Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection #210 (6/20/2026): NEW YORK KNICKS
Subject: Rabbi Sol reflects on the Knicks’ championship season.
This Rabbinical Reflection first aired June 20, 2026 on the “Dave’s Gone By” video podcast program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.
Rabbi Sol’s Rabbinical Reflections air on the long-running Dave’s Gone By program (davesgoneby.com) and are also archived on the Rebbe’s blog, Shalomdammit.com.
Rabbi Sol is also the creator of the stage shows, “Shalom Dammit! An Evening with Rabbi Sol Solomon” and “Hate Speech…With Love: Another Evening with Rabbi Sol Solomon.”
© 2026 TotalTheater Productions. All Rights Reserved.
RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #210 (6/20/2026): New York Knicks
(c)2026 David Lefkowitz. airs June 20, 2026 on Dave’s Gone By.
Shalom, Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon, with a Rabbinical Reflection for late June 2026.
When the Jews exodused from Egypt, they spent 40 years wandering the desert. In fact, by the time they got to Israel, they were dead, literally; only the next generation made it to the Holyland. Well, 40 years plus 13 is 53 years. That’s how long New Yorkers have waited for a basketball squad to lead us out of exile into the NBA promised land.
In 1973, nice Jewish coach Red Holzman led the New York Knicks to a 700 record and a championship win over the L.A. Lakers. `Twas the season of Phil Jackson, Dave DeBusschere, Walt Frazier, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, and Bill “The Senator” Bradley. Who knew then it would take five decades of often lousy B-ball to be-good?
But it happened this week! Kicking away the San Antonio Spurs in only five games, the Knicks, led by superstar Jalen Brunson, went the distance and gave New Yorkers a legitimate reason to set fires, overturn cars, and cavort like happy lunatics instead of oppressed ones.
After years traipsing through a wilderness of bad teams, selfish players, and dumb drafts, the Knickerbockers finally knicked their bockers. And let me tell you — it wasn’t always easy to cheer them on. Remember those two knucklehead Knicks who were interviewed by the New York Times, and when bringing up the bible, took the opportunity to bash Jews and call us Christ killers? That was 25 years ago, but let’s face it, with celebrities and athletes today, it could’ve been last week! And just in terms of incompetence, twice in the last decade, the Knicks went 17 and 65. Those happen to be my two favorite ages of a woman, but be that as it may… The Knicks were so bad, they made the New York Jets look – no, nothing can make the Jets look good, but it was easy to think the Knicks were equally sunk.
So there’s your object lesson of the day! No matter how hopeless, no matter how long the trail of failure, no matter how many fickle fingers of fault get pointed – there’s a way out of the desert if you work hard, change your attitude, get a little lucky, and make your own luck. Easy, right? No, if it was easy I’d be at Universal Studios directing Adam Sandler movies in Yiddish. But it is possible.
We celebrate the triumph of the New York Knicks — or any team — because they prove that collaboration, skill, and endurance can lead to glory. Alas, I couldn’t go to the Knicks’ victory parade on Thursday because of a bursitis issue. But I was there in spirit. (Interesting that Mayor Mamdani was there in the flesh and attended two playoff games – yet somehow had no time in his calendar for the Israel Day Parade. Priorities.)
But this moment is not for politics or nitpicking. It’s for the Knicks finally clicking and rewarding the true fans who kept sticking.
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches, in Great Neck, New York. Slam dunk!
(c) 2026 TotalTheater. All rights reserved.
—> https://davelefkowitzwriting.wordpress.com/?p=15763
