Basketball. Long ago in the game's early days, before everyone realized they were not on the whole a very tall people, Jews were major players, significantly overrepresented on the court. And while the era of Jewish sports mastery has since passed, the Jewish state honors the Jewish heritage of basketball by reserving the sport second place in Israeli athletic affections (after soccer, of course). Maccabi Tel Aviv may be populated by nearly as many NBA castoffs as born Israelis, but they're our NBA castoffs, and we love them even if they sometimes embarrass us by losing to the Europeans.

Fortunately for basketball lovers in Israel, soon you'll have something to do other than read about which Americans and Brazilians are becoming Israelis under the Basketball Law of Return (The Law of Rebound?) - because it's time for the annual Jerusalem Streetball tournament. The tournament, which divides Safra Square into 16 basketball courts, is probably Israel's largest sports event open to any player, with teams divided by age. Public figures are getting in on the fun too, including players from the professional Israeli basketball leagues and Knesset ministers. Can those dour boys from Shas ball? Maybe you'll find out (or maybe not).

Other activities on tap include dunking contests, 3-point shootouts and showy performances by the Israel contingent of the And1 Streetball organization. Registration closes on July 11, so do not miss this once-a-year chance to shoot hoops with Israeli basketball's finest. You can register online at the Municipality's website, or in person at Safra Square building 10 between 9:00 and 18:00 (9:00 - 12:00 on Friday).

Miriam Engel, a dancer with the Kolben Dance Company, is a born-again Jerusalemite. Born in the city's Beit HaKerem neighborhood, she thought her passion for dance would exile her to Tel Aviv. After a summer workshop led her to Kolben, Jerusalem's own highly acclaimed modern-dance troupe, Miriam was able to return to the city she has always called home. Founded in 1995 by Amir Kolben, the Kolben Dance Troupe (previously known as Kombina) incorporates theater, music and multi-media art forms into its performances and has been invited to perform in contemporary dance festivals throughout Europe, Africa and the Americas. Next week, the troupe kicks off the 2008 Summer Nights series before setting sail for Cyrpus, where they will perform at the Gonyeli Dance Festival, before returning to Jerusalem for a free performance at the Gerard Bechar Center.

When did you first begin dancing? Where did you train? Dance runs in my family. My grandmother left her native Bulgaria to train and dance in Germany with Grett Palucca at the Palucca School of Dance in Dresden. I first started dancing when I was three. Shortly after my third birthday I announced to my mother that I wanted to dance, so she started sending me to a dance group near our home in Beit HaKerem.

Although I went to a religious girl's high school, we were offered dance classes. After graduating, I danced for a bit with Vertigo (Kolben's neighbor in Nachalot's Gerard Bechar Center) before moving to Kibbutz Gaaton in the Western Galilee, to study at the Kibbutz's Dance Village [home to the acclaimed Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company and the Dance and Ballet School, which offers a four-year accredited study program).

Betar Jerusalem clinched its second straight Israeli Premier League football (soccer) championship this week and as expected and has become accustomed in recent years, the fans stormed the pitch before its game at Teddy Stadium against Herzliya was officially over. Betar was winning 1-0 at the time. The stunt, a common one in Israeli football, which has been done countless times before by fans from all the major teams, was expected, even though the club and police had hoped to prevent it. In the end, the referee was unable to clear the field to play the last minutes and filed his report with the Israeli Football Association accordingly.

On Thursday the IFA’s judicial committee ruled on Betar’s punishment: A technical loss in that game, removal of 2 points from the team’s results and playing the rest of the season’s home games without fans. Accordingly, Betar is now not the champion yet and will need to win a game or two combined to re-clinch the title.

The ruling managed to irk the vast majority of football fans. Aside from Betar fans, supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi Petah Tikva and Hapoel Kfar Saba are also angry since Herzliya now leapfrogs them all in moving from 10^th place to sixth for a “victory�? in which it failed to score any goals. Likewise the two teams fighting relegation, Ashdod and Bnei Yehuda, see their hopes of staying alive dampened as Herzliya pulls away with three unearned points.

You surely won’t hear me saying that Betar fans should go unpunished for storming the pitch, but shouldn’t the punishment fit the crime? And shouldn’t those who are supposed to keep the order look in the mirror as well?

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We know that for those of you who grew up on sports (not all English-speaking immigrants to Israel are hippies), Jerusalem doesn't have as much to offer as you're used to. No baseball, no hockey, no women's synchronized swimming – but there's plenty of football. Not soccer – football. Tackles, pads and everything.

Yes, Jerusalem is the proud owner of the very-first-ever Israel Bowl Championship! Less than two weeks ago (before the launch of Jerusalemite), Haifa came to town and battled the hell out of the field and ball with the hometown Big Blue Lions.

The championship game was the culmination of over a year of hard work, on and off the field. Some 90 percent of league players are natives, and all live here (unlike the baseball league's importing of really, really good baseball players). Jerusalem claimed the league's best record, at 8-1, with its only loss in a midseason game against Hiafa. From October to March, the team practiced and played at Kraft Family Stadium (Kraft of the Boston Krafts) – the nice place to play next to the municipal Sacher Park.

Now if anyone is bummed that he or she didn't know, missed games or wants to play next year, there's no reason to get down. The next season will start up again some time after the fall holidays, so you can still go back to America to celebrate leaving Egypt and coming into Israel, then go to America for the summer and then come back for the holidays before you go home again and then... watch football in Jerusalem!

The league is only going to grow, and that means more football for everyone. There was a recent "draft" day at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and more than 60 students expressed interest in playing. This means Jerusalem may have a second team next year (can anyone say "Light Rail Series?").

Oh yes, the game. Jerusalem took it in overtime. Very, very dramatic. You should have been there.

Anyone interested in information or playing should visit the league's site and sign up for rookie training camp to be held during the week of Pesach.

Jerusalem's offense lines up against Haifa in the title game (top), courtesy Mitchell Barak. Bob Kraft shakes hands with AFI president Steve Leibowitz as IFL Commissioner Eric Amkraut and members of Big Blue Jerusalem look on (above), courtesy IFL.

Sure, some harsh words have been directed at Hapoel, even on this very blog, and doubtless they were mostly deserved (Hapoel wouldn't be the first Jerusalem organization to be repeatedly shanked by poor management and financial mishandling) - but the team overcame its reputation to send Jerusalem into a sweet Shabbat with a dramatic Thursday night State Cup victory over local powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv. Put that in your hummus and wipe it, Tel Aviv!

An extraordinary fourth period by Hapoel Jerusalem gave the team from the underdog a stunning 93-89 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv in the State Cup final on Thursday night at Nokia Arena.

Jerusalem trailed by as many as 22 points in the third quarter, but outscored Maccabi 38-16 in the final period to claim the cup for a second straight season.

Hapoel, which hadn't beaten Maccabi in a title game since 1997, made up for its clearly inferior roster with enthusiasm and passion and stunned the proud perennial champion.

Jamie Arnold, who left Maccabi for Jerusalem in the summer, scored 29 points, with Timmy Bowers adding 19 points. Sharon Sasson and Dror Hajaj added 15 and 11 points respectively.

And one day, perhaps in the far future, Israelis will stop being a small-of-stature Levantine people and become mighty cypresses of men, whose basketball teams will not be dominated by NBA also-rans. But until that day, hats off to our resident alien basketball stars, who made Jerusalemite's - and Jerusalem's - weekend. Shabbat shalom!