It was Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Israel was shocked and reeling just two days after Hamas perpetrated the worst terror attack in the Jewish state’s history, the deadliest massacre of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust. 

Halfway across the world in New York City, it was the first day of practice for Yeshiva University’s basketball team, the Maccabees, a team that had been on a high from its 50-game winning streak that had ended the year prior. 

But now the young athletes’ minds were far from wind sprints and free throw shots. Two teammates and their head coach, Elliot Steinmetz, were still in Israel, where they traveled to for the Sukkot holiday. Top-scoring guard Zevi Samet’s family was stuck in a bomb shelter on that harrowing day. Senior guard Adi Markovich’s friend was killed when Hamas infiltrated the Nova music festival in southern Israel. 

The team of Jewish men — who bring a Torah along on weekend trips and before games play “Hatikvah” along with “The Star-Spangled Banner” have long been seen as unique in the NCAA. Consisting of six Israelis and three Americans who served in the IDF as lone soldiers and were called up for reserve duty — the team faced an unimaginable decision: drop out of the season in grief, or play through the crushing sadness, fear and rage and use their platform to exemplify their support for Israel and the Jewish people. 

Clad in kippot, the players pushed through to make it to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Ultimately though, the team lost the 2024 Skyline Conference Championship to Farmingdale State College.

But the team’s pride and grit goes beyond the court — including a mid-season, eight-day visit to Israel. A new documentary, “Rebound: A Year of Triumph and Tragedy at Yeshiva University Basketball,” which premiered on Wednesday on Fox Nation, Fox News’ subscription service, tells that story. 

“This was a devastating time and sometimes those are the most important times to document,” Pat Dimon, the film’s director, told Jewish Insider. “I told [Yeshiva University] I thought I was the right person for this and asked if me and my team could follow along.”  

“This film is about more than basketball,” Yeshiva University President Rabbi Ari Berman told JI. “When you play for Yeshiva University you are not just playing for a school, you are playing for a people. In the wake of Oct. 7, our basketball team made a defining choice: to stand tall as proud Jews, embodying unity, and strength far beyond the court. Wherever we go, on and off the court, we stand as one — honored to represent our community and the enduring spirit of our people.”  

​​Dimon, an Emmy Award-winning director, is known for his work on several sports films including “College Sports, Inc.,” “100 Days to Indy” and “24/7 College Football.” 

But embedding himself with the Maccabees to direct “Rebound” was a distinctive experience for the seasoned director, who is not Jewish — one that included his first-ever trip to Israel, to see a scarred nation firsthand.  

“That trip is the crux of the film,” Dimon said, recalling that team coach Steinmetz called the January 2024 visit the most “important decision he’s ever made personally and professionally with his team.” It included a meeting with 19-year-old former hostage Ofir Engel, a friend of teammate Tom Beza, and tour of his girlfriend’s home in Kibbutz Be’eri — where Hamas rampaged on Oct. 7, killing 101 residents and taking more than 30 captives including Engel. The team also went to the Nova musical festival grounds, visited with the families of the Israeli players, spent time with IDF soldiers and met wounded survivors of the attacks in the hospital. 

Dimon recognized that the “inherent” viewer of the documentary will be Jewish. “I know how passionate they are about YU and the team. But I hope those aren’t the only viewers,” he said — noting that “sport transcends.” He believes the film can be used to engage wider audiences who otherwise aren’t connected to Israel or have not been paying attention to the global rise in antisemitism that followed Israel’s war with Hamas. 

In brief remarks in the film, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft echoed that sentiment, calling Yeshiva University “a special place.”  

Sports are “global and reach across all faiths, cultures, races and genders,” according to Dimon. “Sport can be the prism we can all get behind.” 

“I think this film is for everybody,” he said. “People of the Jewish faith, sports fans, anyone that wants to see how characters can use a painful situation to rebound.”