$5 Yankees Game Draws Unexpected Prayer Crowd

Yankee Stadium’s minyan on May 3, 2017 Image by Courtesy Samuel Weiss

The New York Yankees played the Toronto Blue Jays the evening of May 3 in Yankee Stadium, and because of a special promotion with Mastercard, some tickets were available for only $5. According to one Orthodox attendee, Samuel Weiss, these low prices have brought some unexpected traffic to the unofficial “Jewish Quarter” of the stadium:

“Not to promote stereotypes, but it’s a 5 dollar game at Yankee Stadium and the upper deck maariv minyan has 100 people at it…” Weiss posted on Facebook. Maariv is the Jewish evening prayer — many observant men recite the prayer daily in the presence of a minyan, a quorum of 10 or more Jewish men. It seems their prayers weren’t in vain, either: the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 8-6.

According to the prayer quorum-finding site goMinyan, this group regularly meets during the 7th inning stretch next to the kosher hot dog stand. Here’s a video of a typical crowd.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO