Serving as the unofficial Jewish ambassador to the world of hockey is not Rabbi Zvi Hershcovich’s day job. He teaches at a day school in Philadelphia, while also creating animated programming for Jewish college students.

The son of two baalei teshuva, Hershcovich is originally from Canada – which, unsurprisingly, means he enjoys hockey. “My grandfather’s pride and joy was that the Canadiens had a Jewish hockey player on the team. That might be where it started,” Hershcovich said in an interview with Jewish Insider.

As he noticed more Jewish players entering hockey, along with a growing base of Jewish fans, Hershcovich decided to open an X account called @JewishHockey. He began posting clips of Jewish hockey players at all levels – from superstars to minor-league prospects and college athletes – and sharing highlights celebrating Jewish participation in the game. From there, things quickly took off.

His posts are usually accompanied by distinctly Jewish captions meant to spark Jewish pride and connection among fans. One Chanukah-themed post read: “With seconds left to the period, Max Sasson shakes off his defenseman like powdered sugar on a sufganiyah, and buries it like a defiled altar found by the Maccabees.”

Within a short time, the account gained a modest but devoted following of roughly 3,900 followers.

“It’s become part of my daily routine,” Hershcovich said. “I wake up in the morning, breeze through a couple of Google Alerts, and if I see highlights, I’ll share them. This has been going on as there’s been a huge explosion in the Jewish hockey world.”

Despite the relatively small following, the shlichus that grew out of the account became something much larger.

“People reach out all the time with different things, and I’ve made connections with many hockey players,” Hershcovich said. “Just last week, I helped a Jewish hockey player get a pair of tefillin.”

Following the antisemitic terror attack in Sydney, a hockey player in British Columbia felt inspired to put on tefillin but had no idea where or how to do so. He reached out to @JewishHockey, and Hershcovich connected him with another shliach. The two men connected directly and even FaceTimed Hershcovich afterward to show that he had wrapped tefillin.

“Then I decided to shoot my shot,” Hershcovich recalled. “I asked him, ‘Would you be interested in wearing tefillin every day if you had your own pair?’ He said yes and gave his word. I put it out there on Twitter, and someone who asked to remain anonymous responded and said, ‘I’ll sponsor the pair.’”

This is just one of many examples of people constantly reaching out to Hershcovich through the account to learn more about Yiddishkeit and strengthen their connection.

In a space where antisemitism and harassment have become increasingly common, @JewishHockey has become a rare bright spot on X – giving both Jewish fans and players an opportunity to take pride in their Yiddishkeit once again.