It’s a swing and a mitzvah for Bronx Bombers fans.
Rabbis are bringing the high heat over the Jewish high holidays and reminding congregants not to ditch their religious obligations for the highly anticipated New York Yankees Wild Card match-up with the Boston Red Sox.
Two games between the rival teams fall during the 25-hour Yom Kippur holiday that calls on Jews to abstain from food and drink, work and anything other than attending synagogue services to atone for their sins.
That means no skipping the temple for the Cathedral of Baseball in the Bronx — while watching Yankees star Aaron Judge may mean observant Jews have to answer to a judge of a different kind.
“Record the game and go to Yom Kippur service. Don’t record the service and go to the game,” urged Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis and a friend of Yankee Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera.
Michael Nussbaum, a member of the Jewish Community Relations Council who used to head the Queens chapter, reminded the faithful that Yom Kippur is “the holiest day.”
“So you miss one game. There are greater tragedies in life than missing a baseball game,” Nussbaum said.
But the suffering Mets fan quipped, “If the Mets were in the playoffs, I’d be upset.”
This year’s series doesn’t mark the first time that Yom Kippur has landed on a vital game, with Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax famously missing Game 1 of the 1965 World Series against the Minnesota Twins, a game the California team ultimately lost.
“If they didn’t cancel the game for Sandy Koufax on your Yom Kippur, then they’re probably never going to cancel the game on Yom Kippur,” said Rabbi Shluchim Choli of the Chabad of South Bronx, which is located just a stone’s throw away from Yankee Stadium.
Rabbi Choli indicated that his community members are used to giving up their beloved baseball during the holiday season.
“They know that part of being Jewish is choosing their Judaism and connection with [God] over local cultural and recreational activities sometimes,” he said.
Major League Baseball does not seem too torn about making its fans choose between baseball and their religion, though it has in the past amended its schedules to accommodate its Jewish fanbase.
Back in 2009, a Yankees playoff match-up was moved from an evening game to an afternoon game so fans could watch on before sundown.
The Bombers came out victorious that night and went on to clinch their 27th World Series win — it also marked the last time the Yanks won a World Series.
Jim Berman, a die-hard Red Sox fan, was crushed when he realized his team was slated to play two of its games during Yom Kippur.
“How can they do this? We haven’t been in the playoffs in four years!” Berman, of Connecticut, said.
“This is the playoffs. I’m not a ‘pink hat,’ I gotta watch the game live!” he continued, referencing the slang term for Red Sox fans who only follow the team when they’re doing well.
Berman relented that despite his passion for the Boston team, he’d dutifully be at temple for service — though he plans on making a formal request that his rabbi slip in the game’s scores between readings and his sermon.
Missing service on Yom Kippur is unthinkable for the Jewish community, he said — and could even bring bad luck.
“It’s the holiest night of the year and we’re going before God to ask him to forgive us for all of our transgressions for the past year. So if you disobey God, the Red Sox are not only going to get swept but bad things will happen. Then it’ll filter on for the Patriots, to the Celtics and the Bruins. Then we’ll have a real bad year,” Berman said.
“But all kidding aside, you have to go to temple. If you’re breathing, you have to go.”
Neither MLB nor the Yankees immediately responded to The Post’s request for comment.
Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton
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