It may not seem like there’s much any of us can do to bring peace to even a relatively small corner of the world, but supporting world peace is as easy and concrete as drinking coffee or playing basketball. Here are four groups that not only work for peace, they also grow coffee, make yummy food, teach kids to play basketball, and bring young people together for a camp experience that includes conflict resolution exercises.

	Mirembe Kawomera A coffee cooperative in Uganda that grows organic, kosher, fair trade coffee. The best part: The co-op is made up of Jewish, Muslim and Christian coffee farmers all working together. In Luganda, Mirembe Kawomera means Delicious Peace.
	Peaceworks is a "not only for profit" company that makes healthy foods products produced by neighbors on opposing sides of political or armed conflicts. Plus, they donate 5% of all profits to groups working to empower the moderates in the Middle East who want a peaceful end to the war through a two-state solution.
	PeacePlayers International Founded on the premise that “children who play together can learn to live together” PPI brings kids together to play basketball, which unites and educates young people in divided communities. Currently operating in Northern Ireland, South Africa, New Orleans, Cyprus, and the Middle East, they foster positive relationships for thousands of children, helping form positive relationships, develop leadership skills, and improve their futures.
	Seeds of Peace Bringing kids together at a summer camp in Maine, and doing follow up programming in their home communities in the Middle East and South Asia, this program includes daily dialogue sessions, regular camp activities like arts, sports, and music, a ropes course, religious services for both Jews and Muslims, and a peer support program. When participants (called ‘Seeds’) go home, they attend more coexistence programs, and a conflict resolution and mediation training program.

The historian J. Rufus Fears noted that great leaders – from Pericles to Lincoln to Churchill – share four characteristics. They are anchored in principles, guided by a moral compass, posses a vision, and have the ability to build consensus to achieve their vision. These are the qualities that differentiate them as statesmen rather than mere politicians.

Unfortunately, the current leadership in Israel is the epitome of mere politicians. Prime-Minister Olmert, for example, is a drunken captain at the helm of a ship headed for an iceberg. An uninspiring power-hungry man mired in corruption and lacking vision, he is leading his country into disaster.

The truth is that people matter. For good or ill, individuals can change the course of history. Recently, the United States has seen what remarkable change the right person can achieve. A tall African-American man did what most thought impossible. No, I am not talking about Barack Obama, but Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett.

The NBA star turned around a team that had been in the basement of the league forStatesmen:: Pericles, Lincoln, Livni, and KG years, whose uniformly awful under-performances of its talent led some fans to believe the team was cursed. But in just one season, Garnett led the Celtics to a championship via the biggest turnaround in league history. How did he do it? With skills, passion, tenacity, determination, and teamwork. In short, he was a true leader, the sort of individual whose rarity underscores their potential to overcome obstacles that had been thought insuperable.

As strange as it may sound, Kevin Garnett gives me hope that the Arab-Israeli conflict can be solved. But the question is, who is going to be our Kevin Garnett? As things stands today, my money is on Tzipi Livni.

While Livni and I are far from ideological soul mates, her tremendous potential is obvious. A woman who embodies the characteristics of the type of leadership that Israel needs, she is honest, sharp as whip, empathic towards her enemies, has a clear vision for Israel’s future, and has shown the ability to build a consensus to achieve her vision. (For example, in 2005 it was Livni who managed to persuade the divided Israeli parliament to ratify Ariel Sharon's controversial plan to withdraw Israel's settlements from Gaza.)

But Livni's most impressive quality is that she is willing to learn and evolve. Not in the selfish service of staying in power, but in the selfless service of her vision of Israel as a democratic and Jewish state. And to that end, she has the courage to do what she thinks is right even if it means alienating those who are close to her.

Remember, this is a woman who came from a hardcore right-wing family – her father, former member of Irgun and leader in the Likkud Party, has the map of greater Israel engraved on his tombstone – and who now after realizing the futility and danger of annexing historic Israel has dedicated her political career to creating Jewish and Palestinian states.

The former "Herut princess" undoubtedly has set her father spinning in his grave. But that is exactly what we need. Leaders who have the courage to spin the dead for the sake of the living. Even if it means going against the ones they love most. Like Abraham of old, Livni has smashed the idols of her father's home.

Some people have second-guessed Livni’s political prowess -- especially after, in light of the Winograd report, she called on Olmert to resign but refused to leave her post in protest. Others have cast doubt on Livni as Prime Minister material due to her lack of known security credentials (it is hard to turn classified service in the Mossad into political advantage).

Much of the criticism leveled at her has a clear sexist overtone, effectively boiling down to: "Livni lacks the testicular fortitude to lead a country like Israel. With threats from Hamas, Hizballah, and Iran we simply cannot leave it all to a woman. Tough times call for manly men (i.e. Netanyahu/Mofaz/Barak). Yes there was Golda but she didn't really count. After all, as Ben-Gurion once remarked, Golda was the only man in his cabinet."

In a similar vein, talking about Livni, a friend of mine once said that Israel can never elect or accept a leader that blinks. I hope he is wrong, because again, that is exactly what we need. Not the My Pet Goat type of blinking, but the type that breaks the reflexive and destructive pattern of unthinking stimulus-response that has characterized Israeli leadership. We need a leader that blinks twice, ten times, a hundred times, before sending off children to kill and die in a war. A leader that in between those blinks thinks about the long-term consequence of their actions – for us and for our enemies.

As I said, Kevin Garnett's leadership of the Celtics gives me hope that the Arab-Israeli conflict can be solved. I didn't mean it glibly. He didn't, and couldn't have brought about his team's epic turnaround single-handedly; rather, he did it by making those around him better. He did it by taking to heart the African concept of Ubuntu, which illustrates how our individual success is bound up with the success of those around us. (Literally: 'Ubuntu' was the 2008 Celtics motto.) Perhaps in the end the ability to inspire excellence from others is the true mark of a great leader.

The challenges of the state Livni is likely to soon assume control of, unlike the challenges of Garnett's league, are anything but a game. The lives of millions of people, present and future, depend on Israel's next premier being a statesperson rather than a mere politician. Given the opportunity to lead, Livni would have to inspire excellence not only from her fellow Knesset members, but also from her Palestinian interlocutors. Which is not a low bar to clear, to say the least.

Abraham Lincoln said, "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." To what degree Livni can rise to the challenge remains to be seen, but she is a talent more prodigious than any her country has been blessed with in a long time, and she turned up at just the time her country needed such a talent.

It's tournament time once again. For those of you looking for a rooting interest, here are five teams with ties to the Jewish basketball diaspora:

1.) Tennessee Volunteers
Legendary goofball Bruce Pearl -- he's famous for wrestling students in a blow-up sumo outfit and showing up for a women's game shirtless and painted in orange -- has turned around the Tennessee men's program. A New England Jew, Pearl was shunned in the late 1980's for tape-recording a recruit telling how another school offered him $80,000 and a new Blazer, and then turning it into the NCAAs. He had to beat the Division II bushes, but took the Southern Indiana Screamin' Eagles to the title before leading the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers to the Sweet Sixteen.

The Volunteers were ranked #1 earlier this summer after a team-bonding trip to a concentration camp, an experience that got Pearl all teary-eyed talking about his distant relatives in the Holocaust on HBO's Real Sports. Pearl is often criticized for his wild antics and bright orange blazer, but give him credit for two things: Dick Vitale trashed him and he managed to humanize Pat Summit for God's sake. I am putting my sheckels where my mouth is and picking UT to win it all in one bracket.

2.) UCLA Bruins
Although the real "Jewish Jordan," Jordan Farmar, is now with the Lakers, the Bruins still have coach Scott Garson. According to JewishJournal.com, Garson's "family loved two things: Judaism and basketball. His mother, Corinne, was president of the Woodland Hills Reform congregation Kol Tikvah, while his father, Lee, is a UCLA alum who coaches youth basketball." The Bruins are one of the favorites this year, thanks to Garson's handling of their stupendous backcourt of Darren Collison, Josh Shipp and Russell Westbrook. For people like me who are always looking for a Catholic angle, know that Garson learned his X's and O's under the ample belly of the great Rick Majerus. And hey ladies, he's single.

3.) Memphis Tigers
What is about the Volunteer State and the Chosen coaches? According to the Memphis Commerical Appeal, coach John Calipari, "a Catholic of Italian heritage, was recently at the Anshei Sphard-Beth El Emeth Congregation speaking to an audience of Orthodox Jews about community and charity and his new favorite theme of bouncing back from personal and career misfortune." Sure, some believe Calipari has a reputation of running a clean fast-break and a dirty program, but if the dude spreads the Tiger love with the Torah, it must mean something. Never forget: It's hard out here for a pimp. Bonus points for Calipari's stumping for Tennessee's 9th District Jewish Congressman, Democrat Steve Cohen.

4.) Duke
Yes, Coach K is undeniably hard to root for, but the #1 name in college hoops (which hasn't won a game in a couple of years, by the by) has a 6'5" Jewish 6th-man former Illinois "Mr. Basketball" known for really strange facial contortions, which means you should definitely-- Oh, who am I kidding? Don't root for Duke; it's like cheering for Bill Kristol.

5.) Special Underdog Pick: American University
First of all, what's more egalitarian and patriotic than American University? After Barack's speech, I think it's clear we're all in this NCAA tournmanet bracket together. Plus, American is the alma mater of the dude who runs the website BlackJew.net (which is exactly what it sounds like.) As Mr. BlackJew himself said:

"when we finally reached this impossible goal of going to the NCAA Tournament it was a dream come true. Win or lose we still made it! AU IS GOING TO THE BIG DANCE. ONCE AN EAGLE ALWAYS AN EAGLE."

Unfortunately, American is playing Tennessee in the first round, but my fellow hoop friends, that is what "One Shining Moment" is all about.

Go Marquette! Nobody call me for three weeks.

The Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy boys basketball team in Denver qualified for the regional championship, but won’t be able to play because the game was scheduled to take place on Shabbat. The Colorado High School Activities Association governs the league the boys play in, and has refused to move the game to a time when the team could play without breaking Shabbat, claiming that rearranging the schedule on the regional level would be too complicated.
The Herzl Tigers: don't roll on shabbos
The communications coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Amina Rubin, has come out with a statement supporting the Jewish team: “In a nation as religiously diverse as America, it is important that we all make the extra effort to accommodate the beliefs and practices of others. Student athletes should not be forced to choose between their faith and participation in sports." Several news sites chose to lead with the revolutionary idea that Muslims might support Jews in anything.

But there are some gaps in this story, like: Why is RMHA suddenly making a stink now that they’re in the finals. Why not push for a policy of no championship games on Saturdays? Why hasn’t this been an issue before now? And if, as the CHSAA claims, moving the game to late Saturday night would affect fifteen other teams and could mean more missed school time for kids on those teams, does the RMHA really have the right to demand religious accommodations?

On the other hand, incidents of anti-Semitism in Colorado are on the rise, so maybe it’s a good thing to have the Jewish community standing up for themselves.

As a former JJBL All-Star, I feel obligated to report this:

Israel rallied behind Yaniv Green's 26 points and 12 rebounds to beat Serbia 87-83 Wednesday, sending the Serbs to their earliest exit from the European Championship in 60 years.

The highly favored Serbian squad featured NBA players Darco Milicic and Marco Jaric. 

Earlier today, the Israelis completed an unprecedented Serbo-Croatian sweep by upsetting Croatia 80-75.

While a number of Israelis have starred in the NCAA and others have been selected in the NBA draft (Israel team players Lior Eliayahu and Yotam Halperin were both 2nd round picks in 2006), we are still awaiting the first Sabra to join the NBA.  For now, Israelis will have to be content with Eurobasket victories and the  success of  the Toronto Raptors' Anthony Parker, the former Maccabbi Tel Aviv star who in a shout-out to his Israeli fans wears the number 18.

Home Game LogoLast night, Israel Time, I went with a group of veteran (as old as I am, I was the youngest) activist friends, to see Home Game, the movie about the Gush Katif Basketball tournament.

We were turned away, allegedly because there were no available seats.  My friends had been told that there was no need to reserve places in advance:

"Just get there 10 minutes early."

After some of us insisted they let us watch:

"We'll even just stand."

"There won't be room.  I can screen it again at 10pm."

I left on my trek home,  as did another couple.  I shouldn't have been such a wimp.  Here's what happened:

You wont believe this but we did all five of us get in with seats! The officious little man let us in to pay later and "move if anyone came" and nobody did. I am so sorry I didn't insist on booking.  It is a very very disturbing film on many levels with absolutely idyllically beautiful youngsters as the narrators - articulate, Hollywood beautiful  wonderful teens - even the hand held cameras made it moving - the rest of the people were amazing too - the absolute best of the best that Israel can produce -

Try to see it if you can.  Try harder than I did, please.

A classic video. I'm drawn to this magnetically. A case-in-point of why Jews love hip-hop AND basketball, The Greatest Sport on Earth. Enjoy.

Sophomore year in high school, everything began to shift for me.

It was the last hey-day of any illusions I had of being a basketball player, let’s just get that out there.

I was the starting point guard on a pretty good high school JV team that won its division on defense, good passing, and the skill of a relentless shooting guard who came from some hard knocks in the City of Milwaukee–”a transfer student”, which was the district’s special term for someone who was black.

He endured a family murder that season and kept on playing through it; I would double up in stomach pain in the locker room before games and fret about the players from the far west side of town German schools that chanted anti-Jewish slogans at us when we played them. I think my bourgeois angst amused him. After games we went to McDonalds, laughed at each other’s bullshit, and tried bravado on for size with an Earth, Wind and Fire soundtrack.

Could it be more Seventies? Most certainly not.

The shift in my own life took place on the court in slow motion and in the bus after games and in the classroom in real time. I saw life begin to pass before my eyes. Dreams of success gave way to life’s realities, to people’s lives, and while both resisting the change toward a deeper reality and regretting its inevitable swing back in my face like the older, wiser branch of a maple tree, I understood that I wouldn’t be a ballplayer. I always tell students, “I didn’t start reading books in earnest til I was 16.” This revelation allows me to share my own journey as well as the word “earnest.” So be it. I’m from Wisconsin. Get used to it.

There were first the Existentialists, then the Romantics. The Russians. And then, as the Eighties emerged (God, I hated the Eighties), there was Every book about Every thing that was Wrong with the World.

And in the third year of the Eighties, like the rhythmic punch line of a joke: Nineteen (one) Eighty (two) Three!!! (three) my dad’s heart gave out (BAM!) and everything changed.

My dream to succeed in Sports gave way to my dream to succeed in Politics which yielded to my life in Religion.

I had to say Kaddish for a dead father. And so my fate was sealed. He wasn’t killed like the Shooter’s. He just gave out, a failure of will and the tragic fragility of God’s genetic randomness.

Kaddish somehow recognized it all; and that’s how I kept the flame alive.

Nisan–the Hebrew month we are preparing to enter–is when it all went down back then; and so, just a few days away again, I feel that yahrzeit breathing down my neck like a full-court press and the score is tied and we need a basket and the crowd is screaming and the ball is in my hands and I’m looking for the Shooter, looking for the Shooter, looking for the Shooter. And in real life, his father’s been killed. But he’s smiling, losing his man, getting open, putting up the shot, winning the game. I gotta have more fun, despite it all. Stop taking things so seriously.

And so I learn from another kid who’s in 10th grade but living wisdom beyond his years.

Maybe it’s the March Madness, the pleasure of my two hometown teams in the NCAA’s. Pride–O Vanity of Vanities! But I think of my Shooter tonight as I talk Torah with my current 10th grade class, on the Wednesday before a double Bar Mitzvah with twins who play basketball. And while talking about Torah on Sinai (and the flames and the thunder on the moutain) and the flames (on the swords of the Cherubs) protecting the Garden of Eden and the students are arguing about the Fire of Torah and Free Will and Law and what it all means and they’re not talking about ANYTHING ELSE BUT TORAH and they’re so focused and they’re so proud of themselves and they’re so INTO IT and as their rabbi I’m so proud.

I start daydreaming: I’m in the gym in the basement of our Shul. And I’m alone. And I’m shooting free throws. And they’re going in, one shot at a time. And I know that sound. I’ll always know that sound. You could beat me, blindfold me, throw me down a flight of stairs and I’d know that sound, a rhythm as steady as the Shema Yisrael.

One, two, three, shoot, follow through, in.

The Jewish word for spiritual intention is Kavanah. Direction. As in toes on the line. As in bend your knees. As in follow-through.

One, two, three.

God, Torah, Israel.

One, two, three.

Thank God for Tenth Grade.