_______________ eAst meADoW ______________ The American Flag
your HEALTH
is inside
body / mind / fitness
display It Proudly!
and
Let’s show everyone that we’re proud to be Americans.
JUNE 29, 2023
with a focus on:
MEN’S
looK INsIdE YoUR HEAlTH
Men’s Health
Vol. 23 No. 27
E.M. celebrates wellness week
Firefighters put out a shed blaze
Page 14
Page 24
JUNE 29 - JUlY 5, 2023
$1.00
52 years of Strat-O-Matic baseball in E.M. By MAlloRY WIlsoN mwilson@liherald.com
Mallory Wilson/Herald
THE EAsT MEAdoW Strat-O-Matic Baseball league was established in 1972. This season marks 52 consecutive years of play for the league, involving some players who still live on Long Island and others who have moved out of state.
What started out as a way to have fun with friends has ultimately turned into the country’s oldest known Strat-O-Matic baseball league. The East Meadow Strat-O-Matic league was founded in 1972, and this season marks 52 consecutive years of play. The league was founded by Jim Drucker, who grew up on Clearmeadow Drive. It originally comprised fewer than 10 players, all friends from East Meadow, most of whom also lived on Clearmeadow. They didn’t play for money — just bragging rights — and that’s still the case. Strat-O-Matic is a company that develops sports simulation games based on real players’ statistics, much like fantasy sports leagues today. It creates simulations for Continued on page 6
South Shore synagogues meet to combat antisemitism By MAlloRY WIlsoN mwilson@liherald.com
Eleven people were murdered on Oct. 27, 2018, in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, just for being Jewish. It was the event that changed synagogue life forever, according to Ian Brecher, executive vice president of the Oceanside Jewish Center. With Jewish communities on the South Shore and beyond seeing an uptick in antisemitism, seven local synagogues came together to host a seminar on how to properly handle and address any antisemitic acts and comments that people may be experiencing, and to hopefully
stop any events like the mass murder at the Tree of Life synagogue from happening again. East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center, Oceanside Jewish Center, Merrick Jewish Centre, South Baldwin Jewish Center, Congregation Beth Tikvah in Wantagh, Congregation B’Nai Sholom-Beth David in Rockville Centre, and Congregation Beth Ohr in Bellmore have always worked together on issues that each congregation was facing — and antisemitism is no different, Howard Tiegel, president of the Merrick Jewish Centre, said. “Jews are a group of people that have always dared to be different,” Scott Richman, the
regional director for the New York/New Jersey Anti-Defamation League, said. “A series of conspiracy theories or tropes began to develop around us, and those conspiracy theories are what we still live with today. “When you talk about why there is antisemitism,” Richman added, “antisemitism is essentially just those conspiracy theories.” Anybody can report incidents of antisemitism to the Anti-Defamation League, and someone from the office will respond and record the event. Richman said that 2022 was the worst year of recorded incidents, and each year appears to be getting worse.
New York has the most recorded antisemitic acts, and 72 of 111 assaults across the nation in 2022 took place in New York. Attendees were invited to listen and ask questions at three breakout sessions — rabbinic responses to antisemitism, preparing for antisemitism on the college campus, and antisemitism in public schools.
Sofie Glassman, an incoming junior at East Meadow High School, shared her school experiences with antisemitism. “Antisemitism is something that I have faced since the start of elementary school, when a girl on the playground told me that she didn’t want to play with me because I was Jewish,” Continued on page 22