The Cubs Win! Baruch HaShem?

I’m staring intently at one of the 40" flat screen TV’s in a standing-room only sports bar in Skokie, IL, and I stand out like a sore thumb.  In the mob surrounding me, every soul, patron and server, is laden with Cubs gear.  I, on the other hand, am wearing a blue blazer, dress shirt, slacks… and my Red Sox hat.  I didn’t think ahead when packing for this business trip.  I didn’t expect I’d be wading up to my shoulders in midnight bedlam in this Chicago bar for the final innings of the Cubbies’ date with destiny.

My attire and Sox cap notwithstanding,  I’m feeling like part of the gang. High-fives are enthusiastically thrown and received. Expletive-ridden commentary is exchanged freely with my bar-mates.  We’re all in it for the Cubs.

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Jamie Bornstein is the Assistant Director of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, North America.  Prior to that he was Senior Development Officer, Major Gifts at Combined Jewish Philanthropies in Boston.  He earned his MBA at Boston University and is an alumnus of the Pardes Year Program.  He lives in Sharon, MA with his wife and three children.  He can be reached at james.bornstein@gmail.com.