The Golden State Valkyries’ Jewish Heritage Night hit nothing but net May 13 with Jewish bells, whistles and hoops before and during the game, though in the end the team lost to the Chicago Sky 69-63.
Rikud by the Bay, which hosts Israeli folk dancing classes for young adults in the Bay Area, took to the basketball court inside San Francisco’s Chase Center before the game, performing two dances: a mashup of “Israel Sheli” and “Od Yavo Shalom Aleinu.”
Tovael Hagai, who co-founded Rikud with her partner, Jason Steckler, said she was ecstatic that the group performed at the WNBA game.
“It was absolutely incredible,” Hagai said “It was 1,000 million times better than I ever expected. I’m so proud that we pulled it off, and I’m so proud of everyone in the whole entire group.”
Steckler was equally happy about the group’s performance. “It’s just such a wonderful way to exemplify Jewish culture through dance, which is often underrepresented,” he said.
Rikud by the Bay wasn’t the only group participating in the event, which was part of Value Culture’s San Francisco Jewish Week.
The Youth Basketball League at the JCCSF, for kids 5-10, played a halftime scrimmage. Loudly cheered on, the kids dribbled and passed the basketball up and down the court and even scored a few points on the professional team’s hoop.
Arielle, 9, said it was “fun and exciting” to play in front of over 18,000 people.
Holocaust survivor Susanne DeWitt, 91, of Berkeley who sat in a suite at the top of Chase Center, was honored with a custom-made Valkyries jersey — No. 18, of course.
“I’m proud of being a Jew,” DeWitt said. “I think it’s a people, a nation that has a history, a common religion, a common destiny and is based on integrity and honesty and treating other people with dignity.”