Joshua Marks | JNS
Jared Armstrong is bridging communities, one basketball court at a time.
The 29-year-old point guard has played for four Israeli teams: Hapoel Haifa, Maccabi Rishon Letzion, Elitzur Ashkelon and Ironi Eilat. He is using his platform to combat racism, antisemitism and hate through youth sports.
Armstrong, an American Israeli who became an Israeli citizen in 2022, founded JAB (Jared Armstrong’s Basketball) Camp two-and-a-half years ago — a Philadelphia-based basketball program for youth in first through eighth grade that focuses on three core pillars: building bridges between diverse communities, youth sports development and combating bigotry through education.
“I think the biggest thing is building a community,” Armstrong said in an interview with JNS. “When you go to a basketball game, or you go and play basketball or soccer, you meet different people from all different cultures and backgrounds, and you have to learn how to work as a team, learn how to communicate, learn to understand each other.”
The program integrates an educational curriculum covering financial literacy, nutrition and education about racism and antisemitism — three areas Armstrong believes are essential regardless of background.
“We’re all going to go through, unfortunately, in life, some sort of hate or racial bias or prejudice, regardless of your skin color or your religious background,” he said. “So how do you deal with it? And how do we educate kids that you have more similarities than differences and to know what’s right and what’s wrong?”
Armstrong was born in Philadelphia but spent his first 12 years in Maryland before moving back to Philadelphia after his parents’ divorce. Basketball, he said, has been his anchor since childhood — teaching him the hard work, dedication and life skills needed to succeed.
Armstrong’s connection to Judaism runs deep as well. His mother’s side of the family founded a synagogue in Philadelphia nearly 80 years ago, where he attended Shabbat services growing up. His great aunt, who established the congregation, is buried in a Jewish cemetery.
His father, a military veteran who was in the Pentagon during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, provided another dimension to Armstrong’s upbringing — one that emphasized service and resilience.
Armstrong’s journey to Israel began after he graduated from Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania during the COVID-19 pandemic. After telling his agent about his Jewish heritage, he pursued Israeli citizenship with help from entrepreneur Joey Low. Armstrong was inspired by Tal Brody, the legendary American-Israeli basketball player, who became the first person Armstrong reached out to about playing in Israel.
“He was a true mensch and like a big grandpop to me,” Armstrong said of Brody. “Hearing his story motivated me to want to make aliyah.”
Armstrong holds Israeli citizenship as a person of special significance to the country rather than under the Law of Return.
Since arriving in Israel, Armstrong has worked with more than 1,000 children and launched JAB Courts, an initiative that has renovated five basketball courts in Ashkelon. The project provides positive outlets for Israeli youth while connecting Diaspora families to Israel through sports.
“When you think about kids from the Diaspora wanting to have a connection to Israel, sports is a huge way and opportunity for them to do so,” Armstrong said.
The courts renovation project, completed with support from the ownership of the Philadelphia 76ers, serves Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities.
Armstrong also serves on the board of advisers for the Prohuman Foundation, which he joined about five months ago. He praised the organization’s nonpolitical approach to promoting coexistence.
“It’s all about just being a good human being and instilling the right curriculum and education in the school systems that show how to be a pro-human, how to just be able to live side by side with someone that’s different than you,” he said.
Armstrong believes his work is especially critical given rising antisemitism and hate crimes globally, pointing to recent incidents, including the deadly terrorist attack on a Chanukah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
“I think we’re just living in challenging times,” he said. “I think the people that will win, or the organizations that will win, is that once you’re able to build a community and understand and scale the community, which youth sports is very scalable, to have kids not only learn teamwork and understanding and play basketball, but if you can add all these educational components, there’s more chance that kids” will learn acceptance.
Armstrong sees his position — as a Black Jewish man, both American and Israeli — as providing a special opportunity to serve as a bridge between communities.
“I sit in a complex of four different communities,” he said. “I think, now more than ever, it’s important to really be that bridge and really bring that opportunity to bring people together to show that we have more similarities than differences.”
