February 1, 2015, - 5:59 pm
Tom Brady, Pats Owner Kraft Have Close Ties to Israel
Well, despite my long-term criticism of New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady, he does have one very redeeming quality: his ties to Israel. And it’s all due to Pats owner Bob Kraft and his late wife, Myra, strong supporters of Israel. Also, good to know that the Krafts promoted understanding and respect toward Christians and Christianity.
Tom Brady in Israel . . .
The commitment of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and his late wife Myra, to supporting Jewish causes in the United States and in Israel is apparent to all who have come to contact with them. . . . The Krafts turned their attention to philanthropy early on, giving more than $100 million to a range of causes. To promote Christian-Jewish understanding, their family foundation has endowed chairs in Jewish studies at Boston College and Holy Cross College, and a chair in Christian Studies at Brandeis University. At Kraft’s alma mater Columbia, they funded the Kraft Center for Jewish Living and the university’s athletic fields.
The Krafts have contributed to Israeli society and economy in a number of ways. They were instrumental in developing the sister city relationship between Haifa and Boston. Myra Kraft was especially interested in the fate of Israel’s Ethiopian community, and supported after-school and absorption program for Ethiopian immigrants to Israel. . . .
The Krafts also donated millions of dollars to build the Kraft Family Stadium in Jerusalem, where Israel’s flag and tackle football leagues play. In addition, Myra Kraft supported the Israeli women’s national flag football team. Robert Kraft’s business activity extends to Israel as well, including to Israel largest packaging plant, Carmel Container System, where he is the primary shareholder. But it was the annual trips to Israel where their connection to the country was most evident.
“Robert loves taking people to Israel,” said Barry Shrage, close friend of the family and president of Boston’s Combined Jewish Philanthropies. “Myra was completely in love with the country. Every stone, every rock, every tree. And she knew all their names. It was a way for her to express her intense feeling of love for the country. It was very important to her…She really was a beautiful person.” Even during the height of the Second Intifada, Myra led groups with hundreds of participants to Israel. She would make sure local shopkeepers stayed open late so she could take the groups to support in the struggling stores.
And it wasn’t only members of the Jewish community who toured the country with Myra. Before she passed away in 2011 after a bout with cancer, Myra Kraft used to take Patriots players to Israel regularly. “I remember sitting in the training room with her one day; we were both getting treatment, and she invited [my wife] Kirsten and I to Israel with her and Mr. Kraft,” former Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson told ESPN.com. . . .
It was the Krafts’ 2006 trip that still has Patriots fans in Israel buzzing. They brought superstar quarterback Tom Brady to the country for his first visit . . . . Participants on the trip say Brady was visibly moved by what he saw and experienced. Shrage remembers a Chabad rabbi who was close with Myra leading the group’s Friday night dinner. “Everyone started to dance, and Tom soon joined in. To see Tom Brady dancing in a circle with us, singing with us, that was really special. I think he was enormously moved.”
The Krafts took Brady to an IDF infantry base as well. Boston-born Netzach Yehuda battalion soldier Avi Sandler was in basic training in the Jordan Valley. He had just completed a week of field exercises and a forced march back to his base. He was told to put on his beret and report to the Deputy Company Commander’s office. “I was nervous, as at that point one only went to his office if he was in trouble,” said Sandler. “As I entered the office and saluted, I saw two other soldiers with American backgrounds already seated. We were told that a group of important Americans will be visiting the base tomorrow and that we were chosen to attend as representatives.”
Fellow soldier Label Garelik was sitting in his room when his sergeant came in, and told him that there were some Americans visiting who wanted to speak to soldiers who had moved to Israel from the US. “Some Robert Kraft or something.” The next morning, the soldiers were bused to the firing range, where a weapons demonstration was prepared for the visitors.
“Quietly, on the side, my friend says, ‘Avi, isn’t that Tom Brady?’” Sandler recalled. “Other than Mr. Kraft, we had no clue who was visiting. I responded, ‘It looks like him but what would he be doing here? We quickly turned to Brady and asked, ‘Are you Tom Brady? Yes,’ he responded. Our mouths dropped.” One of the soldiers asked Brady if he wanted to play football with them. “I don’t mix business and pleasure,” Brady joked.
The soldiers gave a demonstration of the various weapons lined up at the range. Brady exclaimed “Damn!” as the machines gun were firing. The Patriots quarterback even took some target practice at the base’s shooting range. “I was worried about the recoil,” Shrage recalled. “We certainly didn’t need Brady hurting his throwing shoulder shooting a rifle.” . . .
It’s not clear whether it was the trip that inspired Brady, but he keeps a large menorah in his Brookline home. “We’re not Jewish,” he told the New York Times last week. “But I think we’re into everything…I don’t know what I believe. I think there’s a belief system, I’m just not sure what it is.”
Read the whole article to learn what happened when bodyguards for then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon were faced with the Lombardi Trophy and saw it as a security risk.
It’s good to know that when it comes to the Jewish State and anti-Semitic Israel-boycotters, neither Robert Kraft nor Tom Brady has deflated balls.
Tags: Avi Sandler, Avi Sandler IDF, Barry Shrage, Bob Kraft, Carmel Container System, Myra Kraft, Myra Kraft Israel, New England Patriots, New England Patriots Israel, patriots, Robert Kraft, Robert Kraft Israel, Tom Brady, Tom Brady IDF, Tom Brady Israel, Tom Brady Menorah, Tom Brady Pro-Israel
First winner is Robert Merril.
Stop with these idiots who do not know how to sing National anthem.
madman on February 1, 2015 at 6:31 pm