Ultimately the Greenberg Rosh Hashanah story reflects the tragic course of American Jewish assimilation
Henry Greenberg need not have any pangs of conscience because he plays baseball during the Jewish holidays. Rabbi Joseph Thumim, of Temple Beth Abraham, one of the oldest Orthodox Jewish communities in Detroit, is the authority for this balm to the troubled Greenberg mind. He was asked by The News for a statement on the matter. Delving deep into the books of the Talmud, Rabbi Thumim, a recognized authority on Orthodox Jewish laws, found several provisions on this situation in which Greenberg finds himself, and even the most conservative of the Orthodox will have difficulty in raising valid objections in the face of the Rabbi’s ruling.
—Detroit Jewish Chronicle, September 1934
Sandy Koufax’s decision to sit out Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it coincided with Yom Kippur is known to nearly every American Jew. Three decades earlier, however, another Jewish Hall of Famer struggled with a High Holiday conundrum, with more mixed results.
Henry “Hank” Greenberg was born in New York City in 1911 to Romanian immigrants who maintained a traditional Jewish home. In 1934, his second full season in the major leagues, the 23-year-old Greenberg was known as the “Hebrew Hammer,” batting .339 and hitting 26 home runs to lead the Detroit Tigers to their first pennant since 1909. In the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah that year, a media frenzy ensued over whether Greenberg should play on Yom Tov in what was deemed a crucial game in the pennant race or honor his Jewish convictions and sit out.
Detroit, home to Henry Ford and Father Charles Coughlin, was already a tough city for a Jewish baseball player to thrive in. “They were calling him every name in the book,” recalls his son Steve Greenberg. It wasn’t any easier when the Tigers played on road. “Throw him a pork chop, he can’t hit that,” was a common refrain from opposing fans.
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