Michael Barkann (Courtesy of Michael Barkann)
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to cover Philadelphia sports, Congregation Rodeph Shalom will bring the answers to the community on Nov. 11 when it presents NBC Sports Philadelphia anchor Michael Barkann at a special event at the synagogue.
Barkann, a member of the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, is one of the most recognized members of the Philadelphia sports media, having hosted postgame shows for the Eagles and Phillies and served as a field reporter at the Winter Olympics and the U.S. Open Tennis Championships. He is a seven-time honoree as Philadelphia Sportscaster of the Year and a five-time winner of Mid-Atlantic Emmy awards.
Barkann is eager to share his experiences with the congregation.
“He’s [Barkann] been the voice of the fan for a long time, Eagles and Phillies mostly. He’s also been a sports talk radio host. He’s kind of done it all. He’s very involved in the community as well,” said Dan Stamm, co-chair of the synagogue’s men’s group, the Men of RS. “He’s one of the people that has many a story to tell, and this is a great opportunity for him to tell them in a place of community, at Rodeph Shalom in Center City.”
Stamm works with Barkann at NBC10 Philadelphia and said the two of them have built a relationship over the past year. As time went on, Stamm floated the idea of Barkann coming to speak at Rodeph Shalom.
Stamm said Barkann is looking to further his involvement in the local Jewish community and this event is a good way to do that.
“This gives an opportunity for him to kind of meet with Jewish people, speak to them, and just tell some stories. And [he] gets to meet some people as well who are involved in the community,” Stamm said.
Brad Hyman, the congregation’s cantor, said organizers expect Barkann to discuss the highs and lows of covering Philadelphia sports over the last three decades, and he personally hopes that Barkann can make some Jewish parallels to the local sports scene.
“There’s lots of different things that we hope he will cover, and certainly Michael’s values contribute to the kind of person that he is, and are why we believe that, in addition to his incredible knowledge and access to the sports world, he also embodies a menschlichkeit [kindness and decency] and spirit of a nice Jewish man within the greater community at large,” Hyman said.
Stamm added that Men of RS hopes that Barkann’s appearance will establish a trend of the group hosting big-time, signature events.
Hyman said the synagogue often presents major events like this, but this one is unique because of its use of sports as a community connector.
“By the nature of our history and our size, we have always been able to get large names, and we’ve been able to get large personalities and have major programs and lots of different things from around the region and the world. But it’s really important when we’re able to come together less formally to just enjoy the different aspects of our own community. And using sports as a great connector is no less than any other wonderful connectors that we employ here at the congregation to bring community together,” Hyman said.
Stamm said there’s excitement spreading around the congregation ahead of the event, with members telling him they want to bring their kids or spouses with them.
“It’s something that they’ll probably remember, like ‘I remember that time I got to see Michael speak and talk sports and share a laugh,’” Stamm said.
The event is accessible to the entire Philadelphia community and is free, but the organizers are requiring pre-registration to get an accurate headcount for security and refreshment purposes.
The organizers added that they have several hundred slots available for the event and noted that space shouldn’t be an issue.