Rabinovich Reveres His Holy Cross Experience

The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., is one of the country’s most renowned liberal arts schools. It’s also one of America’s foremost Jesuit educational institutions, meaning there is a habitually miniscule Jewish population on campus. From an athletic standpoint, Holy Cross, whose men’s basketball team used to be a powerhouse with the likes of Bob Cousy and Tommy Heinsohn starring in the mid-20th century, can go semesters, even years without any Jewish athletes on their rosters.

Not this decade, however.

The Crusaders’ towering 6’10” senior forward, Michael Rabinovich, a gold medal recipient for Team USA at the 2022 Maccabiah Games, is proudly representing the Jewish community this winter at Holy Cross. While his playing time has been sparse throughout parts of his college career – largely due to injuries – Rabinovitch is an esteemed veteran leader who’s injected some unexpected diversity into the school’s hoops team.

“I would say that the experience has been extremely rewarding,” Rabinovich told the AJT last month. “Everybody at Holy Cross is extremely accepting and it’s a really tight-knit community. I’ve had a lot of really positive discussions. I’ve actually taken a Judaism class. There’s also been different opportunities here to exercise my faith as well. Being at a Jesuit institution as a Jew has been interesting, but also rewarding at the same time.”

For Rabinovich, coming out of Worcester Academy where he captained the basketball team as a senior, Holy Cross was the great unknown. How would he be received? How much of a factor, if at all, would his religion be in terms of having a great college experience?

“I had no expectations,” explained the Holy Cross senior who’s majoring in economics and psychology. “Obviously, I knew that the school was a religious school, but it’s really up to the individual as far as how far they want to take it. There are a lot of different opportunities to exercise your personal religion, but at the same time, it’s all about choice and the school, while giving you a well-rounded education, leaves it up to you how far you want to take it.”

Unlike the seamless transition Rabinovich has made in meshing with the predominantly Christian student body, his often injury-riddled career as a Division I athlete has been rocky at times. It started three years ago during the pandemic winter of 2020-21 when, as a freshman, Rabinovich was elbowed in the eye during a practice two weeks before the season opener, his first-ever college basketball game.

But it wasn’t until merely a couple days before the season kicked off that his vision took a turn for the worse – even the bright orange rim was fuzzy – and he was subsequently diagnosed with a detached retina necessitating emergency surgery.

After being restricted to four games as a freshman, the big man’s sophomore year got off to an inauspicious start: in the second game of the year against Quinnipiac, he went up for a rebound and came down awkwardly on an opponent’s foot, leaving him with a gimpy ankle. Rabinovich returned in a week – in hindsight, it was way too soon – while the injury lingered throughout the season and by mid-February, he had to shut it down for good.

Less than a year later – five games into the 2022-23 season – it became rather apparent that surgery was in order … and that his junior year would be wiped out.

As the years have gone by, and the injuries have taken their toll and new recruits have been brought in, Rabinovich has seen limited playing time (he did get to see the court in a nationally-televised showdown against a Rick Pitino-coached St. John’s Red Storm team on Nov. 25), with his primary role being that of a supportive teammate who can live vicariously through the other guys on the roster.

“I like to think of it [role on team] as doing whatever it takes to win,” said Rabinovich. “Being older and going through some of the history that I have, I’m really focused on the off-the-court stuff, as well as on-the-court stuff, like mentoring younger players, taking on a leadership role. My perspective and my experience over the past four years is something that I really feel I can bring to the table.”

One of those experiences was indeed helping the U.S. win gold at the 2022 Maccabiah Games, a feat even more impressive considering he underwent ankle surgery a few months later. Truthfully, such rigorous competition may have exacerbated the bum ankle, but he has no regrets in his decision to join 10,000 other athletes across 80 countries in partaking in the world’s second largest Olympic Games while visiting the Western Wall and touring Tel Aviv during off-days, activities about which Rabinovich remarks, “those are things that I hold very near and dear to my heart, especially in these times when there is uncertainty within the region.”

Rabinovich had Maccabiah teammates who remained in Israel after the Games to pursue their professional careers – a seemingly dreamy scenario at the time — before ultimately returning to the States amidst the current war against Hamas.

“I really hope for their sake that they can get back there [Israel] on a short turnaround,” he added. “I would also love to get back there, whether it’s playing, coaching, or just in my personal life. I can definitely envision myself playing there one day. The injury history is pretty rich, but at the same time I’m feeling great and I’m making strides every day. Playing there would be a childhood dream come true. Israel holds a very special place in my heart.”

Apparently so does Holy Cross, even given its dramatically different religious landscape.

“Being at Holy Cross, there are so many different avenues to explore and so many different passions that you can really, really pursue, that I am really grateful to be at a place like this.”