Pickleball anyone? A modest proposal for increasing Jewish unity

Pickleball, originally invented in 1965, has become the fastest-growing sport in the English-speaking world in the 2020s. Appealing across ages and backgrounds, the entry level for participation is fairly simple: 30 minutes is usually sufficient to grasp the basic rules and unique scoring style, and to start playing. Moreover, a social aspect is built into the game, which is usually played with 4 players on a small court and lasts about 15 minutes. All this adds up to a competitive, yet friendly experience.

This new Ayin Tova cartoon features suitably dressed-up representatives from different sectors of Israeli society enthusiastically playing a game of pickleball. Their footwear ranges from combat boots to high-heeled shoes, and from sandals to Shabbat shoes. These diverse players rarely find opportunities to meet and spend positive time together. Traditionally and historically, the Jewish people are one national family — but we are splintered, mainly along religious or political lines. Here we can find an opportunity to meet as equals. Small, engaged gestures and good sportsmanship are the goals. Modest hopes — but better than the painful reality! We need something to break the logjam of distrust, imbalance, and disunity. We have to start somewhere.

Cynics — channeling the famed satirist Jonathan Swift’s essay A Modest Proposal — may claim that the current state of Jewish unity is like a Gordian knot, impossible to unravel, and that proposing such games as part of the solution is an absurd joke. The header on this cartoon alludes to that challenge. Yet perhaps just such a neutral environment, with a level playing field, can indeed trigger out-of-the-box thinking and new feelings. This, in turn, could light some hope for repairing relationships — and even carve out some healthy and fun times.

To increase Jewish unity: we need fresh ideas, we must retain hope, and we should keep trying. Pickleball anyone?