VIDEO LINKS BELOW: The fact that the NBA NY Knicks defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 106-91 in Madison Square Garden is not too surprising according to most sports enthusiasts, but what makes the news somewhat more suitable to the YWN forum is the fact that when the Maccabi coach was ousted for too many technical fouls, a prominent rav came to save him, albeit, unsuccessfully.

There were numerous calls against Maccabi when New York’s Al Harrington was whistled for an offensive foul with 5:05 remaining in the third quarter, right in front of the Maccabi bench, for pushing off with his elbow.

It is assumed that Coach Pini Gershon may not have realized the call was being made in favor of his team. This became evident when he jumped up, and got directly into the face of the referee, Ben Taylor, who did not hesitate to announce Gershon’s second technical foul. Perhaps in the Israeli style, Gershon did not back down and indicated he was not going anywhere, even after two other referees came over, seemingly trying to persuade Gershon to leave, but he remained adamant in his refusal.

Making an [unscheduled] guest appearance on the court was HaRav Yitzchak Dovid Grossman Shlita, whose Migdal Ohr organization was the beneficiary of the charity match, seeking to use his rabbinical charm to have Taylor reverse his call, an effort that was unsuccessful. Ultimately, Gershon did leave, escorted by security personnel. The move by Rav Grossman was reported by dozens of media outlets – from the Associated Press to the NY Times.

Rav Grossman also led the packed stadium with an interesting “Half-Time show”, in the saying of Shema Yisroel, and the singing of “Am Yisroel Chai.

YWN VIDEO LINKS: Click HERE for the video, and Click HERE to see a video of Rav Yisroel Grossman saying Shema Yisroel, and singing Am Yisroel Chai at Madison Square Garden.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel / YWN-68)