Filed under: Basketball
While a lot of pro athletes spend their off-season partying and vacationing, New York Knick Amare Stoudemire is on a different level during his. There's always a time when you're looking for something deeper and more meaningful in life to help make sense of the world and life you're living. For Stoudemire, he's looking in Israel. He discovered he may have some Jewish roots on his mother's side, so he went to the Holy Land to research Judaism, its practices and history.
While in Israel, Stoudemire did an interview with Tel Aviv network Sport5, explaining why he was there, what he's finding and what he hopes to accomplish:
"One thing I wanted to do was try to find my original," Stoudemire said. "I'm very spiritual and this trip actually helped a lot in finding the original culture.... I knew my personal history. I knew it began here. It was a great opportunity for me to travel and learn this culture, so I can now apply that to my everyday lifestyle."
When the interviewer specifically asked Stoudemire if he thought he was Jewish, Amare responded that everyone is:
"Through history, I think we all are," he said. "It's a beautiful culture, it's the original culture. From a spirituality standpoint, this is where it all started. I feel blessed to be able to come to this understanding at a young age."
Stoudemire also says that he'll be celebrating Shabbat, Passover, Hanukah and all the other Jewish holy days, because it's now "a part of my culture and a part of my lifestyle."
It appears that Amare is sincere in his new direction and is not on some "publicity stunt" like some critics would believe. We'll see if he keeps with the holidays and Hebrew lifestyle once he returns to the States. Check out the interview and see for yourself: