JEWISH MUSEUM OF FLORIDA
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release - June 16,
2008
For exhibition regional highlights and a
selection of photos for your stories please contact:
Marcia
Jo
Zerivitz, Founding Executive Director & Chief Curator
T.305.672.5044 ext. 3180 F.305.672.5933
mzerivitz@jewishmuseum.com
JEWISH MUSEUM OF FLORIDA OPENS NEW EXHIBIT,
FLORIDA JEWS IN SPORTS,
ON
JULY 1
The Jewish Museum of Florida opens its new
exhibit, FLORIDA JEWS IN SPORTS,
on July 1 that will run through November 23,
2008. The thrill of victory and the agony
of defeat! Mostly victories - and the lessons
learned from competition, will be explored
in this broad-scoped exhibit that includes
nearly 150 athletes in two dozen sports, presented on
miniature playing fields and courts, and
including sports teams owners, coaches and journalists.
After two years of research and collecting, the
Museum is confident that visitors will be amazed to
learn that eight of the nine professional sports
teams in Florida have Jewish owners, that many
Floridian Jews have been All-American players
and Super Bowl participants, that Jewish former NBA
players meet weekly in South Florida, including
Ossie Schectman, who lives in Delray, who scored the
first NBA basket in 1946. Nearly 180 American
Jews have played major league baseball since the
1870s and many have been from Florida. Some
Floridian Jews have excelled in sports with disabilities.
For example, Neal Walk of Miami Beach, the first
AP All-American basketball player at the
University of Florida (1967-69) and the only
player in the school's history to have his number retired,
University of Florida (1967-69) and the only
player in the school's history to have his number retired,
later became paralyzed. In 1990 Walk was honored
at the White House as the "Wheelchair Athlete of
the Year."
Sandy Koufax, who lives in Vero Beach, did not
pitch in the first game of the 1965 World Series due
to the Yom Kippur holiday. Al "Flip"
Rosen, with Hank Greenberg and Koufax, is considered one of
the best Jewish baseball players of all time and
is a Floridian. Rosen was raised in Miami and attended
University of Florida. His entire ten-year
career (1947-1956) was with the Cleveland Indians. These
men became heroes not only for their sports
abilities, but also for demonstrating respect for their heritage.
Some interesting exhibit highlights include:
• Morgan Pressel of Boca Raton became the
youngest woman in history to win a Ladies Professional
Golf Association (PGA) major championship.
• Skip Bertman, a Miami Beach High School
baseball coach who led his team to its first Florida State
championship, went to become the head coach at
Lousiana State University and National Coach of the
Year three times.
• In 1956 two outsiders: a Jewish girl, Angela
Buxton and a black girl, Althea Gibson, made sports
history when they won the Wimbledon Women's
Doubles; Buxton, who lives in Pompano Beach,
also reached the singles
finals and was the first Jewish champion at Wimbledon.
• Roberto Strauss from Mexico, who now lives in
Florida, was a swimmer in the 1972 Munich
Olympics.
• NFL Miami Dolphin player Ed Newman played in
three Super Bowls and is now a Miami-Dade
County judge.
• In 1916, the year the Brooklyn Robins (later
the Dodgers) won the pennant, they trained in Daytona
Beach where Michael Sholtz built them a winter
camp. Sholtz was the father of Florida's only Jewish
governor, David Sholtz.
• JoAnn Mason Parker of Palm Beach County was a
pocket billiards US Open champion.
• Louis Ossinsky of Jacksonville first played
all-state football in 1920 and then helped start NASCAR
racing in Daytona in 1947.
• In 1922 Suwannee High School in Live Oak was
the first in Florida to have a soccer team, which
they named "The Fighting Hebrews"
because their three stars were Jewish boys.
• Legendary fish angler Stuart Apte holds world
records, has knots named after him and the Stu Apte
Tarpon Fly, popular since 1958, was featured on
a 1991 US Postal Service stamp.
• Even a horse can instill pride - Affirmed, the
last winner of a Triple Crown in 1978, belonged to
Jewish owner Louis Wolfson of Ocala.
• The Miami Herald has two Jewish female
sportswriters: Susan Miller Degnan and Michelle Kaufman
who made their marks in a field dominated by
men.
These examples represent only a small sample of
the variety of sports that will be featured; all provide
inspiration and pride for visitors. These sports
legacies are in the minds and hearts of their fans, young
and old. Loyalty to sports teams and heroes
brings together a true melting pot of peoples united in a
common cause. From playing fields to pool halls,
sports fans have learned lessons that cross all cultural
lines - integrity and fairness, respect for
boundaries, rules and authority and working together to reach a
common goal.
The Jewish Museum of Florida on South Beach is
housed in two adjacent lovingly restored historic
buildings that were once synagogues for Miami
Beach's first Jewish congregation. The focal point of
the Museum is "MOSAIC: Jewish Life in
Florida: 1763 to the Present," its core exhibit, and temporary
history and art exhibits that change
periodically. The Museum is exhibiting Florida Jews in Sports
through November 23, 2008. Through Sept. 14,
2008, the Museum has four exhibits in celebration of
Israel's 60th Anniversary that reflect the
Biblical roots of the Jewish people:
ETCHED IN STONE - ETCHED IN MEMORY is a collection of sculptures by Rachel
Abramowitz;
IN THE BEGINNING is a portfolio by Abraham Rattner of twelve original signed
lithographs based
on text taken from the Old Testament; MOSES AT MT. SINAI is a painting by Miami
artist Robin Morris;
and THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL are depicted in
terracotta plaques that are mounted on the interior
walls of the Museum's exhibit hall.
The Center Court Cafˇ opens July 1 (closed on
Saturdays). Collections & Research Center, films,
Timeline Wall of Jewish history and an expanded
Museum Store complete the experience for visitors
of all ages and backgrounds. Accredited by the
American Association of Museums, the Museum is
located at 301-311 Washington Avenue, South
Beach and is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except
Mondays and Civil and Jewish holidays.
Admission: Adults/$6; Seniors/$5; Families/$12; Members
and children under 6/ Always Free; Saturdays/Free. For information: 305-672-5044.