Lieberman proved then that while most politicians may talk the talk, they’re clueless as to the walk

The two most significant moments of Jewish pride for this out-of-town baby boomer were two “sit outs.”

Traditionally, the team’s best pitcher ascends the mound in Game One of the World Series, which in 1965 fell out on Yom Kippur. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax sat out the game. “When Koufax stated that he would not pitch on Yom Kippur,” Rabbi Berel Wein commented, “many Jews in America stood a little taller and had a better sense of self-worth and Jewish pride.”

When Joe Lieberman became Connecticut’s Democratic nominee for the Senate in 1988, he also sat out, as the party convention took place on Saturday. He sent a pre-recorded video message to the Hartford Coliseum saying his commitment to G-d took precedence over everything — even the most important day of his life.

I realized then (thank you, Reb Dovid Hersch Mayer ztz”l, for pointing this out) that it’s rare today to find someone who sacrifices for shemiras Shabbos, as most jobs do not require Saturday employment. I acknowledged this commitment by interrupting a speaking tour in Toronto to vote (I am registered in Connecticut), and Senator Lieberman acknowledged this commitment in his magisterial The Gift of Rest.

When Joe (as he modestly insisted I refer to him) learned about my expensive ballot, he thanked me, but also claimed that he had it coming, as (us being landsleit) he was my babysitter.