The pressure of performance is off for Manny Pacquiao.
Oh, I don’t mean when it comes to hopefully fighting unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. Tea leaf and breadcrumb readers who follow this column know that I think that the so called Super Fight between the Pinoy Idol and the mouthy Amerikano may be wrapped up late next week.
As always, I reserve the right to be wrong.
In reference to Congressman Pacman, I’m talking about the still giddy Bob Arum’s joshing of last week that he would ask Pacquiao to blow the shofar, the traditional ram’s horn, to call WBA junior middleweight champion and nearly a rabbi Yuri Foreman to battle Saturday night at Yankee Stadium.
“I thought of asking Manny to blow the shofar,” Arum said at a Foreman media workout ay Gleason’s Gym. “You know how musically talented Manny is with his singing, with the guitar playing. But I think it would be too much pressure to make his debut with the ram’s horn in front of 30,000 people at the ballpark.”
The shofar is the traditional ram’s horn which camn sometimes mark a battle cry as at Jericho
Arum was joking but the thought occurs to me that it couldn’t hurt getting “the Jewish vote” out for Pacquiao when his three year Congressional term, which starts with a June 30 swearing in ceremony in Manila, is over.
Speculation is that, after one term as Congressman from poverty stricken Sarangani, Pacman may seek a Congressional seat which could serve as a springboard to the presidency of his beloved homeland.
Can you picture that, a Pacman CD entitled “Pacquiao Live At Malacanang Palace?” OK, forget it.
It’s been some time, going back I think to Fabrice Benichou, that there has been a Jewish world boxing champion.
Which reminds me that, while much was made of 1970s era light heavyweight champion Mike Rossman’s heritage, he was conveniently “Jewish” for boxing purposes. His father’s name was DePianio and the Turnersville, NJ, fighter was more Catholic than Hebrew in his religious activities.
Or maybe he was both as his mother was Rossman, 100 percent Jewish and Jewish law says that if the mother is Jewish so are her children.
Anyway, Rossman never went into ring battle at the sound of the shofar. Final Hebraic boxing note.
Manny Steward, working Miguel Cotto’s corner against Foreman, had a middleweight named William “Caveman” Lee.
Lee fought Marvelous Marvin Hagler once and barely lasted for about 53 seconds as I recall. But he was not a terrible fighter.
Lee came out of boxing rich Philadelphia and his father, who was just as black as the son, was named Rabbi Lee.
Too bad that Rabbi is no longer with us and he would’ve fit perfectly in Foreman’s corner.
Don’t even get me started how, in one amateur bout in Boston many years ago, I fought under the moniker of Mike Marlowitz.
That’s a tale for another day.
Oh, and remind me, to someday soon revive the wonderful saga of mythical Jewish heavyweight Sol Nazerman, better known to his followers as “Bagel Boy.”
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
The shofar is mentioned frequently in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud and rabbinic literature. The blast of a shofar emanating from the thick cloud on Mount Sinai made the Israelites tremble in awe (Exodus 19, 20).
The shofar was used in to announce holidays (Ps. lxxxi. 4), and the Jubilee year (Lev. 25. 9). The first day of the seventh month (Tishri) is termed “a memorial of blowing” (Lev. 23. 24), or “a day of blowing” (Num. xxix. 1), the shofar. It was also employed in processions (II Sam. 6. 15; I Chron. 15. 28), as a musical accompaniment (Ps. 98. 6; comp. ib. xlvii. 5) and to signify the start of a war (Josh. 6. 4; Judges 3. 27; 7. 16, 20; I Sam. 8. 3). Note that the ‘trumpets’ described in Numbers 10 are a different instrument, described by the Hebrew word ‘trumpet’ not the word for shofar.
The Torah describes the first day of the seventh month (1st of Tishri = Rosh ha-Shanah) as a zikron teruah (memorial of blowing; Lev. xxiii) and as a yom teru’ah (day of blowing; Num. 29). This was interpreted by the Jewish sages as referring to the sounding the shofar.
In the Temple in Jerusalem, the shofar was sometimes used together with the trumpet. On New Year’s Day the principal ceremony was conducted with the shofar, which instrument was placed in the center with a trumpet on either side; it was the horn of a wild goat and straight in shape, being ornamented with gold at the mouthpiece. On fast days the principal ceremony was conducted with the trumpets in the center and with a shofar on either side. On those occasions the shofarot were rams’ horns curved in shape and ornamented with silver at the mouthpieces. On Yom Kippur of the jubilee year the ceremony was performed with the shofar as on New Year’s Day. Rosh Hoshana is the Jewish New Year. A ceremonial horn, called a ?shofar? is blown, reminding Jews that God is king. A feast with symbolic food is eaten on Rosh Hashana, and the next ten days are spent in repentance. Rosh Hashana ends on Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is a day of judgment, during which prayers are made asking for forgiveness.
On Rosh Hashanah and other full holidays (Day of Atonement, Ingathering of the harvest [Succot], Passover and the Feat of Weeks ? Pentecost) a single Priest perfected two sacrifices in honor of the full holiday, Note that festivals such as Hanukah and Purim), are not considered full holidays requiring an extra sacrifice. On Rosh Hashanah, something special occurred during the special sacrifice. Arguably two Shofar Sounders played the long notes and one Trumpet player played the short note. Accordingly, Rosh HaShanah is called Yom Teruah (the day of the blast) Otherwise, the Trumpets had ?top billing.? Rosh Hashanah27a, supports this claim: ?Said Raba or it may have been R. Joshua B. Levi: What is the scriptural warrant fore this? ? Because it is written, ?With trumpets and the sound of the Shofar shout ye before the King in the Temple, we require trumpets and the sound of the Shofar; elsewhere not.? See also Sidney B. Hoenig, Origins of the Rosh Hashanah Liturgy, The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Series, Vol. 57, The Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Volume of the Jewish Quarterly Review (1967), pp. 312-331. ? Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1453499. Accessed December 31, 2009
Indeed, on Yom Kippur, the Shofar was sounded to announce the Jubilee Year (every 50-years, Jews were granted freedom, forgiveness and debts and reclamation of sold lands. Shofar first indicated in Yovel (Jubilee Year – Lev. 25:8-13). Indeed, in Rosh Hashanah 33b, the sages ask why the Shofar sounded in Jubilee year. Further support is found in Rosh Hashanah 29a, where the Talmud talks of trumpets for sacrifices but Shofar in the Jubilee Year does not apply to priests who are exempt from the obligations of the jubilee. Perhaps, we have the first mention of Shofar Sounding by non-Priests. Perhaps the first distancing away from the Sacrificial Cult.
Jewish Jolter, WBA junior middleweight champion and aspiring rabbi, Yuri Foreman (Top Rank Photo/Chris Farina)
Otherwise, for all other special days, the Shofar is sounded shorter and two special silver Trumpets announced the sacrifice.
When the trumpets sound the signal, all the people who were within the sacrifice prostate themselves, stretching out flat, face down and on the ground. See external references.
The shofar was blown in the times of Joshua to help him capture Jericho. As they surrounded the walls, the shofar was blown and the Jews were able to capture the city. The shofar was commonly taken out to war so the troops would know when a battle would begin. The person who would blow the shofar would call out to the troops from atop a hill. All of the troops were able to hear the call of the shofar from their position because of its distinct sound.
