When I first heard about ping pong champion Estee Ackerman, I was excited. While I knew that the stereotype about all Jews being bad at sports simply isn’t true, Jewish athletes can sometimes be hard to find in certain sports — and this one was a young girl! I couldn’t wait to hear more about her.
I grew up with the stories of Jewish baseball legends Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax, who became legends to the Jewish community not just because of their prowess at the sport, but their decisions not to play on Yom Kippur. They proved that, yes, we Jews could be excellent, even at that most American thing of all — baseball — but even at the top, our Jewish values still matter.
Deciding not to play on Yom Kippur let theirs teams and the world know:
I can’t play.
I’m Jewish.
I love baseball,
But being Jewish means more to me than baseball.
Of course, great stories often become great children’s books, and as a children’s book author myself, I love to read them. “You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?!” by Jonah Winter and “Hank on First!” By Stephen Krensky both beautifully share these inspiring tales for young children to connect to.
But that title of the Sandy Koufax book is telling, isn’t it? It starts with the premise that most kids today have, in fact, never heard of Sandy Koufax or Hammering Hank Greenberg. To a 5-year-old today? These baseball heroes are ancient history.
So when I learned even more about Estee Ackerman’s amazing story, I knew it was just begging to be a children’s book.
Estee is a table tennis athlete. She began playing in her basement back when she was just 5 years old against her older brother Akiva. When she kept beating Akiva, she started playing her dad. And when she started beating her dad? He started taking her to compete in tournaments.
Gradually, Estee rose through the table tennis ranks. Sunday to Friday, she devoted to her training, getting stronger, quicker and more skilled.
But when Friday night came? She would put down her paddle. Estee and her family are Orthodox Jews, and for them, Shabbat was sacred family time, not a day for ping pong competitions.
Finally, Estee rose so high that at 11 years old, she had the opportunity to compete at the U.S. National Table Tennis Championships. There, she beat opponent after opponent, until finally she made it to the gold medal match.
You already know what happened next, don’t you?
The game was scheduled for Shabbat. And Estee had to choose. Shabbat or ping pong? Her parents left it up to her. It was agonizing. There were tears. But ultimately, Estee decided:
I can’t play.
I’m Jewish.
I love ping pong
But being Jewish means more to me than ping pong.
“I practiced and trained for six months for this,” Estee said at the time. “Ping pong is important to me, but my religion of Judaism is also very important to me.”
To Estee? Shabbat mattered more.
Estee forfeited the game. She went home to celebrate Shabbat with her family. And that, Estee thought, was that.
But it wasn’t. Because just like Koufax and Greenberg’s stories captured the world, Estee’s story did, too. Her choice of Shabbat over a gold medal match resonated with people. It was covered in the New York Post, on CBS news and more. And most meaningfully, Estee got letter after letter, sharing how much her decision inspired people who heard her story.
Her story inspired me, too. Here was a story about a kid — not a grown-up man. Here was a story that happened now — today! — not back in in 1935. Here was an Orthodox Jewish athlete — a girl!
I couldn’t — and still can’t — think of another picture book out there that features an Orthodox Jewish girl who is an athlete. Can you? But Orthodox Jewish girls play ping ping, baseball, volleyball, tennis, gymnastics and more.
I knew those girls should have the opportunity to see themselves in a book.
I knew that kids of all kinds should have the opportunity to read about a kid, just like them, who had the strength to make such a remarkable choice. Because Estee’s story shows kids not just how to be a ping pong player, but how to choose their “more,” whatever it may be.
