Menschwarmers

From Team Israel's fairy tale run to Sue Bird's unbroken Olympic victories, Jewish athletes have long beaten the odds. To celebrate Hanukkah, the Menschwarmers run through their picks for the greatest Jewish sports streaks and miracles of all time.

Credits

Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network—find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers, and The CJN Podcast Network on Twitter @cjnpodcasts.

It's an off week for the Menschwarmers, but we have a bonus episode for you all: a full-length interview with Mitch Garber, a Montreal business mogul and philanthropist. Garber brought the Montreal Alouettes back to the CFL and is working with Stephen Bronfman to bring back the Expos, but he joined _The CJN Daily_ podcast earlier this week to talk about his other investment: the newest NHL team, the Seattle Kraken. Also joining the conversation is Irv Osterer, an Ottawa-based historian of all things Jewish hockey.

Credits

Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network—find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers, and The CJN Podcast Network on Twitter @cjnpodcasts.

Former pro basketball player Dan Grunfeld spent years confirming this one basic fact: that his father, Ernie Grunfeld, an acclaimed NBA player-turned-executive, is the only son of Holocaust survivors to play in any of the Big Four pro leagues. As far as he can tell, it's true. And that unique situation, in which generational trauma mixed with generational athleticism, fuelled his book, By the Grace of the Game: The Holocaust, a Basketball Legacy, and an Unprecedented American Dream, coming out later this month.

Credits

Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network—find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers, and The CJN Podcast Network on Twitter @cjnpodcasts.

Who's the greatest Jewish athlete of all time? How would you measure their success: by records held, peaks reached, popularity earned? The longevity of their career? Who deserves to be mentioned in this massive debate?

Ask Mark Hebscher, and he'll tell you his answer: Ida Schnall. Hebsy is writing a four-part series for The CJN on why Schnall—whose career spanned sprinting, diving, baseball and Hollywood fame—deserves the spotlight over everyone else. After that, the Menschwarmers reveal their picks for the G.A.D.Y.A (Greatest Athlete: Division Yiddish Athletics).

Read Part 1 and Part 2 of Mark Hebscher's series on Ida Schnall at thecjn.ca.

Credits

Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network—find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers, and The CJN Podcast Network on Twitter @cjnpodcasts.

Peri Goodman is a cheerleader for the Brock University Badgers. She's toured the world as a flyer—that's the one who, yes, flies in the air, thrown up by her teammates—and has navigated the surprisingly intense behind-the-scenes politics of cheerleaders versus gymnasts. She joins to chat about life on a cheer team, cheer's odds at becoming an Olympic sport and her team's trip to compete in Poland.

Plus: a baseball recap, a hockey preview and a debate over the age-old question: if you could choose one antisemitic conspiracy to be true, which would it be?

Credits

Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network—find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers, and The CJN Podcast Network on Twitter @cjnpodcasts.

As a co-host of Menschwarmers, James has interviewed pro athletes, journalists and historians. But the one guy whose job he really wants is Josh Rawitch, the newly minted president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Rawitch, whose family more than doubled the Jewish population of Cooperstown, NY, joins to talk about how he landed the job and share stories of a few lesser-known Jewish entrants in the hall.

Credits

Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network—find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers, and The CJN Podcast Network on Twitter @cjnpodcasts.

Since his humble beginnings in the Midwest wrestling scene in the early 2000s, Scott Colton, a.k.a. Colt Cabana, has grown into a seismic force in the pro wrestling world. After diving into the WWE as Scotty Goldman—a character presented a little antisemitically by the organization—a he made a name for himself as a world heavyweight champion in numerous global competitions and recently signed with the All Elite Wrestling league, rivaling his former titanitc overlords at the WWE.

Cabana joins the Menschwarmers to chat about his rise to fame, his podcast, his decision to join the nascent AEW and how he faced antisemitism along the way.

Credits

Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network—find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers, and The CJN Podcast Network on Twitter @cjnpodcasts.

For years, Mike Wilner has been beloved by Torontonians as the voice of Blue Jays baseball on the radio, calling games, taking fan calls and interviewing players. His tenure with the team ended unceremoniously last fall, when Rogers, which owns the team, let him go.

But the veteran announcer hasn't disappeared: he landed a gig as the baseball columnist for the Toronto Star; his baseball podcast, Deep Left Field, is one of the highest-rated baseball podcasts on Apple; and he recently finished a run calling games for Team Israel Baseball during their barnstorming tour of the Northeastern United States.

Wilner joins Gabe and Jamie to chat about his long career, his new ventures and why he doesn't often ask ball players if they're Jewish.

Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network—find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers, and The CJN Podcast Network on Twitter @cjnpodcasts.

Zach Hyman, Toronto's homegrown Jewish hockey star, recently signed a seven-year contract worth $38.5 million with the Edmonton Oilers. The move will sadly take him away from his belowed hometown, where he played for the Maple Leafs since 2015 and where his whole family lives. 

Before jetting off to Edmonton with his wife and eight-month-old son, Hyman spared some time to join us for a conversation about his Jewish roots in Toronto, looking for a new community in Edmonton and why his jersey is hanging on a wall at the Burger Shack at Avenue and Eglinton.

Plus: Gabe and Jamie break down a few recent Jewish Olympic medalists and give props to Rowdy Tellez for his latest hot streak.

Credits

Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network—find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers, and The CJN Podcast Network on Twitter @cjnpodcasts.

From Australians Jessica Fox (canoe slalom) and Jemima Montag (racewalking) to Israel's mixed judo team and gymnasit Artem Dolgopyat, Jews were well represented at this year's Tokyo Olympics. In fact, so many Jews medalled that, if Jews comprised their own country, they would have ranked alongside Belgium and Jamaica. Here's a rundown of all the Jews who've won medals so far, as well as those who've fallen short.

This episode was recorded live on Zoom at an event hosted by Stand With Us Canada on Aug. 5, 2021.

Credits

Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter and The CJN Podcast Network on Twitter and Facebook, or find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.