TEL AVIV — Amar’e Stoudemire loped into the lobby of his Tel Aviv seaside hotel, bouncing an orange basketball, wearing a gray T-shirt with the legend “Jerusalem-Israel” and side-by-side flags of Israel and the United States, a two-flag pin he said he was given as a gift, and a large black crocheted skullcap on his head.

Among the many tattoos he considers “like artwork” was a small but prominent Star of David on the top of his left hand that he said he had had for a while. “I look at the Star of David as a symbol of righteousness,” he said.

On Tuesday, hotel guests reveled in Stoudemire’s presence and pleaded to have their photograph taken with him. Most barely reached the armpits of his 6-foot-10-inch frame. The much-publicized trip to Israel for Stoudemire, the Knicks’ new power forward, was ending, he said, with the feeling of an awakening.

“It was purely spiritual and educational,” he said of his weeklong stay. And apparently not — as reported, speculated and in some quarters anticipated — because of Jewish genealogy related to his mother.

In fact, Stoudemire seemed to shun organized religion.

“I have no formal religion,” he said. “I believe religion is man-made. I am not a religious person. It’s about cultural spirituality, period.”

Stoudemire, 27, traveled to Israel with Idan Ravin, an American basketball trainer whose parents grew up in Israel. He said he had wanted to visit the country for five years and hastily arranged this trip after he withdrew from the team of N.B.A. players who will represent the United States at the FIBA World Championships later this month in Turkey.

The Knicks requested that Stoudemire not play in the World Championships after failing to insure his new contract, worth almost $100 million, to because of past injuries to his knee and eye.

The Knicks’ organization appeared to be taken aback by the trip and uneasy with the publicity it was generating. Nine years ago, the team waded into turbulent social waters when two of its players, Allan Houston and Charlie Ward, made remarks that were deemed anti-Semitic in a New York Times Magazine story that focused on their Christianity. Houston, now an executive with the team, visited Israel with his wife last summer.

Early reports that Stoudemire had made the journey to trace Jewish roots in the family of his mother, Carrie, might have made the Knicks fear objections by those suspicious of a marketing ploy for the benefit of the large Jewish fan base in New York.

But Len Elmore, the broadcaster and former N.B.A. player who is African-American, married to a Jewish woman and has had two sons bar-mitzvahed, saw no downside. “It’s refreshing that a guy would use his downtime to explore the world and himself,” said Elmore, who is also the chief executive of iHoops, the N.B.A. and N.C.A.A. venture to promote a healthier youth basketball environment.

Alan Freedman, the director of the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum at the Suffolk Y Jewish Community Center in Commack, N.Y., said he reacted with disbelief when he received an e-mail from a board member last week, informing him that Stoudemire had revealed his Judaism.

Freedman said he wrote back, “Yeah, and I heard Shaquille O’Neal is Orthodox.”

In a telephone interview, Freedman said, “I don’t think we’ll be inducting Amar’e Stoudemire into our Hall of Fame any time soon.” But as for the trip, he added: “It’s 100 percent a good thing. I’m all for making people aware and for opening up dialogue.”

Stoudemire said he intended to do more than that, affirming he would “absolutely” be practicing the faith — again for cultural and spiritual reasons only. He intends to observe the Sabbath, Passover and the High Holy Days unless they conflict with his Knicks schedule.

He said he had been eating kosher in Israel and planned to continue. “When I get back to the States, I’m going to focus more on living the Scripture,” he said. “For me, it’s about learning the total culture.

“If you research history, I think we are all Jewish,” he added. “It’s the original culture. This is a personal spiritual quest. So now I feel spiritually Jewish, culturally Jewish.”

Would he play with his skullcap on? “Maybe with a string attached,” he said, laughing while motioning the tying of one under his chin. Ravin, the trainer, suggested gluing it to his head.

The black skullcap was a gift, but Stoudemire now has a collection, including those with N.B.A. and Knicks logos embroidered.

The highlights of his trip, which began in Jerusalem, included visiting significant sites that included the Western Wall, the Mount of Olives and the Old City. Without prompting, he mentioned Jesus being captured by the Romans and said, “I walked the same steps he walked when he carried the cross.”

Stoudemire also went to Beersheba, which he called “the land of Abraham.” But the best bit of the trip, he said, was probably his float in the Dead Sea.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” he said. “There are so many minerals. Usually when you reach down in the water, you get handfuls of sand or rocks. I was grabbing crystal salt.”

Israelis were “very friendly, welcoming and appreciative that I was able to come to an understanding of my true culture.” Asked if he had had contact with Arabs, he said, “I met a few.”

Stoudemire also found time on Monday for a morning workout, training in the gym at Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena. Among those watching him were Shimon Mizrahi, the chairman of Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv. a basketball club, and the former Maccabi star Tal Brody. Both later met Stoudemire at the hotel.

In a telephone interview, Brody called Stoudemire “an outstanding individual” and said he and Mizrahi had proposed he play for Maccabi Tel Aviv after finishing his N.B.A. career. “He didn’t say no,” Brody said.

One way or another, Stoudemire said: “I’ll be back for sure. I look forward to maybe helping with some programs here.” Brody said they discussed the possibility of a youth program exchange.

“It is all about love and peace, coming together and having fun,” Stoudemire said.

The game? he was asked.

“The game — and life,” he replied.

In N.B.A. circles, Stoudemire’s life story is widely known, and he is respected for being a survivor and self-appointed patriarch of a troubled and splintered family. His father, Hazell, died when he was 12. His mother has been in and out of jail for a multitude of offenses from the time he was a child.

An older brother, Hazell Jr., was sent to federal prison before Stoudemire jumped to the N.B.A. from high school in 2002. A half-brother, Marwan Williams, was — at 18 — one of five people arrested in 2007 after a shooting left one man dead in what the police said they thought was a drug heist gone bad in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Stoudemire has said that the sum of his experiences makes it more imperative for him to feel spiritually connected and whole. Although his Israeli adventure was made without family members, he said his three children — ages 5, 3 and 2, with one woman whom he has not married — will be “introduced to the culture.”

During his time in Israel, he has picked up some Hebrew — including local slang. “Levaker be’yisrael ze hahalom sheli,” he said, or “visiting Israel is my dream.” Asked for more, he also said, in Hebrew, “My name is Amar’e. I live in New York. I play basketball for the Knicks.”

A little bit for everyone here, even a non-believer such as myself:

“I have no formal religion,” he said. “I believe religion is man-made. I am not a religious person. It’s about cultural spirituality, period.

...Although this seemed a bit strange to me coming from an African-American:

“If you research history, I think we are all Jewish,” he added. “It’s the original culture.

He seems like a perfect fit for NYC in terms of personality. Knicks' fans, evolutionary biologists, religious historians, and what I think is the largest Jewish population in the world(??) should get a kick out of this guy.

He may just be the perfect "community pick" for NYC.

Best example of a kid coming out of high school. Kobe had a nice background growing up but Amare really has walked to his own beat and is taken to educate himself.

He see's himself as a citizen of many cultures. Not just black, not just hip hop, not just christian, not just "a proplayer", and not just Jewish, but a citizen of all. Good for him!

Maybe Amare is the true savior!!!!

http://ultimateknicks.com/forum/topic.asp?t=36124&page=3#769109

clearly jewish identity is a sensitive topic, especially given the reality of jewish history, complications/contradictions within the diaspora about identity, and relationships with other groups, nations and peoples. this sometimes leads to folks like woody allen, larry david, yitzach rabin, or noam chomsky...other times jackie mason, alan dershowitz, benjamin netanyahu, or ariel sharon...with of course many other types. there is difficulty that exists with jewish identity and attitudes for many who are "in" the group. this also evokes response from those who observe the group's achievements, yet also harm towards others (thinking particularly of the state of israel's actions, but also stereotypes of jewish landlords, hollywood executives, etc.), and are influenced by experiences that molded their view of jews -- sometimes having to do with direct positive or negative relationships --- (while some i still think some who comment on jews don't really have a good understanding of the group, i.e. i've heard some think all jews wear a kippah or dress hassidic)

this was discussed in that previous post and is related to the natural response that will take place, both with positivity by some, and some skepticism by others...

funny because there was a recent article about chelsea clinton's recent interfaith marriage to a jewish male that discusses these issues...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/us/04interfaith.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general

Nonetheless, the seemingly incandescent wedding of Ms. Clinton and Mr. Mezvinsky has churned up ambivalent reactions among the nation’s almost six million Jews.

There is a clannish pride that after a history of exclusion and prejudice, the grandson of a Jewish Iowa grocer could marry into what passes for political royalty in the United States.

But some Jews fear that the societal openness confirmed by high-profile intermarriages like that of Ms. Clinton and Mr. Mezvinsky, or Caroline Kennedy and Edwin A. Schlossberg in 1986, prod more Jews to marry out of their faith. That, they worry, could threaten the vitality of a group that represents no more than 2 percent of the American population.

Gary Rosenblatt, editor of The Jewish Week in New York, called the wedding “a Rorschach test” that reveals “how you feel about intermarriage and assimilation.” Among many Jews who might “frown on this wedding,” he said, “there’s a secret pride — look, one of our guys.”

But most Orthodox groups adamantly reject intermarriage. Avi Shafran, public affairs director of Agudath Israel of America, a leading traditional Orthodox organization, said in an e-mail, “The toll being taken by intermarriage on the identifiably American Jewish community is obviously a grave one.”

Liberal groups like the Reform Jews believe that they have found an approach for keeping spouses who, like Ms. Clinton, do not convert to Judaism within the Jewish fold. Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, president of the Union of Reform Judaism, said synagogues actively embraced non-Jewish spouses and let them perform synagogue roles.

this is why why some may feel joy about amar'e's interest, and again, others who hold some skepticism about the hereditary need to maintain judiasm, and the "exclusivity" of this "club"...yet, i also recognize there are positive aspects of maintaining culture and religious traditions...

i believe people will identify themselves however they so desire, and in the end no "meeting of minds" will ever be able to decide it for them.

the thing with those who seem to identify most strongly as jewish, of course there are exceptions, is an apparent need to get more people who possess the right hereditary criteria be a part of the "tribe," (there is a great episode of 'curb your enthusiasm' where a jew is getting baptized to marry that addresses this with beyond hilarious writing and acting)...

yet within the "tribe" it is not even agreed upon as to who belongs and who does not...

and there is a huge list of requirements exists that is completely outside of people's own control...

so, some within the group will claim a person as a member, while others will say this person is not...

this dilemma does not exist in christianity (you have to be baptized, and if you don't practice, no one will identify you as "christian" by your looks wearing priest clothing on the street trying to get you more involved (the evangelicals will take anyone) or lead you to get thrown in an oven/called a "zionist murderer" because your name is ari gold...

but interfaith marriage and children of them is bound to occur given the reality that humans often fall in love with, or just plain old have sex with people outside of their own group...

in the end, this is why, eventually, the concept of race -- which is a social construct, not based on scientific evidence -- will have to fall. will we all be the same, lacking individuality and cultural differences that are valuable? that's something to consider, but the end of a connection between race, ethnicity, and religious identity won't happen anytime soon. however, i believe holding on too strongly onto traditions of group identities that may have made sense in a previous period for survival in more perilous times, might also be futile, leading to xenophobic, fearful and harmful results.

PresIke wrote:just to add...

amar'e getting a star of david tattoo

sounds like it belongs in something written by larry david or woody allen

i could see an episode where larry changes his name to larr'y.

Marv wrote:

PresIke wrote:just to add...

amar'e getting a star of david tattoo

sounds like it belongs in something written by larry david or woody allen

i could see an episode where larry changes his name to larr'y.

Holy shyte was that funny. You've outdone yourself. How about get the funny ass black dude living in Larry's house (forgot his name) to take Larry to a Lakers game when the Knicks are there, and have some sort of interaction between him and Amar'e. Lots of potential for Larry David to work with.

Nalod wrote:Amare can grab the Jewish culture and identify with whom ever he wants. Conversion and Bar Mitzvah is a formal training. Eating Kosher and wearing a kippa does not make him "Jewish". If he wants to say he is jewish, who in gods name really cares?

I applaud any person who embraces religion and inclusion into a group to make them happy!

I think (based just on this NYT article) that Amare's interest in Jewish identity is more sincere than Madonna's interest in Jewish mysticism/kaballah. I could be wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him at shul on Yom Kippur reciting the Amidah with the rest of us. Plenty of Jews don't believe in anything metaphysical (e.g., God), including most Israelis who don't live in Jerusalem. But they are every bit as Jewish in identity as those who pray daily.