Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Israel News

Observant Athletes Sit One Out

To play or not to play, that is the question that Jewish athletes must grapple with each year during the High Holy Days. Race car driver Mike Ashley will sit on the sidelines on Yom Kippur this year, missing a qualifying race September 22 at the O’Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals in Dallas. The decision puts him at a significant disadvantage to secure a place in the top four who will advance the Countdown to One Powerade Championship, but Ashley is unwavering in his decision.

Driver Mike Ashley will not race on Yom Kippur

“Yom Kippur is the highest holiday of the year,” Ashley, a Long Island native, told The Shmooze. “If I qualify or not, it doesn’t matter. Winning a world championship or a race unethically wouldn’t be worthwhile to me.”

This is the second time in the 42-year-old’s career that he has faced this choice. Three years ago, Ashley sat out a qualifier in a different division, but he ended up winning that championship anyway.

On the baseball field, Mets right fielder Shawn Green will not play against the Florida Marlins on Yom Kippur, in keeping with past years when games were scheduled on the Day of Atonement. But the jury’s still out on Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun, who is up for Rookie of the Year and who could become the first Jew ever to win that title, in either league. The Brewers still have a shot at winning the NL Central Division title, and they’re scheduled to play the Braves in Atlanta on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. If Braun sits out, the Brewers’ starting line-up will be seriously weakened. At press time, Braun, whose father is Israeli, had not announced a decision.

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.

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

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

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.