September 15 on the baseball calendar is one of the more underrated times of celebration for America’s pastimers: Roberto Clemente Day. The occasion, which is celebrated on the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States, honors the career of a great baseball player and great baseball person. Never in sports history has there been a more appropriate last name than Clemente’s, which translates to gracious in English and stands for a man who died in a plane crash on the way to provide earthquake relief in Nicaragua in 1972. In other words, he literally gave his life for charity. If that’s not gracious, I don’t know what is.
Yesterday also marked the first night of Rosh Hashanah, a Jewish holiday commemorating the beginning of the Jewish New Year (Israel uses the Gregorian calendar officially, but the Hebrew calendar is derived from the Torah, which is why Jews still acknowledge it). This is a time in the Jewish year known as the High Holy Days, a ten-day period of repentance leading up to Yom Kippur, the literal Day of Repentance. Baseball fans might recognize Yom Kippur as the holiday that Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg chose to observe instead of playing in critical playoff games for their respective teams, and as a Jewish baseball fan, it’s probably the way that my religion is connected to my passion the closest.
Growing up, Rosh Hashanah was always a special time. Jews gather for a lot more holidays than you think, but something about Rosh Hashanah makes it extra special. Maybe it’s the start of the football season, maybe it’s the start of fall (well, not this year), or maybe it’s just because I had off from school, but Rosh Hashanah represents new beginnings and a systematic reset for the Jewish community. It feels just, well, right to go to synagogue on the holiday, even when you don’t know what the prayers you’re chanting mean because they're in a different language. It’s about the tradition.
So why would the overlap of Roberto Clemente Day and Rosh Hashanah be so meaningful? Well, it’s pretty much right in the names of the days. What better way to start the year off right and to repent for your sins then to celebrate the life of one of baseball’s kindest souls? And for me, as someone who’s the grandson of Spanish-speaking Jews, it means even more. I’m not sure if you did anything to celebrate Roberto Clemente Day yesterday, and I’m certainly not asking you to go to your local Jewish temple for services today and tomorrow, but just remember to honor those that mean something to you and to acknowledge those you have wronged. Not so hard, right?
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