JEWS AND SPORTS
IN MINNESOTA
Sports have always been important to Jewish
Minnesotans whatever their physiques and height
limitations. This lighthearted exhibit, created by the
Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest,
spotlights Jewish sports figures and underscores the
prevalence of team sports.
Jewish members of the Mercury Club
basketball team Max Winter, top left and
Lou Gross, holding basketball, many have been
short, but they won a city championship in
1924. There were other Jewish members on this
settlement house team, but their names are
unknown.
Max Winter played basketball, coached
basketball, and finally owned a basketball
team, the Minneapolis Lakers.
The Aurora Club, which met at the Emanuel
Cohen Center in the 1930s, fielded a basketball
team. This is the only photo the Jewish
Historical Society has of a women’s athletic
team during this era.
The Polars met at the Emanuel Cohen Center in
Minneapolis. Many were short, they probably
could not afford uniforms, but they were
champs in 1935. They played against other
settlement houses.
The St. Paul Jewish Community Center has
always sponsored basketball teams.
This team is from the early 1940s.
Basketball has always been of vital importance
to AZA, a youthgroup open to Jewish
adolescent males. The Sons of Herzl was a
Minneapolis AZA group.
Lack of height did not prevent Ben Berger from
owning the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950s.
This team played basketball for the St. Paul
Jewish Community Center in the late 1950s or
early 1960s.
Sig Harris, 140 lbs. and 5 ft., 5 in., was the
University of Minnesota quarterback in 1903
and led his team to victory against their
archrival, the University of Michigan.
The Minneapolis Talmud Torah Alumni
Association promoted athletic endeavors and
the speaking of Hebrew.
Shown here is a 1920 football team.
These members of the Judeas football team
may have been poor (note torn pants), but
they were champs in the 1920s.
Tommy Kassmir, a conference leader in
scoring, was an “A” student in the classroom
and on the football field at Southwest High
School. Kassmir, no. 41, helped his team
become city champions in 1951.
Dan Goldberg may have been small, but he
was fast. He was a Minneapolis North High
School football champ in the early 1950s.
Morris Arnovich, small but sturdy, was
on the pennant-winning 1940 Cincinnati
Reds team.
St. Paul Jewish Community Center junior
high baseball team, ca. 1960s.
Felix Phillips was slight of physique, but was captain
of the University of Minnesota tennis team in 1955.
Cal Jacobs was called North High
School’s “one-man track team” by sports
commentators in the early 1940s. He
excelled in the 100 and 220 yard dash as
well as the broad jump.
By the 1960s, AZA and BBG had moved
beyond basketball. Shown here are four
St. Paul track event winners.
Height does not seem to matter in
wrestling. This photo of the ca 1947
North High wrestling team has many
Jewish members.
Harry Goldie, a veteran of some forty five ring
battles, was in charge of boxing at the University of
Minnesota in the early 1920s.
Boxing was popular with Jews in the 1920s, both as
viewers and as participants. For a poor kid, it was a
means of earning ready money.
DO YOU MEASURE UP?
If you have a sports accomplishment
or story to tell, please contact us at
[email protected]