Everywhere Simcha Halpert goes on the Yeshiva University campus in Washington Heights, he is greeted with a smile. Some students will give him a high-five, others congratulate him. But everyone acknowledges him.
“It’s like the whole school won,” Halpert said in a phone interview. “Not just the team.”
On Sunday, Halpert and his teammates made history, leading the Orthodox Jewish institution to its first NCAA Division III Tournament berth courtesy of their Skyline Conference championship. Yeshiva knocked off No. 1 Farmingdale State in the semifinals in overtime, before taking down Purchase College for the title.
Since joining the conference in 1998, it was the first time Yeshiva (18-10, 13-7) had even reached the title game.
Coach Elliot Steinmetz’s phone hasn’t stopped buzzing since. Alums from decades ago have reached out to him. Athletic director Joe Bednarsh has heard from people in Thailand, South Africa, Argentina, Israel, and England. Television stations have come by campus for stories. Mayor Mayor Bill de Blasio has asked the Maccabees to stop by City Hall on Wednesday. Fans have attended practices like they’re playoff games.
“The last couple of days have been crazy,” said Steinmetz, a Yeshiva alum who played on the team when he was a student. “It’s just been overwhelming. It’s taken over certainly the campus and the extended Jewish world.
“I told my guys the other night, ‘At this point, in Yeshiva history, nobody can ever say they’re better. You’re the first ones to do it.’ ”
The players are all Jewish, and many of them observant. Some wear yarmulkes during games. They are far from normal college student-athletes. The team will practice at 6 a.m. to accommodate a busy schedule. They have Hebrew and Talmudic studies in the morning, followed by their regular academic classes in the afternoon. Some days don’t end until 10 p.m.
“We do it because we love the sport, we love playing and we love playing for each other,” said Halpert, one of five sophomore starters and the team’s leading scorer who was named the most outstanding player of the Skyline Conference Tournament.
The team can’t practice or play games from the time the sun sets Friday until it sets Saturday, in observance of the Sabbath. The entire program shuts down for that 24-hour period. The NCAA accommodated Yeshiva by scheduling its first-round game for Friday against York College at 1 p.m. If the Maccabees were to prevail, they would play Saturday night.
The team still has to deal with antisemitism. They will hear nasty comments at road games, and cruel chants from opposing fans, according to Steinmetz. But Yeshiva has used that as motivation, getting even by proving their doubters wrong.
“That’s really one of my favorite things to do, when I’m playing pickup or I’m with my team wearing our yarmulkes and fans start laughing at us,” Halpert said. “And once the game starts, and their smile fades away, there’s no better feeling that that, being able to change their minds about Jews not being able to be athletic. That’s one of the main reasons I wear my yarmulke during the game.”
For all the excitement the accomplishment has created in the last few days, all the notoriety the school has received, all the stereotypes that may have been smashed, this isn’t Steinmetz’s goal. He wants this to be the start. In the future, he would like an NCAA Tournament berth to become a regularity for Yeshiva.
“It shouldn’t be a shock to everybody,” Steinmetz said. “My hope is in the future, it’s not.”