This story hits close to home. Some little 7 year old Orthodox Jewish girl just wants be a gymnast. I too have a young niece. She too has easily crushable dreams.
Amalya Knapp, of Teaneck, NJ, was scheduled to compete in the state finals on Saturday, Feb. 12, but could not because of her Orthodox Jewish family’s observance of the Sabbath. Her local league let her compete the next day.
But now, the national governing body says that since she didn’t compete at the same time as other girls, her scores would not count toward team rankings, and she would not get the medal she earned.
“I was upset,” said the second-grader. “But my mother told me there are decisions you have to make.”
Amalya said she wants to be an Olympic gymnast one day.
Shit. I have a niece. She lives in Teaneck. She is 5 and she kicks major ass in karate. If I ever learned that she got snubbed from a competition because of her parent’s strong religious beliefs (it’s not like she chose them), me and all my self-hating Jewish friends would be over in a hot minute to kick the asses of have our asses kicked give a stern talking to her Dojo/karate master.
Because nobody is allowed to discriminate against my people more than I am. That’s bush league anti-Semitism.
Also, I hope that the girl’s parents in the story have the heart to tell her that the only way she will get into the Olympics is if she moves to Israel. America isn’t going to let people keep their religious beliefs AND live their wild dreams. Look how well it worked for Joseph Lieberman. And George W. Bush.
