I call this area Notes From The Above Ground, a childish little play on Dostoyevsky's Notes From the Underground, which is a lot more depressing but probably better written. It is here that I will be posting messages to you, the reader, about my travels - both literal and metaphoric - and about things going on in the world that just make me want to stand on this electronic soapbox and shout it out Patrick Henry-style. I'll try to keep all rhetoric apolitical. Notes will be updated periodically, so you have an open invitation to visit. Latest Note | Read Previous Notes

November 19, 2003 You're an up-and-coming pro athlete yearning for superstar status in your given sport. A very important game is coming up, where if you do well, it could mean big-time bucks, talk shows, kids wearing your jersey and the admiration of millions...not to mention your own teammates. But wait! You've just checked your PDA (or your publicist has) and realized that there is a conflict - in more ways than one! This crucial game is to be played on the holiest day of your religious calendar! Quite the dilemma. So, what do you do? Do you surrender all the wealth, fame and fan adulation to spend the day in a house of worship, observing the faith to which you are so devoted? Or, do you skip the holy day - play instead of pray - in order to bring home the big check and make the fans and your teammates happy? This question was posed to the bright and responsive group of high schoolers who make up the membership of Fair Lawn/Glen Rock USY. My November 9th speaking engagement was part of USY Awareness week, a program designed to increase the awareness of United Synagogue Youth - the international Conservative Jewish youth group that inspired my novel, Coaching Ira. FLGR USY Education/Religion VP Danielle Montag presents Adam with a plaque of appreciation and a signed Mark Spitz card. As expected, I got a mixed response from the crowd. Some of the kids figured one Yom Kippur away from synagogue was no big deal for all of the career enhancement you could get from playing on the Jewish holy day. Jewish athletes voicing this kind of sentiment, kids and adults alike, are not alone. Jewish football players like offensive lineman Lenny Friedman and baseball players like Boston's Gabe Kapler and the Dodgers' Shawn Green have played on the most sacred days of the Jewish year. Green, however, has since benched himself on Jewish high holy days very much aware of his role-model status to young, Jewish athletes. Other kids in the group went the "Sandy Koufax" route, claiming they would not partake of sports on the high holys regardless of the bounty they would receive at day's end. Religious observances and spiritual well-being aside, these teens felt that by being in synagogue instead of in a stadium on the Day of Atonement, they would look better in the public eye; their uncompromising devotion to their faith and their non-negotiable decision to observe it would make a better story, and in time all the other aforementioned rewards would come. After this rousing debate, we cooled off with some Jewish sports trivia, which I purposely made neither too Jewish nor too sports. Multiple choice made things a bit easier as well. Winners received Israeli Soccer Team t-shirts and an encyclopedia of Jewish athletes published by the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (courtesy of event coordinator Harry Melzer). Afterwards, Adam signed copies of his "Jewish basketball novel," Coaching Ira, the story of a quirky team of USY basketball players which is based on the author's own playing days. Fair Lawn/Glen Rock USY is an exceptional group of kids and their enthusiasm during the discussion was overwhelming. Best of luck to Chapter President Melissa Zeevi and Religious/Education VP Danielle Montag in their future plans, and thanks to Harry Melzer, Miriam Zeevi and advisor Darin Gaba for inviting me to speak. If you would like Adam to speak at your program click the Contact Adam link.