YU Maccabees Wear Orange for Playoff Game in Memory of the Bibas Family

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS (VINnews) – It was a bittersweet win for the Yeshiva University Maccabees basketball team on February 25th as they notched a conference division win while playing in memory of Shira, Ariel and Kfir Bibas just hours before they were finally laid to rest in Southern Israel.

Team members wore orange shirts over their jerseys during practice and while sitting on the bench in tribute to the Bibas family, as did the event staff for the game. Head coach Elliot Steinmetz was similarly attired in orange, with Yeshiva University president Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman wearing an orange tie as he spoke briefly to the hundreds of fans who turned out for the game.

“We’re about to recite prayers and Psalms both for Israel and the hostages who we pray will be returned home soon,” said Rabbi Dr. Berman. “After experiencing this most horrific week where we mourn the murder of the Bibas families whose remains have returned home, we carry with us not just their colors, but their neshamot, their souls, in our hearts.”

Members of both the Yeshiva University team and their opponents, the Purchase College Panthers, stood solemnly as Rabbi Dr. Berman led the room in prayer. Rabbi Dr. Berman told VIN News that in keeping with its mission to sanctify G-d’s name in public, Yeshiva University was dedicating much more than a basketball game to the Bibas family.

“We dedicate our lives to them,” explained Rabbi Dr. Berman. “This is representative of who we are. This isn’t a color we’re wearing – this is in our hearts. This is expressing everything that we believe in.”

The third seeded Maccabees finished off the sixth seeded Purchase College by a score of 88 to 59, with the Yeshiva University team advancing into the next round of the playoffs. Star player Zevi Samet noted that with nearly half of the Maccabees’ roster comprised of Israeli players, the team has a special responsibility to mourn the devastating losses of innocent October 7th victims.

“We are the only Jewish college basketball team in all of college sports, and the least we can do is to represent them during this difficult time and to show that this is a sad loss for all of Klal Yisroel,” said Samet.