. Certainly this will change if the results of the drug test are validated. Cheating is a clear violation of Jewish values and I’m praying that Braun will be vindicated.

I am glad he has been vindicated and will be able to start the 2012 season off on the right foot. The drug test and the subsequent suspension and successful appeal will all be small footnotes in an otherwise impressive Major League career for Ryan Braun.