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The Charlotte
JE>VISH
Vol. 29, No. 10
Cheshvan-Kislev 5768
November 2007
An Affiliate of the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte
The Son Also Rises - Jeff Horowitz, A Second Generation Basketball
Player Goes to Israel
By Steve Goldberg, special
to The Charlotte Jewish
News
Upon signing with Israeli
first division basketball team
Hapoel Holon, Jeff
Horowitz became the first
second generation Jewish
American to play profes
sionally in Israel.
His father, Larry
Horowitz, a Charlotte finan
cial planner and JCC softball
fixture, played for Hapoel
Tel Aviv during the 1976-77
season until a knee injury
ended his basketball career.
As a high school player
coming into his own, an
optimistic young Horowitz
told a family friend about his
plans to make it to the NBA. A
South Mecklenburg High School
graduate, Horowitz played college
ball at the College of Charleston
and UNC-Wilmington, where he
graduated with a degree in com
munication studies.
Whether Jelf is even the best
athlete in the family is arguable.
Horowitz’s younger sister Betsy
led South Mecklenburg to a state
basketball title and is now playing
volleyball on scholarship at
Virginia Tech. Older sister Jenny
played basketball and volleyball at
Myers Park before graduating
with a theatre degree from UNC.
His mother Carol has just recently
started her soccer career.
Fundamentally strong with
excellent passing and rebounding
skills, the undisciplined style at
Charleston was a poor fit and a
coaching change at UNCW made
his college career less than antici
pated. Fortunately, his solid play
for USA teams competing in
Maccabiah Games in Israel,
Australia and Italy let people
know that he was able to compete
at the professional level.
Whether it’s the chance to play
professionally or the opportunity
to do it in Israel that’s most satis
fying, it’s hard to tell. As he’s
matured, following his father’s
path is also something that has
become more important to him.
A California native who came
east to play for Davidson from
1971-75, Larry Horowitz also
played one season (75-76) in
Germany for ADB Koblenz and
represented the USA in the 1973
Maccabiah Games where he was a
teammate of Washington Wizards
president Ernie Gfunfeld and for
mer Duke star Bob Fleischer.
Horowitz and Grunfeld, a New
Yorker who played at Tennessee,
were co-recipients of the Maccabi
Jeff Horowitz, Senator Joseph Lieberman, and Jeff's
agent, Marc Simon.
Athlete of the Year award in 1974.
“I didn’t care so much when I
was younger that he had played in
Israel, just that he had played pro
fessional basketball was really
cool,” says Jeff. “As I got older the
Israel factor became more impor
tant for me.”
Thirty-two years after his
father, Jeff played for the 2005
USA Maccabiah basketball team
in Israel.
“I’ve always been very proud of
being Jewish and of the state of
Israel,” says Horowitz who cele
brated his bar mitzvah at the
Western Wall in 1998, “and now
I’m backing it up by actually liv
ing here.”
Not just playing there,
Horowitz has gone through the
aliyah process and will have dual
citizenship. He says that is some
thing that is perhaps more impor
tant to Holon locals than it is to
himself
“Now when I see an Israeli and
they ask if I play basketball and I
tell them yes but that also I’ve
made aliyah, you see them change
from not only a look of awe about
the basketball but to almost a look
of appreciation. Their faces just
brighten up so much when you tell
them you’ve made aliyah because
they really feel that they are in
their own little comer of the world
and nobody cares about them.
When they see any American or
• international who has made aliyah,
it really makes them feel good. For
me, that’s great.”
Horowitz says that while he
won’t ever give up his American
roots, he hopes to make life in
Israel a permanent part of his
future. “I would love to have a
house here in Israel as I love being
here. It’s a beautiful area and the
people and the culture are incredi
ble.”
As an Israeli citizen,
Horowitz will have to do
military duty. Too tall to
fly a fighter jet as he
would like to do, he
expects that he will get a
fitness instructor assign
ment as many professional
athletes are given. He will
also start studying Hebrew
soon at an ulpan, a Hebrew
language institute.
Holon, just south of Tel
Aviv, is the home of the
2007 Leumit (second divi
sion) Champions, which
gained them advancement
to the top level called the
Super League. Coached by
team owner Micky
Dorsman, former brother-
of Miami Heat owner
Arison, the team has
revamped the roster as it looks to
compete in the top flight.
“Jeff is a much better player
than I was,” says his father. “I
hope he gets the chance to show
what he can do on the court.”
At 6’9”, Horowitz is competing
for time at center with Chris
Watson, an eight year veteran who
played in Belgium last season and
Ryan Lexer, a nine year veteran.
Both are naturalized Israeli citi
zens now as is Horowitz who has
gone through the aliyah process.
in-law
Micky
Also new at Holon is forward P.J.
Tucker from Raleigh who played
briefly with the Toronto Raptors
last year. The team has also been
actively searching for another big
man, preferably with NBA experi
ence.
Along with chasing perennial
favorite Maccabi Tel Aviv,
Horowitz expects the major com
petition to come from Hapoel
Jerusalem. He’s excited about the
team’s prospects and the Holon
fans are as well.
“The way they are here is the
way they are at Cameron Indoor
(Duke University’s gym) every
game. They stand up the whole
game; they are singing the Holon
song - which is in Hebrew so
don’t ask me what it says - the
whole game.
“They have the drums going,
the chants going, to the point that
they forget that when we’re shoot
ing free throws they should proba
bly not be banging the drums and
singing. But they’re having a good
time, so ...’•
He didn’t make it to the NBA as
he once dreamed, at least not yet,
but for now life is just fine as he
begins his first professional sea
son.
“We’re not NBA players but
they treat us like we are,” he says
with a laugh. “For the first couple
Jeff Horowitz shows his stuff dur-
ing a game for UNC~Wilmington.
of days, they knew we were bas
ketball players but now it’s ‘Hey
Jeff Horowitz, how are you*?’ They
recognize me in restaurants and
that’s pretty cool.”
Steve Goldberg is a Charlotte-
based journalist, marketing and
media consultant. His work has
been published by Time, USA
Today, and Charlotte Magazine
among others. ^
Lake Norman Jewish Congregation to
Host Interfaith Holocaust Event in
Mooresville
Lake Norman Jewish
Congregation is hosting an
inter-faith Holocaust aware
ness event titled “Defeating
the Four T’s’: Ignorance,
Injustice, Intolerance and
Indifference,” on Saturday,
November 10, from 5-8 PM at
The Charles Mack Citizen
Center Auditorium in
Mooresville. There will be a
catered dinner by Mia
Famiglia Ristorante in the ban
quet facilities immediately fol
lowing the presentation. The
event, sponsored by the L.
Kerry Vickar Charitable
Foundation, will feature
keynote speaker and Holocaust
survivor, Charlene Schiff.
Schiff survived three winters
in the forests of Eastern Poland
after losing her father, mother, and
only sister, during the German
invasion of Horochow, Poland.
Charlene Perlmutter Schiff, Holocaust sur
vivor and keynote speaker on Saturday
November 10, in Mooresville.
The Jewish population of
Horochow was 5,000 prior to the
1941 invasion; only two Jews
survived, Charlene being one of
the two.
Charlene travels to numer
ous colleges and civic groups
annually speaking on behalf
of the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum Speaker’s
Bureau in Washington, D.C.
Other speakers will include
local Pastors and Ministers,
featuring Reverend John
Dawson of Lakeside
Presbyterian Church ARP in
Mooresville.
Tickets and Corporate VIP
tables are limited, and the
event is expected to sell-out
quickly. Tickets are $54 each,
and proceeds will benefit var
ious funds established by
LNJC, including the LNJC
Education Fund. Stacey
Simms, of WBT Talk Radio, is the
Honorary Emcee. For more infor
mation, or to reserve tickets, call
704-987-9980.