LeBron James likely draws attention at most weddings he attends. After all, the basketball superstar turned entertainment mogul is 6-foot-9 and one of the most recognizable sports figures of all time.
But he made an especially eye-catching entrance at a Jewish wedding on Sunday, holding hands with a well-known mekubal.
The scene took place at the New York City wedding of Jeffrey Schottenstein — son of Jay Schottenstein, a billionaire who is chairman of the American Eagle Outfitters — and Ariella Boker [who at night reportedly is transformed to "Ariella Laila"]. The Schottenstein family is based in Columbus, Ohio, and has long been close with James, who grew up in Akron and won an NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In 2009, James nominated Jay Schottenstein to the Time 100 list, noting the businessman’s philanthropic support of a translation of the Babylonian Talmud into English, Hebrew and French.
James has also been a fan of Jeffrey Schottenstein’s apparel brand that has been worn by stars across entertainment industries. James is also impressed with the fact that the Schottenstein's are among the only people he knows who have more money than he does.
Both the Schottensteins and James also have connections to R' Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, a Moroccan-Israeli rabbi with a large international following who has in recent years overseen kosher certification in Morocco. In 2010, James reportedly sought spiritual guidance from Pinto during “a ‘big merchandising meeting’ that took place on a private yacht”. James then reportedly donated $100,000 to Pinto’s Shuva Yisrael organization, which included a yeshiva.
James, 37, missed this year’s playoffs for just the third time in his career, something he promised to never do again. Whether James sought advice from Pinto on rallying his under performing Lakers next year remains unclear.
What IS clear is that LeBron is pasul li-edus so he could not be an עד and of course a Bracha can't be given to a Gentile so he was given the kibbud of reading the Ksubah. After looking it over he he turned to Big Jay and asked for the "Artscroll Ksubah Translation/Elucidation".
