Rabbi Dov Huff’s Message

It is with great pride that I welcome you to the sixth Ezra Schwartz Baseball Tournament. What better way to honor and celebrate Ezra’s memory than to bring people together and play his favorite sport. And how appropriate that this tournament is taking place in the weeks leading up to Pesach – a time in which we celebrate our development from a family to a nation. A time in which we are meant to join together in a chaburah over the korban Pesach eating and celebrating together in joy. These values are Ezra’s legacy and this tournament honors who he was at his core. Our own Yechiel Ezra taught us how to love life, how to play hard, how to focus on that which really matters, and how to live for others. This weekend we bring Ezra’s lessons to life by living and playing by his playbook.

I keep a picture of Ezra on my desk and it reminds me of him every day. And this year we replaced our turf, in the center of our school, on the Ezra Schwartz field placing his logo in the center. But seeing these are not the only times I think of him. I think of him when I see the baseball team run by my window, when I see an older student playing with a younger one. I think of him when my son Binny wears Ezra’s Thomas the Train kippa and I think of him when my friends name their children after him. I see him in his siblings and I see him in our student athletes who earn the Ezra Schwartz Mentorship award. I remember him when I play football on the Ezra Schwartz field at Maimo. And with this tournament we honor his memory and continue his legacy. May his memory continue to be a blessing and always push us to make the most out of life.

Rabbi Dov Huff
Middle and Upper School Principal
Maimonides School