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PRAY BALL 2!! is now available.

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Practicing Acts of Sportsmanship

Buy PRAY BALL 2!! here

Sibling Sportsmanship

Team Spirit Institute (TSI) is a charitable organization dedicated to creating & implementing educational programs for people of all ages and backgrounds using sports to teach universal values, ethics, and life lessons.

Buy our new book!

We’re very excited to announce the release of our new book: PRAY BALL 2!!: Spiritual Insights Into Sportsmanship. It can be bought in boxes of 10 or bundles of 5 for a discount or single copies at retailers listed on Buy PRAY BALL 2!! page.

Special rates available for retail booksellers, corporations, and non-profits.

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Praise (Prays) for PRAY BALL 2!!

“Rabbi Gordon’s book celebrates the capacity of sports to teach young players important values such as respect for fellow… Read more

REBECCA YOSHOR2014 NCAA leader (women & men) in rebounds per game; featured in Faces In The Crowd (Sports Illustrated); Academic All-America at Yeshiva University Stern College for Women
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“This . . . book is uniquely insightful and . . . will inspire an extensive and diverse market of Jewish children, teens, a… Read more

MARTIN OLIFF, PH.D.Former Executive, Jewish Community Centers
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“Would you like to know how the competition between Maris and Mantle was like that between Hillel and Shammai on their answ… Read more

BRUCE WOLFSports Journalist; Talk Radio Host
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“Rabbi Gordon . . . has the unique ability to see vital lessons in what may seem like ordinary stories . . . He makes the a… Read more

RABBI DR. REUVEN P. BULKA, C.M.Rabbi, writer, broadcaster and activist in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; former co-president of the Canadian Jewish Congress
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“Why do we love sports? For the action. For the competition. For the stories. For the joy of rooting as a community. And al… Read more

JONATHAN EIGNew York Times best-selling author of Luckiest Man, Opening Day, and Ali
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“Rabbi Gordon, a one-of-a-kind storyteller, recounts in PRAY BALL 2!! stories about the people he loves best: sports figure… Read more

DR. JONATHAN D. SARNAJoseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University
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“Anyone who loves sports will enjoy this book. Anyone who loves Judaism will enjoy this book. And anyone who loves sports a… Read more

MARK POTASHChicago Sun-Times Sports Journalist
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“. . . Since I’ve known Rabbi Jamie Gordon I have always been impressed with his unique talent for blending his passion f… Read more

RABBI MENACHEM LINZERPrincipal, Hillel Torah North Suburban Day School (Skokie, IL)
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“In teaching and leading students who are maturing, one learns that what counts and what scores is not just what you teach,… Read more

RABBI MOSHE SIMKOVICHProfessional Development Consultant, Associated Talmud Torahs of Chicago; Founding Head of School, Kohelet Yeshiva High School (Merion, PA); beloved teacher at Maimonides School (Brookline, MA)
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“A wonderfully rich and invaluable resource for both teaching and learning about character development through sports. Gord… Read more

RABBI HOWARD JACOBY RUBENHead of School, Jewish Community High School of the Bay (JCHS)
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“Extensively researched and well written, PRAY BALL 2!! Spiritual Insights Into Sportsmanship is not only a book to be read… Read more

MORTON M. STEINBERGSenior counsel, DLA Piper LLP; former President of the National Ramah Commission
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“From the earliest age, American children are exposed to sports. Its influence on the American psyche is beyond a question … Read more

RABBI ELAZAR MUSKINSenior Rabbi, Young Israel of Century City, Los Angeles; President, Rabbinical Council of America
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“Youth very readily identify with sports heroes but often fail to see how their significant acts reflect ancient truths. . … Read more

RABBI DR. BURTON I. COHENFormer National Director of the Ramah Camps and Israel Programs; Associate Professor Emeritus and former Chair, Department of Education, Jewish Theological Seminary of America
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“Rabbi James Gordon once again does a superior job of tying elements of sportsmanship to the Talmud and Jewish traditions. … Read more

ED SHERMANAuthor, Babe Ruth’s Called Shot: The Myth and Mystery of Baseball’s Greatest Home Run; former Chicago Tribune sportswriter
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“Rabbi Jamie Gordon has hit a home run! . . . The chapters are filled with wonderful true stories of some present day sport… Read more

DAVID DOBKIN, M.D.President, Medical Staff, Lurie Children’s Hospital; Past President, Ida Crown Jewish Academy; Past Medical Director, Camp Ramah in Wisconsin; Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
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PRAY BALL 2!! Spiritual Insights into Sportsmanship is an extraordinary work, masterfully blending Torah and Jewish knowledge… Read more

RABBI DR. ZEV ELEFFAssociate Professor of Jewish History, Touro College and University System; Chief Academic Officer, Hebrew Theological College
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“Rabbi Gordon takes sports stories and creates analogies to real life situations. The stories themselves are very accessibl… Read more

RABBI VERNON KURTZSenior Rabbi, North Suburban Synagogue Beth El (Highland Park, IL); Past President: Rabbinical Assembly, American Zionist Movement and Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago
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“This new book by Rabbi James Gordon is a worthy successor to an earlier volume with the same name. Rabbi Gordon’s earlie… Read more

DR. ERWIN H. EPSTEINProfessor Emeritus, Center for Comparative Education, Loyola University Chicago
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“I thoroughly enjoyed PRAY BALL 2!! I never had a warm, fuzzy feeling towards Jewish education . . . until this book! The c… Read more

BRENT NOVOSELSKYFormer Chicago Bear & Minnesota Viking; ChFC, VP Wealth Management
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“. . . The media exposes our children to numerous negative role models in college and professional sports. PRAY BALL 2!! ca… Read more

MARCI DICKMANDirector of Lifelong Learning, Beth Emet The Free Synagogue (Evanston, IL); Former Head of School, Sager Solomon Schechter Day School (IL)
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