Kansas City A.Z.A. No. 2 has garnered several athletic accolades since its inception in 1923.

On May 22, 1925, Two’s won the first national AZA basketball championship in Omaha, Neb., defeating Gary, Ind., in the finals by the score of 31-24, at the City Auditorium.  The Chapter No. 2 squad consisted of Sidney Magazine, Julius Peltzman, Philip Copland, Harry Kaufman, Isadore Pesman and Lewis Sutin and was coached by Morris Sogolow. Copland led Kansas City AZA No. 2 with 14 points, while Sidney Magazine scored 11 points.

Two’s would dominate the hardwood again in the mid 1930s. On Feb. 1-2, 1935, Two’s won the 1935 District Championship in St. Joseph. The team consisted of Harold Braude, Is Braude, Robert Chickinsky, David Minkin, Leonard Belove, Les Peltzman, Sherman Schwartz and Norman Bassin. Harold Braude and Is Braude were named to the All-Star Team. This team was to win contests on all levels for the next three years.

Two’s won the District Championship on Dec. 27, 1935 in Kansas City, Mo., by defeating Nordaunain AZA No. 22 in the finals by the score of 27-18. Members of the team were: Robert Chikinsky, Yudell Luke, Isadore Brande, Herman Clurman, Carl Tovsky, Is Danosky and Lester Peltzman.

On February 26, 1936, Two’s again won the District Championship, defeating the Dayton, Ohio team of Chapter No. 68. The Kansas City quintet, coached by Is Vile, led at the half, 18 to 11. Dayton almost caught up when Herman Clurman and Yudell Luke of AZA No. 2 came to the rescue. Clurman scored 13 points, while Luke added 7 points.

Two’s would go on to win the 1949 Regional Basketball Champions, the 1957-1958 AZA Basketball League Championship, the 1958 Mo-Kan Regional Basketball Championship and the 1979 regular season basketball championship behind Dave DeWitt.

Two’s also left its mark on the softball diamond. In June 1948,  Alvin Zeff Alvin Zeff, AZA No. 2, made the Jewish Community Center’s Hall of Fame by pitching a perfect no-hit, no-run game against the PALS. In accomplishing this feat, Zeff struck out 10 batters and no batter got to first. Two’s would go to win the Southern Division Softball Championship.

There are many more legendary athletes from Two’s AZA.

Carl Hipsch, a member of Two’s in the 1920s, signed a minor league baseball contact and played semi-professional baseball as infielder with a team in Beatrice, Neb.

Jake (Babe) Lapin, a member of Two’s in the mid-1920s, was a graduate from the University of Missouri at Columbia, where he was a letterman and member of the baseball team. He was a member of the Northeast High School basketball team in 1927-1928.

Brett Kaplan, a 1995 graduate of Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, played college basketball for the Edgewood College, a NCAA Division III school of 1,900 students located in Madison, Wisc. Kaplan, 6-feet, played varsity ball, mostly as a guard, from 10th through 12th grade. During his senior season, he averaged 20 points a game. He also sank 44 three-pointers during the season. Kaplan also once scored a school-high 34 points in a game.

“He excelled in his outside shooting, and he established school records for most three-pointers in a single game (nine),” Rams Coach Bob Hennecke told The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle. “He was someone who improved his level of play every year, whereas a lot of players will hit a plateau. He showed significant improvement every year… He became a real leader among the players.”

Jake Schlozman, a member of Two’s in the late 1990s, played college basketball at Lake Forest College, an NCAA Division III school outside Chicago. The 6-9 center averaged 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 blocks during high school career. He spent his senior year at high school at Blue Valley West High School after three years as a starter for the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy Rams. The July/August 1999 issue of the Jewish Sports Review newsletter listed Schlozman as a high school basketball All-American.

“With all the fanfare concerning Tamir Goodman (ed. note: the kippah-wearing ‘Jewish Jordan’ from Maryland), don’t be too surprised if it isn’t Jake who makes the headlines in college. Still learning and growing, with surprising athleticism, Jake dropped in 8.8 ppg, with 10 caroms and 5 blocks per game.”

In high school, Schlozman received honorable mention honors at the Red Sasachek tournament and was Eastern Kansas league scholar athlete.

Joel Worthington, Two’s Class of 2000, is a former Kansas state racquetball champion. In December 1995, Worthington, with partner Kristen Walsh, won the 12-and-under mixed doubles Junior World Championship. He was named the Kansas Junior Racquetball Player of the Year as a sophomore in high school. As a freshman, he ranked third nationally in his age division. At the Junior National and Junior World Championships, Worthington won red division gold and silver medals, two bronze medals in blue divisions and finished in the top four three times in boys’ doubles. Worthington graduated from Olathe East High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in strategic communications from the University of Kansas and his Master of Health Services Administration at the University of Kansas Medical School.

After a career as a scoring force at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, Ari Horing accepted an athletic scholarship to play NCAA Division I soccer for Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill., becoming the first Hyman Brand Academy student in 39 years to go on to play Division I soccer. He scored 81 goals during his four years on the varsity team for the Rams. He led all Johnson County high school scorers in the fall of 2004 with 29 goals.

“He has been a tremendous player not only on the soccer team but also for the basketball program,” HBHA Head of School Adam Holden told The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle. “Ari has exceptional talent on the soccer field. He is a natural athlete, has great speed and agility and knows how to score goals. He also possesses a strong work ethic and a true competitor.”

Horing’s Premier VB Stars Club Team was a two-time (2003-04) Kansas State Cup finalist. He was picked for the 2005 U.S. National Maccabiah Youth Soccer Men’s Team, taking fifth place at the International Maccabiah games in Israel in the summer of 2005. In 2007, Horing was selected to play for the United States’ men’s open soccer team at the 12th European Maccabi Games in Rome. According to his Eastern Illinois media guide, Horing’s No. 1 sports highlight “was being selected to play for the National Maccabiah Youth soccer team and scoring the game-winning goal against the Brazilian team in Israel with his Israeli relatives watching.” Horing earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology at Eastern Illinois and graduated from Loyola Law School in 2015.

Current Two’s Aleph Moreh Eli Nathan, a junior at Blue Valley North High School, won six medals in bowling at the 2024 JCC Maccabi Games in Houston, including first place. In September, Nathan bowled a perfect 300 score at Olathe Lanes East. It was the first time Nathan has recorded a perfect game.

Two’s Athletic Accomplishments:

  • 1925 International AZA Basketball Champions (first-ever champions) … Roster: Sidney Magazine, Julius Peltzman, Philip Copland, Harry Kaufman, Isadore Pesman and Lewis Sutin
  • 1928 AZA Basketball District 7 Champs
  • 1934-1935 AZA Basketball District Tournament Champions – Feb 1-2, 1935, in St. Joseph … Roster: Harold Braude, Is Braude, Robert Chickinsky, David Minkin; Leonard Belove, Les Peltzman, Sherman Schwartz, Norman Bassin
  • 1935 – Harold Braude and Is Braude named to AZA All-star basketball team
  • 1935 AZA District basketball champions: December 27, 1935 … Roster: Robert Chickinsky, Yudell Luke, Isadore Braude, Herman Clurman, Carl Tovsky, Is Danosky, Lester Peltzman
  • 1936 district basketball champions: February 26, 1936 in St. Louis … Roster: Herman Clurman, Yudell Luke, Carl Tovsky, Is Braude, Robert Chickinsky, Lester Peltzman
  • July 1948 – Softball – Alvin Zeff no-hitter, named to JCC Hall of Fame. Two’s won Southern Division Softball Championship.
  • 1949 Regional Basketball Champions
  • 1955 JCAC Football Season Champions
  • 1956 JCAC Football Season Champions
  • 1956 Volleyball Championship
  • 1957-1958 AZA Basketball League Champions
  • 1958 Mo-Kan Regional Basketball Champions
  • 1957-1958 AZA Football League Champions
  • 1960 KC AZA Bowling Tournament Champs: Neal Martasin, Larry Rittmaster, Mike Lerner, Don Hurst, Mike Spector
  • 1979 Two’s regular season basketball champions, led by Dave DeWitt
  • 2000 AZAA Kansas City Champions
  • 2012 AZA WRC Champs
  • 2015 AZA WRC Champs

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