Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Israeli Soccer Star Refuses To Play — Until Yom Kippur Ends

Although he fasted for 24 hours in observance of Yom Kippur, a member of the Queens Park Rangers hopped off the bench and into the soccer game as soon as the holy day ended, the Jewish Chronicle reported Thursday.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and one of the holiest days in Judaism, ended after the 7:45 p.m. kick-off on Wednesday. So Tomer Hemed, an Israeli player in the West London club, stayed put on the bench.

The plan, according to team manager Steve McClaren, was for Hemed to eat during the first half, once the holiday ended, with the potential of joining the game later as a substitute.

“We had a chat — he said it’s very difficult to start [the match],” said McClaren, who previously worked as a coaching consultant for Maccabi Tel Aviv. “It’s very unusual because Yom Kippur hardly falls on a game day, but it has this time.”

In a tweet, Times of Israel political correspondent Raoul Wootliff said that after the fast, Hemed had a drink and hit the field. He rejoined the game after 73 minutes, the Jewish Chronicle reported, and in the end, the Queens Park Rangers beat Millwall 2-0.

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.