Several years ago, Rabbi Zev Leff, a prominent Rabbi from Israel, was visiting his daughter’s family in Scotland. There was a soccer match between Israel and Glasgow, and he accompanied his family to the stadium. As a goal was scored, the camera panned to catch Rabbi Leff deeply immersed in a book. One commentator lamented that he must have missed the goal, while the other chuckled that it must have been a good read. Indeed, it was a good read. It was a tome of the Talmud.

This clip became an international sensation, with some applauding the Rabbi and others criticizing him. The argument was simple: if he wanted to study, he should not have gone to the game, and if he wanted to be at the game, he should not have studied. However, I was struck by this clip because Rabbi Leff displayed a courage rarely seen in today’s Jewish world. He brought his Judaism into the public arena.

Most Jews reserve their Judaism for the indoors. They either hesitate to venture far from their cloistered communities, never encountering the vast outdoors, or they venture into the big world but leave their Judaism behind. Instead of a Kippah, they don a cap. Instead of a formal jacket, they wear a sport coat to cover their tzitzit. They do their best to blend in. Some Jews go so far as to remove their Kippah and tzitzit entirely. For them, those things are for the home and synagogue; outdoors, they take them off.

Rabbi Leff said, “Rubbish.” He effectively declared: I am a Jew inside just like I am outside. I am not afraid to join my family at the soccer game, but I am not going to change my routine just because of where I am. He was authentic to his true self, to his beliefs and practices, irrespective of his surroundings.

He was not a nuisance, nor did he make a spectacle of himself. He sat quietly, immersed in his studies. Had the cameras not panned on him, no one would have noticed—and that would have been fine with him. He did not set out to get noticed, but neither did he set out to notice the game. He was........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)