In light of the victory of Maccabi Tel Aviv over Real Madrid for the Euroleague champuionship last night, someone asked Rav Aviner if such a victory is a kiddush hashem and if it brings honor and respect to the State of Israel...
basically Rav Aviner's answer was that no, it is not a kiddush hashem and it is narishkeit. We should be proud of chessed or scientific discoveries... but not sports..
source: Srugim
I more or less agree with Rav Aviner, even though I am a sports fan, both enjoying to play and participate in many different sports as well as watching and following some sports (much less now than I used to). And no, I did not watch the Maccabi Tel Aviv game last night. Despite my loving sports, I know it is narishkeit to watch and follow a sports team (rather than participating in sports in which there are health benefits and learnign to be a part of a team, learning to deal with loss, learning how to win graciously, etc.)...
It is definitely not a kiddush hashem when one team wins over another. If it were, that would also mean the next day when the team loses it is a chilul hashem. It is just sports. As long as they play with sportsmanlike behavior and give it their best shot, that is good, but a victory or loss is not a kiddush hashem
But so many people, despite it being narishkeit, do follow sports. There is a sense of pride and patriotism when the team from your city or country wins. Is it worthless? Perhaps. I don't know. People like to be proud of their successes, the successes of their nation. Is it as important as a significant science or medical discovery? obviously not. Is it as important as a group of people who create a program to feed the needy and succeed in feeding thousands of destitute people a month? obviously not. But is it worthless? I don't know. Is patriotism worthless?
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