William Simons will speak on “Jews, Dodgers and Brooklyn: Before the Diaspora,” looking at the special relationship that existed between Brooklyn’s large Jewish community and baseball’s Dodgers before they left for Los Angeles.

The June 23 “Bagels and Baseball” brunch is hosted by the B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation at 420 Whitehall Road in Albany.

A special relationship connected the Dodgers and Brooklyn Jews, one that no baseball team had ever forged and likely hasn’t since, says an event announcement. The Dodgers drilled deep into the borough’s social fabric and provided Brooklyn’s soundtrack, creating a unique bond with its Jewish residents and a shared sensibility between them. These bonds only got stronger when Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947.

Professor emeritus and former chair of the history department at the State University of New York at Oneonta, Simons is the author of numerous articles, essays, and reviews as well as editor of 12 books. He is an award-winning columnist for “The Reporter,” the newspaper of the Jewish Federation of Broome County. 

The program is free and open to all; donations are welcome and appreciated. Bagels, coffee, and tea will be available from 10 to 10:30 a.m. People wishing to attend in person who are not B’nai Sholom congregants must pre-register at https://forms.office.com/r/wHvnvGELgQ.  Doors will close at 10:40 a.m., and backpacks may not be brought into the building.

In addition, Simons’s talk will be streamed via Zoom.

The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture is an annual academic baseball conference sponsored by SUNY Oneonta and the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

For more information and to obtain the Zoom link, contact the B’nai Sholom office: 518-482-5283 or office@bnaisholomalbany.org.