State Sen. Finegold Wants To Meet With Team About Anti-Semitism

ANDOVER, MA — State Sen. Barry Finegold, a Jewish former football player, wants to meet with the high school team that was using anti-Semitic play calls, he said in an open letter to the team.

Finegold wrote to the Duxbury High School football team Wednesday after it came out the team was using Jewish and Holocaust-related terms for line-of-scrimmage audible play calls, an incident that cost the team's successful coach his job.

The legislator said that he saw the incident as a potential learning experience for the team.

The Duxbury school district acknowledged Monday that the team had "used highly offensive language on the field as part of a play-call system designed to make on-field adjustments" during a recent game against Plymouth North.

One of the calls was "Auschwitz," the name of a Nazi concentration camp in Poland where over a million people, mostly Jews, were killed.

In the aftermath, the team's head coach Dave Maimaron was fired and their game scheduled for Friday against Hingham was canceled.

In his letter, Finegold noted that he played football at Andover High School and Franklin & Marshall College. Finegold, an Andover resident, represents Andover, Dracut, Lawrence and Tewksbury.

"I also am proudly Jewish," Finegold said. "In college, it wasn’t easy to tell my coach that I couldn’t play against Georgetown because the game was on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, but my faith called on me to go to synagogue and fast instead."

"I have heard a lot of line-of-scrimmage audibles, but I never heard anyone use “Auschwitz” before. I thought it might be productive to have an open conversation about the meaning of Auschwitz and why it was painful to hear that your team used Holocaust-related terminology on the field."

Duxbury Athletic Director Thom Holdgate confirmed that the superintendent had responded to Finegold's letter and thanked him for it. The district plans to respond further "more thoughtfully consider the next step," he said.

"I'm very thankful that the senator reached out and hopeful that his message can hit home with the kids," Holdgate said.

In his letter, Finegold brought up a recent incident where NBA player Meyers Leonard used an anti-Semitic slur on a livestream. In response, New England Patriot Julian Edelman, who is also Jewish, posted a message for Leonard.

“I get the sense that you didn’t use that word out of hate, more out of ignorance.” Edelman said, “That’s what makes it so destructive. When someone intends to be hateful, it’s usually met with great resistance. Casual ignorance is harder to combat and has greater reach.”

A survey shows that 35 percent of Massachusetts residents under 40 are unsure what Auschwitz was, Finegold noted.

"General knowledge of the Holocaust has declined," he said.

"Given my background both on the football field and in my religion, I would like to offer a few thoughts to your team," Finegold said. "Football has played an incredible role in my life and helped me become who I am today. I want that same continued opportunity for you as well. I’m not looking to villainize you; instead, I think this moment could be an important learning experience."

Finegold asked the team to provide him with their availability for a meeting. A copy of the letter was sent to the district's athletic director and superintendent, Finegold's spokesman said.