It was a quick turnaround for the boys of the four competing schools on Friday morning (12/2), with the boys from Katz, Cooper and Farber basically just having settled in for the night when they were awoken by their alarms to a new Brooklyn morning, the call for Shacharit tefilot and the first of the two morning games of the 2nd Day of play in the 21st Hausdorff Tournament.
The early game pitted the host Flatbush Falcons against the Macs of Memphis’ Cooper Yeshiva HS. Flatbush jumped out to the early 3-0 lead when Leon Ades corralled the rebound of the opening salvo, kicked it back out to Eddie Lincer who swished the 3 ball. The falcons were off and running from that point, on their way to a 37-12 halftime lead. Cooper did not fold up their tents, though. The Macs put points on the board in three of their first four possessions of the 2nd half, battled hard throughout and kept coming at Flatbush with everything they had. They showed marked improvement from their performance the night before, but Flatbush worked the ball methodically on offense, and scored more often than not. In the end, Flatbush was just to strong, and closed out the Game “C” win, 67-31.
After the game, the members of all four teams gathered in the Beit Midrash for a special shiur with Rabbi Joseph Beyda, Principal of Yeshivah of Flatbush Joel Braverman High School. After welcoming the participants, Rabbi Beyda shared a lesson taken from the week’s
Parasha – Toldot. The lesson focused on the two brothers, Yaakov and Eisav, noting that the
Parasha refers to Yaakov as “yoshev ohalim,” and asks why does the Torah state that Yaakov sits in tents – plural – and not in a tent – singular, as would seem the more correct usage of language. First, Rabbi Beyda pointed out that the “tent” is akin more to a Beit Midrash – a place of study – rather than just a dwelling. He went on to point out that the use of the plural “ohalim” is done purposely to show that Yaakov did not sit in just one tent, but rather he sat in more than one – he studied in more than one location, with more than one teacher; he studied with and learned from various sources. Rabbi Beyda related this story to the Hausdorff event, noting “we usually sit in our own places, but here we have an opportunity to get together and share our learning.” Place the focus on sharing the specialness of our differences, valuing them, and letting them bring us together to connect and grow. He challenged the players to get to know one another and “to sit in more than one tent” over the course of the weekend.
After a break for lunch, which for many meant an excursion to the kosher restaurants that abound on Avenue J and Coney Island, the teams from South Florida and Michigan faced off in the Falcons Nest.
It was a defensive battle from the start, with Katz registering the first points on a three pointer nearly 4 minutes in to the game. Both teams battled hard, and it showed in the score. Farber yielded only 7 points in the quarter, but it was if their was a lid on the rim for the Pioneers, as they could not score at all in the opening period. They remedied that in the opening possession of the 2nd Quarter to cut the lead to 7-3. The Storm responded in kind, as the offenses began to find some rhythm with the score 13-5 Katz just three and a half minutes in. But it would be Farber that finally found its groove in the 2nd Quarter, closing to 13-10 with 1:30 to play before Katz finally answered to put the lead back to 5.
That is where it stood at the midpoint, with the Storm holding an 18-13 advantage. The 3rd Quarter belongs to the Storm, as they clearly found what was missing offensively during the break, and streaked out to a commanding 43-18 lead by the end of the period. The final period was more of the same, and the game closed with Katz defeating Farber, 51-26.
With the Friday games in the books, it was time to pause from basketball and get ready for the Shabbaton aspect of Hausdorff. Kabbalat Shabbat was called for 4:30 pm with a scrumptious Seudat Shabbat to follow. The Hausdorff festivities went into high gear later at night when the Hausdorff participants are joined by members of the Flatbush community in what has become one of the most looked-forward to aspects of the Shabbaton – the Oneg Shabbat (which was graciously hosted at the home of Amy and Steve Sasson).
NEST NOTES: Motzei Shabbat will see the two teams looking for their first win of the tournament face off when Farber and Cooper do battle in the first game of the night at 7:00 pm. The nightcap will see the two undefeated teams tip off when Katz takes on host Flatbush at approximately 8:45 pm.
