Former NBA Star Amar’e Stoudemire Speaks at Beth Tfiloh’s Penn Lecture

November 13, 2022 Linda L. Esterson

Amar'e Stoudemire: . “Understand the history about what you're posting, or the research on what you're posting, before you actually press that ‘send’ button." (Photo by Marc Summerfield of Guill Photo)

Former NBA star Amar’e Stoudemire, speaking in Pikesville last Wednesday night, Nov. 9, on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, admitted disappointment in recent antisemitic comments and postings by rapper Kanye West and the Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving.

“It’s important to understand what you’re posting and why you’re posting,” Stoudemire said at Beth Tfiloh Congregation’s annual Helene and Stanley Z. Penn Lecture. “Understand the history about what you’re posting, or the research on what you’re posting, before you actually press that ‘send’ button. …

“No one seems to understand what love really means anymore,” he said. “It’s been very, very frustrating … They seem to be slow on catching up on love, so we’ve got to do our part to continue to promote love and see how it goes.”

An American-Israeli, Stoudemire described being Black and Jewish as “a very challenging space to be in. But the only formula for me is to promote love and unity.” His goal, he said, is to help educate people to “have some love in their heart.”

A philanthropist, author, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, kosher winemaker and Orthodox Jew, Stoudemire spoke to an audience of approximately 600 at Beth Tfiloh about his Jewish journey. Beth Tfiloh’s Rabbi Chai Posner called Stoudemire a “superstar Jew.”

A native of Lake Wales, Florida, Stoudemire, 40, was raised a Baptist and recalled often finding his mother, Carrie, praying and crying late into the night. She suggested that he reconnect with the laws of Moses.

“I was keeping the commandments as best as I could,” Stoudemire said of his teen years. “I was learning to keep Shabbat, learning how to not be jealous, learning how to not lie and steal. I’ve always had that inside.”

Stoudemire was drafted out of high school and played in the NBA for 14 years, mostly with the Phoenix Suns and the New York Knicks.

From the outset of his basketball career, studying Judaism was a big part of his life, he said.

“I was able to read the Torah and also connect the Torah with the actual history books,” Stoudemire said. “That gave me more confidence that what I was learning in the Torah was actual truth and facts, and that gave me the confidence to continue to live my life according to the Torah.”

After signing with the Knicks, Stoudemire trained with Hall of Famer Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon. He endured grueling training sessions, but also found time to study with a rabbi. That served as his official introduction to Judaism, and he went on to learn with rabbis all over New York.

“That Torah learning that coincided with my training helped me to see the game a lot clearer,” Stoudemire said. “The game slowed down … but only because my neshamah, my soul, was starting to become more relaxed. As I was learning, I was starting to get a sense of clarity. I was getting a sense of peace.”

Stoudemire said his teammates frequently watched his spiritual journey, and he often invited them to join him and rabbis in learning sessions. He carried his siddur on the team bus and onto the court.

After one practice, Stoudemire said a teammate found his siddur and returned it to him, admitting to leafing through the prayerbook and finding it interesting. In addition, he said one of his former teammates converted to Judaism and moved to Israel as a result of his exposure to Stoudemire.

The 6-foo-10 Stoudemire left the NBA in 2016 to play for Hapoel Jerusalem, a team of which he is now a part owner, and Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he received Israeli Basketball Premier League Finals MVP honors.

Stoudemire said once he moved to Israel, he began to better understand the complexities of the siddur, the order of prayer and the importance of each prayer. He studied daily at a yeshiva for two hours in the early morning before weight training and practice.

“I was engulfed in it,” he says. “It was where I wanted to be.”

Stoudemire admitted that the conversion process in Israel was intensive. For about two years, he learned for up to three hours in the morning and an hour in the evening each day, studying the laws of Shabbat, kashrut, the mikvah, holidays and more.

When he officially converted and was immersed in a mikvah, “I felt like I was levitating.”

Stoudemire retired from basketball in 2020 to spend more time with his family and have the freedom to observe Shabbat and holidays without requiring special accommodations. He now splits his time between Florida, Israel and his New York winery. In 2018, he launched Stoudemire Wines.

Whether a Jew by birth or by choice, Stoudemire said the ultimate goal is for one to balance religious observance with their understanding of the world around them.

“If you’re able to find that golden lane, when you can keep your religious integrity and not be secular as much, then you’re … able to have fun and enjoy the perks that life gives you,” he said. “You have your cornerstone of Torah inside of your heart, which keeps your middot, your character traits, strong, keeps your davening there, it keeps your love of HaShem there. You need that. I think that it’s better to find that golden lane for yourself that allows you to enjoy life and also keeps that Torah next to your heart.”

During an entertaining lightning round session with Rabbi Posner, Stoudemire offered these responses to a dozen questions: