Amar’e Stoudemire on Jewish Heritage: Says He Is Keeping Kosher – Amare Stoudemire was recently awarded a $100 million dollar contract to play for the New York Knicks. He recently traveled to Israel to research his Jewish roots, and is reportedly embracing that part of his history. He announced yesterday that he is practicing the Jewish faith both “spiritually and culturally” now. He made the announcement after traveling with 30 kids on a double decker bus headed for Madison Square Gardens.
“I didn’t grow up in a Jewish home. I never had a bar mitzvah, never celebrated the holy days growing up,” Stoudemire said.
Since he returned from Israel, he has been living like a changed man. He said that he was deeply moved by the things that he found out while he was learning about that piece of his ancestry, and that he realized that a lot of things that the Jewish faith celebrates are things that he already celebrated in his day to day life.
Some cynics have suggested that he is using his new found faith to help the New York Knicks sell more tickets. He has denied these claims and has said that his change in faith has nothing to do with New York or the change in his contract, and that he is doing it for him.
The 6-10 forward recently visited the Midtown kosher steakhouse Prime Grill, where he received a blessing from Rabbi Joshua Metzger. It is interesting that he would change his faith so suddenly after taking a trip to Israel, but apparently he was quite moved by what he learned.
They are just mad to see a brown or black Jew. Where do they think the people who call themselves Jews now, come from? I’m a black Jew as well.