Why Did a Baseball Star Skip the World Series? | Explained

Sandy Koufax made history, not just for his pitching, but for choosing faith over fame by sitting out the World Series on the most important day of his career. In an era of casual antisemitism, his bold stance transformed him into a Jewish-American icon as a symbol of Jewish pride and resilience. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:37 Antisemitism in 1960s USA 01:18 Jewish assimilation in 1960s USA 01:37 Sandy Koufax's background 02:22 Sandy's alliance with black players 03:35 Smashing Jewish stereotypes 03:58 Game 1 of the 1965 World Series 05:00 What is Yom Kippur 05:30 Sandy's choice 06:30 Dodgers support for Sandy's choice 07:23 Inspiration to Jewish Americans 08:18 Other Jewish baseball players 09:02 The importance of Jewish pride Subscribe and turn on your notifications so you don’t miss future uploads! https://www.youtube.com/UNPACKED?sub_confirmation=1 Recommended video—How Did a Jewish Pro Baseball Player Become a CIA Spy? | Unpacked https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmRSSdR3b08&list=PL-DNOnm… We have merch! – http://shop.Unpacked.media/?utm_medium=youtube&utm_source… Let’s connect: Website — https://www.Unpacked.media Instagram — /unpackedmedia Twitter — /unpackedmedia TikTok — /unpackedmedia Facebook — /unpackedmedia ----------- Image and footage credits: Spectrum Sportsnet MLB Los Angeles Dodgers Seventh Art releasing Clear Lake Historical Productions National Baseball Hall of Fame CBSLA PBS Louis Requena Getty Images Neil Leifer Sports Illustrated Bettmann Columbia Pictures AMC Sony Music Experience Hendrix British Pathe Paramount Pictures Universal Pictures Amazon prime Tristar pictures Sony pictures Associated Press Stanley Weston Archive Charles Hoff Fred Morgan A24 JEM Nati Shohat Flash90 Fox Vice Gentle Gypsy ----------- Executive Producers: Michael Steinhardt Co-Executive Producers: Marc Shmuel Levine Iris & Shalom Maidenbaum Gold Level: The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life ----------- Translation credits: Portuguese: Saymon Pires, www.livrariasafra.com.br, @safralivraria About Explainers: From ancient Jewish traditions to the modern State of Israel, we explain it all. Diving into anything and everything related to Jewish culture, history, and even religion. Understand Jewish holidays, Israeli politics, Jewish diasporic communities, and more. Learn about Judaism in pop culture, debunking myths about Jews, and explore obscure Israeli landmarks. We’re asking questions as basic as “What is the Talmud?”, and as obscure as “How did hip-hop boost Kosher wine sales?”, and everything in between. About Unpacked: We provide nuanced insights by unpacking all things Jewish. People are complex and complicated — yet we’re constantly being pushed to oversimplify our world. At Unpacked we know that being complex makes us more interesting. Because of this, we break the world down with nuance and insight to drive your curiosity and challenge your thinking. #baseball #religion #hero #trailblazer