Image by Getty Images

— Conservative rabbis in Cleveland and Chicago have placed a friendly wager on the World Series.

The rabbi in the losing city will travel to the synagogue in the winning city to engage in a debate on the Jewish significance of baseball.

Rabbi Stephen Weiss of B’nai Jeshurun Congregation in Pepper Pike, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb, and Rabbi Michael Siegal of Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago struck the deal after the Chicago Cubs clinched the National League title on Saturday night.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs will meet Tuesday night in Cleveland in Game One of the World Series.

“We’re just looking for a way to have a little bit of fun with the World Series and to connect our congregations and engage our people in a little Jewish learning at the same time,” Weiss told the Cleveland Jewish News.

“Certainly, a very historic Series for both cities and hopefully a lot of fun for both synagogues,” he said.

Weiss and Siegal have been longtime friends, and have been involved in projects together through the Rabbinical Assembly and United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, according to the newspaper.

In an interesting turnabout, Siegal grew up in B’nai Jeshurun, and Weiss served as associate rabbi of an Atlanta synagogue in 1995 when the Braves beat the Indians in the World Series and the rabbi of B’nai Jeshurun traveled to that synagogue to debate the significance of Jews in baseball.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount