Canadian hockey legend Sherry Bassin risked arrest by the KGB in the 1980s to deliver religious items to synagogue.
CBC NewsSherry Bassin and his teams won five J. Ross Robertson Cups. in 1982 Bassin helped the Canadian National junior team win its first gold medal.Growing up in a small Jewish community in Semans, Saskatchewan, Bassin fell in love with hockey. But their father had insisted that Bassin get an education, saying"I was very realistic. I wasn't good enough to be a pro player, so I realized early enough that I'd better get an education," says Bassin.
In the early 1980s, religious practice was officially tolerated in the Soviet Union. But Bassin had learned that travel restrictions on Soviet Jews and state crackdowns on printing houses had made it difficult for them to acquire new Siddurim, or Jewish prayer books. And it was nearly impossible to get new prayer shawls, or Tallesim. Since Jewish men are buried in them, there was a dwindling supply all over the country.
Because of the risk involved, Bassin asked for the approval of Team Canada players and coaches, none of whom were Jewish. And yet, despite the obvious risks of smuggling Jewish religious items into the Soviet Union in the early 1980s, everyone agreed to the plan and promised to keep it a secret. Later that day, Bassin was approached by a tournament organizer who wanted the Canadian team lineup for the official program. One of Bassin's colleagues had the lineup with him, and he almost handed it over.
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