Sometime during the 10-minute discussion in front of the visitors’ bench, Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, with a long white beard, a black hat and a black coat, crossed the court from his seat to intervene.
Grossman is the founder and the president of Migdal Ohr, a center for orphans and abused and underprivileged children in Israel that benefited from the proceeds from Sunday’s game. And he saw it as his duty to moderate.
Not knowing that two technical fouls result in an automatic ejection, he attempted to persuade the referee to change his call and allow Gershon to stay.
“But he says that this is the law, that he must leave,” Grossman said, referring to the referee in broken English.
“What can I do? I tried. I tried to make peace.”
It was at that point that Gershon tried apologizing for his outburst, with Grossman behind him.
“This is not a regular game,” Grossman said he told the officials. “In a game for friendship, you forgive.”
