Remembering Shimon Peres - The Coolest Nonagenarian

Back on September 13, 1993 I remember watching the signing of the Oslo Accords on the White House lawn and being in awe of both Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. These two men, I recall thinking, were the old guard of Israeli statesman. They were fighters on the battlefield helping Israel gain statehood and then spent decades as political and diplomatic leaders as the Jewish state grew. I felt love and deep respect for both men, but there was something about Peres that was different from Rabin in my mind.

Rabin struck me as hard and very guarded. While he was willing to sign the peace accords and shake Arafat's hand, he still seemed hesitant and even distant on that sunny afternoon. Peres on the other hand had a cordial, softer side to him. A warm smile and a gentle demeanor. He reminded me very much of my grandfather. Later in his life, Peres displayed a playful, fun side as well. This was especially true when his term as Israeli President (a mostly honorific position) was about to come to an end. Peres and his staff published a very funny video in which the nonagenarian went looking for a job around Israel:

For me, I really appreciated that Peres was determined to stay in the public eye even after his seven decades in leadership roles for Israel. Despite his advanced age, he took advantage of social media to stay relevant and to connect with the younger generation of Israelis and Diaspora Jews. In 2012, I wrote a blog post about how Peres was looking for Facebook friends.

Detroit Tigers Hire Jewish Manager Brad Ausmus

I'm a big Detroit Tigers fan and have always been interested in Jewish baseball players in the Major Leagues. Therefore, the soon-to-be made announcement that the Detroit Tigers will hire Brad Ausmus to be their next manager is exciting news. Ausmus, who is Jewish and once played for the Detroit Tigers, is currently the manager for Israel's World Baseball Classic team.

Brad Ausmus played for the Detroit Tigers in 1996 and 1999-2000.

The hiring of Brad Ausmus marks the first time the Detroit Tigers will have a Jewish manager*. As soon as Jim Leyland made his resignation public last month, Brad Ausmus' name immediately was mentioned on the short list of potential replacements for Leyland, who took the Tigers to the World Series twice during his eight years with the team. Last year, Ausmus interviewed with the Red Sox for their manager position and turned down an opportunity to interview with the Astros for their manager position.

Brad Ausmus wearing a yarmulke and tefillin at the Kotel in Jerusalem while manager of Israel's World Baseball Classic team.

Ausmus spent 18 seasons in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Padres, Tigers, Astros and Dodgers. He won the Gold Glove Award three times and made the All Star team in 1999. In 2007 Ausmus won the Darryl Kile Award "for integrity and courage." Ausmus was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. Now that he'll be back in Detroit, I will be certain to bring up his name as a candidate for the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation's Hall of Fame, of which I'm a voting member.

Israeli President Shimon Peres Wants Friends

At no point in history was the Hebrew word for "friend" more popular than after President Bill Clinton uttered those two famous words as he eulogized his assassinated friend, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in Jerusalem in 1995. "Shalom Chaver" quickly became a famous slogan and bumper sticker quote.

Now, one man who was Yitzhak Rabin's friend, colleague and peace partner is campaigning for chaverim, friends. Not real friends, but Facebook fans. On the same day he delivered a very well-received speech to close to 13,000 pro-Israel supporters at AIPAC Policy Conference on Sunday, Israeli President Shimon Peres launched his new Facebook page.

President Peres has had a very good week. After AIPAC honored the 88-year-old leader on Sunday for his storied career in Israeli politics and for his lasting commitment to peace, he met privately with President Obama. During his AIPAC appearance Peres found a very supportive audience who saluted him with many standing ovations. All this week Shimon Peres has been on a tour of the Bay Area where he's meeting with hi-tech leaders of Silicon Valley.

His California itinerary includes meetings with leading venture capitalists, as well as with Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. During his meeting with the Facebook founder, President Peres launched his official personal page on the Facebook site. While Peres might not be the first 88-year-old with a Facebook account, he is the first one whose chief agenda is to use his Facebook page to create a dialogue with Arabs who live in countries that do not have diplomatic ties with Israel.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg interviewed the Israeli President about his Facebook ambitions and he explained,  "The matter of peace is no longer the business of governments but the business of people. Today the people are governing the governments. And when they begin to talk to each other, they are surprised: We should be friends."

So, how he is Shimon Peres seeking to make friends on the social networking site? Rather than giving away a free iPad as many businesses do when they launch a new Facebook page, Peres released a new YouTube music video (see below) asking everyone to be his friend on Facebook in the name of peace. The video was launched last Sunday as Peres was speaking at AIPAC. I'm certain this video will go viral because, well, the sight of an 88-year-old rock star who happens to be the president of the Jewish state is "must see TV." Peres, with his iconic deep Israeli accent, has become a beloved father figure to the Israeli people. It is remarkable to see him so eager to exploit social media in the name of forging a lasting peace in the Middle East. I wish him well... and I hope that he gets a lot of friends to join him on Facebook.