‘Jewish Jordan’ Speaks on Balancing Basketball with Orthodox Faith

Princeton, NJ — A six-foot, three-inch point guard took Dillon Gym by storm Wednesday night, effortlessly sinking 19 of 20 shots from just inside the three-point arc. As he spun, dribbled and launched the ball high into the air, the lanky player would have caught the eye of many college coaches.

But he wasn’t a high school prospect aiming for a spot in the Princeton men’s basketball program. He was Tamir Goodman, a player for an Israeli semiprofessional basketball team, and he was shooting some hoops with rabbi Eitan Webb, director of Princeton Chabad, and two reporters.

Earlier in the evening, over garlic bread and soup at Webb’s Nassau Street apartment, Goodman discussed balancing his talent and passion for basketball with his determination to observe the rules of Orthodox Judaism.

Now 25, Goodman first garnered national attention as a junior in high school, averaging 35.4 points per game for the Talmudical Academy of Baltimore. He earned recognition in Sports Illustrated and was interviewed by ESPN, 60 Minutes and Fox Sports. In 11th grade, he was ranked the 25th-best high school player in the country. He was dubbed the “Jewish Jordan,” a title he said he has been trying to downplay ever since.

Goodman received a scholarship to the University of Maryland, which has one of the top-ranked basketball teams in the country. The news of his plans to go to Maryland attracted over 700 media requests that week, he said.

But the team’s schedule of practices and games would have meant playing on Friday nights and Saturdays, against the rules of Orthodox Judaism.