Chabad, town police step up to the plate wearing bracelets
BY WILLIAM BENDETSON/Jewish advocate
Thursday September 22, 2005

WELLESLEY – At first glance, the contest resembled a scene that could have been straight out of a movie starring Jewish comedian and actor Adam Sandler: members of the Wellesley Chabad playing softball against Wellesley police officers, and all the players wearing pick bracelets.
Beyond the incongruity of men wearing such “jewelry” is a story about a young woman from Wellesley named Julie Paige McAvinn, who lost her fight with ovarian cancer in February 2004 at the age of 40 and left three children ranging in age from 3 to 9.
Her legacy has left an imprint on the Wellesley community, and her fellow residents are certainly doing their part to keep her memory alive. From galas to soccer races to Wellesley Chabad/police baseball games, townspeople have been donating to Julie’s fund.
“The community has been tremendous, especially Rabbi Moshe Bleich, who has not only continued to donate, but also is giving the cause publicity with this event,” said Judy Paige, Julie’s mother and one of the project’s founders.
This past Sunday, Paige could be found behind home plate sitting at a table with pink balloons tied to her chair, a glass container for donations, pink bracelets everywhere, and a smile that lasted through eight innings of softball action.
Bleich, the coach and star of the Chabad team, said he hoped that, more than money, the event would raise awareness for the Julie Fund.
“We don’t want just the players to wear the bracelets for the game,” said Bleich. “We want them to wear the bracelets permanently. After all, if grown men are walking around with pink bracelets, you are going to stop and notice.”
Bleich has fielded a team for three years, and this is his second year of playing the game. The rabbi, who maintains close ties with Julie Paige’s family, wanted to do something that would benefit the fund. Pondering which group would be best for his team to take on in a charity event, he came up with the Wellesley police.
“We wanted to find the most high-profile group,” said Bleich, “and who would be better than the police? … That’s when I called Bill Brooks [Wellesley deputy police chief], and he has been tremendous.”
Bleich and Brooks have certainly had a flare for the dramatic during the past couple of years. Last year, Brooks was forced to show up at Bleich’s Purim party dressed as a Chasidic rabbi after his team lost by more than 15 runs.
“I just laughed,” said Bleich when asked how he responded to seeing Brooks in his unusual attire at the party. “Remember, the guy had to give a speech in this Purim costume, too.”
Brooks joked during his speech, the rabbi recalled. “He thought he was going to get stopped by somebody he knew on the way,” Bleich said. Perhaps wisely, the deputy police chief did not make the bet again this year.
Sunday’s game maintained that same sense of levity. Jokes about corked-bats, playing more innings, and Bleich in handcuffs were all part of the friendly exchanges that went back and forth between the players during the course of the game.