Growing up in the small farm town of Yavne, Israel, Omri Casspi always dreamed of playing in the NBA. "I remember getting up at like three or four in the morning to watch the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan," said Casspi. "Having players like him to look up to helped me develop, it gave me some motivation." It’s obvious that Casspi knows the great responsibility that comes with success and fame. Despite an ever-changing and hectic NBA schedule, Casspi made his first visit to Denver, Colorado one to remember for some local Jewish school children. Fresh off the plane and straight from DIA, Casspi made the trip to East Denver Orthodox Synagogue for the Denver Academy of Torah (DAT) 8th gr

  According to Jewish tradition, the highest form of tzedakah, or charity, is to donate to a community fund, or kupah. Whether your donation is in the form of community service hours, survival materials or a monetary donation, it all helps to strengthen and build our community at large.   The Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region, and their overseas beneficiaries, work with a broad set of national and international institutes that span the world to provide relief, rescue, and reconstruction. The federation system is dedicated to inspiring community members to secure the financial and human resources necessary to achieve the mission of caring for those in need, without discrimination

  The stretch of an NBA player’s reach goes far beyond their measurable wing span. From the internet to television, player’s lives are dissected and analyzed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Savvy players create charitable foundations, Facebook fan pages and blogs to market themselves and keep the fans “close”. While the Sacramento Kings Omri Casspi is not your “average” American-born basketball player, it is clear that Omri’s impact goes far and beyond what any might have originally expected. This past December marked the launch of www.casspi18.com, an interactive website that connects fans directly to Number 18, giving them the chance to write him questions, follow in-depth Om

Join the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region for the 2009 Community-wide Chanukah Celebration! All are invited to see the one-of-a-kind performance by acclaimed supernatural entertainer Lior Suchard (click here to see exclusive video). The entire community is invited to see the show and stay for autographs and pictures with Israeli NBA superstar Omri Casspi (click here for an exclusive video invite from Omri). In addition, three generations of community leadership will be honored as we "pass the torch" from leader to leader, and hear words from Sacramento Vice Mayor Hammond. This event will be one you will want to be sure not to miss! For event details visit www.jewishsac.org and f

Judaism has always left its constituency with an interesting morale dilemma. While we grow up proud of our heritage, appreciative of our traditions, there is always some sort of inhibition when it comes to public displays of our culture and religion.   Growing up in a Hebrew speaking home, I remember vividly how I would be “embarrassed” when my mother would yell across the grocery store in Hebrew, not because I was being yelled at, growing up with an Israeli mother I became used to this type of public “affection,” but everybody would turn and look with a perplexed look on their face thinking “What language is she speaking in?” I grew up having to explain over and over to my friends why

Another great reputable option is to donate through the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region's Haiti Relief Fund. For more details visit www.jewishsac.org

I see what you are saying. It's not that Omri's success translates into us being "happier" Jews, it is that for us, living in a very small Jewish community, Omri has made Judaism more acceptable in the mainstream and has given us a public figure to admire...in the open.

Watch for an article each month as we follow Omri Casspi's first season in the NBA.