Friday, Jun 12
What Are We Cheering For?
Those who know my British husband understand when I say, only partially joking, that the real religion in our household is soccer, or, as he corrects me, “Football.” And if the sport is the religion, the players are the deities, the supreme beings. For sports fans like him, this is a Big Week. The FIFA World Cup has started, and today the Canadian team played a game right here in Toronto. In the meantime, a few hours south of the nearby border, New Yorkers are going crazy, as they wait to see if the Knicks will win the NBA Championship for the first time since 1973.
The excitement of sports finals is indescribable. It takes over. It remindes us how powerful collective passion can be. Entire cities become united. People gather to watch together in restaurants, bars and living rooms, wearing team colours, in both fabric and face-paint; flying flags from their home windows and car windows (my husband arrived home yesterday announcing, “I just bought a flag pole. Let’s put it up.”). Their voices join in sports chants, and players are heroes – lauded, applauded, celebrated, and cheered. The fans experience joy and heartbreak as one. It seems human beings naturally want to belong to something bigger than themselves.
This week, while the sports hoopla (intentional word choice) is bringing people together in joy and anticipation, Toronto is experiencing a tragic version of the collective experience. And this, too, centers on a hero. But this time, it’s a real hero in every sense of the word.
Yesterday, Constable Marc Pinizzotto of the Toronto Police Service was murdered. Officer Pinizzotto was shot while executing a warrant related to the investigation into the attacks on our Jewish community. He was just doing his job, and his job was to protect us. It’s a job that the Jews of Toronto have come to rely on and appreciate. Since October 7th, attendees at Toronto’s Jewish gatherings have gotten used to – and, unfortunately, expect – the presence of police cars, mobile units, officers at venue entrances checking IDs, bags and lists of registered names. We have, at times, experienced frustration from TPS when we see them at rallies and feel that they are allowing pro-terrorist groups free reign, but overall, we count our blessings that there are brave officers like Marc Pinizzotto out there.
With his death in the headlines, members of the Jewish community share heartbreak with one another and with the GTA community at large. His murder shocked us and reminds us that life is fragile and even more so for our protectors.
But here’s what I keep thinking about. The World Cup and the NBA Finals show how powerful unity can be. If millions can passionately rally behind a soccer nation or a basketball team, surely we can rally around Torah values, community, Israel, acts of kindness, and one another. Imagine if the energy that people bring to a World Cup watch party or a Knicks Finals game were brought to Israel solidarity and acts of chesed/lovingkindness.
May we always remember to come together for goodness, in faith, and may we always recognize and celebrate the real heroes among us. The future of the Jewish people has never depended on the size of the challenges before us, but on the strength of the united spirit within us.
May the memory of Marc Pinizzotto z”l be for a blessing.