In 2024, the image of Jake Retzlaff—the only Jewish quarterback ever to play for Brigham Young University’s football team—adorned special editions of Manischewitz matzah boxes. That brand deal, to showcase a promising Jewish pro-football prospect, was the inspiration for a company co-founded by former Montrealer Jeremy Moses.

His sports-marketing company is called Tribe NIL. (NIL stands for Name, Image and Likeness, a new monetization route for college athletes to make money off their work.) The company aims to boost the careers of hundreds of talented Jewish college athletes, including more than a half-dozen Canadians playing for U.S. college football, baseball, hockey, basketball and swim teams, among others.

Moses was raised in Montreal. He’s the middle son of retired Montreal Rabbi Lionel Moses and Yiddish scholar and editor Joyce Rappaport. His brother, Zev Moses, is the founder and executive director of the Museum of Jewish Montreal.

Jeremy Moses moved to Brooklyn where he’s worked in the sports and entertainment field. He and business partner, the comedian Eitan Levine, founded Tribe NIL last spring. This year, they’re doubling down on the Manischewitz campaign, looking for one male and one female Jewish athlete to reward with $10,000 in prize money each, a “L’Cheisman Trophy” and international fame as this year’s faces of Manischewitz matzah.

On today’s episode of The CJN’s flagship podcast North Star, Jeremy Moses joins host Ellin Bessner to share more about his campaign—plus they get into the myriad Jewish sporting news of the week, including Jewish Olympians and Robert Kraft’s controversial Super Bowl antisemitism ad.

Related links

• Learn more about co-founder Jeremy Moses’s company, Tribe NIL and see some of the 250 Jewish NCAA college athletes they represent (including some Canadians).
• Follow Manischewitz’s contest with TribeNIL for Jewish male and female college athlete of the year, with winners to be announced in March.
• Listen to The CJN’s Not in Heaven podcast debate the hesitance among many Jewish parents to see their kids try and become professional athletes.

Credits

• Hosts: James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Coby Lipovitch (intro), chēēZ π (main theme, " Organ Grinder Swing ")

Support The CJN

• Follow the podcast on Twitter @menschwarmers
• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to Menschwarmers (Not sure how? Click here )

The 2026 Winter Olympics ended on a very Jewish note with an overtime goal scored by NHL star Jack Hughes. Brother Quinn Hughes, also a member of the gold-medal winning American team, has a legitimate chance to lead his team, the Minnesota Wild, to a Stanley Cup this year.

With the Winter Olympics behind us, there’s so much more to catch up on in the world of Jews and sports.

The World Baseball Classic kicked off last weekend, and Team Israel secured its spot in the next tournament — which will happen in a few years — with a 5-0 win over Nicaragua. The bats are solid, but pitching depth remains a challenge in a pool led by powerhouse Dominican Republic, as well as Venezuela. Team Israel was eliminated from the 2026 tournament, with a record of 2-2 and finished a respectable third place in Pool D.

Daniel Berger narrowly lost the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour, and in the NBA, Deni Avdija returned from an injury.

The Menschwarmers are back together after Jamie’s appearance on Jeopardy — where he won three games and gave the podcast a national shout-out.

Credits

• Hosts: James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Coby Lipovitch (intro), chēēZ π (main theme, " Organ Grinder Swing ")

Support The CJN

• Follow the podcast on Twitter @menschwarmers
• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to Menschwarmers (Not sure how? Click here )

Last week, millions of people watched one of our own stand behind a podium on Jeopardy! — and win. Toronto lawyer James Hirsh, co-host of The CJN’s long-running Menschwarmers podcast, became the latest Canadian contestant to compete and succeed on the iconic American game show.

Hirsh says it was “the thrill of a lifetime” to be selected, to fly down to the Alex Trebek studio at Sony Pictures in Culver City, near Hollywood, where he taped several episodes of Jeopardy! It all happened about three weeks ago, but he’s had to keep quiet about how he fared. Until now, as the episodes started airing this week on millions of television screens across North America.

Hirsh had decades of practice to prepare for his small-screen debut: as a teenager, he was reigning champion at his summer camp’s version of the game show, over four seasons. The prize money back then was enough to buy some beers. This time, his actual Jeopardy! winnings will help the father-of-three pay off his family’s mortgage. He also won a custom Jeopardy! hat and a tote bag, but he says the best prize is a coveted tagline to his bio: he can now say “I was on Jeopardy!”

On today’s rebroadcast of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner chats with James Hirsh about what it was like under the bright lights, what questions stumped him and how he regrets wearing the wrong shoes.

Credits

• Hosts: James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Coby Lipovitch (intro), chēēZ π (main theme, " Organ Grinder Swing ")

Support The CJN

• Follow the podcast on Twitter @menschwarmers
• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to Menschwarmers (Not sure how? Click here )