A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
Cal Ripken and Koby Mandell

Nice article by Sherri Mandell in this week's New York Jewish Week.

Sherri and Seth Mandell made aliyah from Maryland in 1996. In 2001, their 13 year old son Koby and his friend were murdered by Palestinian terrorists just outside their Gush Etzion community.

The Mandells set up the Koby Mandell Foundation, which helps bereaved families of terror victims.

Koby Mandell had been a big fan of the Baltimore Orioles and particularly Cal Ripken. When Ripken learned of this, he offered to help the foundation.

Sherri Mandell writes that at a recent dinner and auction in Maryland to raise money for the Koby Mandell Foundation, "Cal was the first one at the hotel and one of the last to leave that night. He lay on the floor to sign the commemorative photos."

In an era in which athletes are not expected to be anything other than self-absorbed jerks and many people refuse to make moral distinctions between terrorists and terror victims, Cal Ripken serves as a refreshing and hopeful contrast.
posted on 11/23/2005