Winning a basketball game is a Kiddush Hashem?

From the school's principal letter:

"Click here to read an article in the Houston Chronicle about our Boys Basketball team. Aside from being pumped that our team was strong enough to be featured in the Chronicle sports section, and excited about the prospect of competing for a state championship, I am beyond proud of the Kiddush Hashem (sanctifying of God's name - a term often used to indicate when outwardly Jewish people or organizations get positive PR) that our players are making by being an outwardly Jewish team that is competing at the highest level in high school sports in a league of same-sized schools."

My comment:

Since when has positive PR for "outwardly" Jewish people and organizations merited the Kiddush Hashem status? Do we assume that negative PR is a Hillul Hashem? How is it even possible to link a mere win in the basketball tournament to a sanctified idea of Kiddush Hashem? To attempt to do it is to belittle and undermine the serious efforts by Jews in history to sanctify the name of Hashem - in learning, observance, improvement of character traits, endless hardships and persecutions.

Rambam's Point of View:

Kiddush Hashem is when a Jew does the right act, regardless of how much negative publicity this generates. Joseph, who did the right thing by not succumbing to Potiphar's wife, created the greatest possible Kiddush Hashem, according to the Rambam (as explained by Rabbi Chaim Dov Altusky of Torah Ore), even though he was besmirched in the mass media of the time and went to prison for that.

Gilgulei Neshamot gloss:

Yosef was in the end married to Zuleika (Potiphar's wife) when he was reincarnated as Yehoshua and she as Rahav. In Rumi's "Women of Memphis" this happens during Yusuf's lifetime - poetic freedom.

Math That Moves: Schools Embrace the iPad

....“There is very little evidence that kids learn more, faster or better by using these machines,” said Larry Cuban, a professor emeritus of education at Stanford University, who believes that the money would be better spent to recruit, train and retain teachers. “IPads are marvelous tools to engage kids, but then the novelty wears off and you get into hard-core issues of teaching and learning.” But school leaders say the iPad is not just a cool new toy but rather a powerful and versatile tool with a multitude of applications, including thousands with educational uses. “If there isn’t an app that does something I need, there will be sooner or later,” said Mr. Reiff, who said he now used an application that includes all of Shakespeare’s plays. Educators also laud the iPad’s physical attributes, including its large touch screen (about 9.7 inches) and flat design, which allows students to maintain eye contact with their teachers. And students like its light weight, which offers a relief from the heavy books that weigh down their backpacks...

read full article