The dream team of Jewish wisdom: 3,000 years of sages take the field

Forget the World Cup final for a moment. The team taking the field in the text before you is one that passed the ball from generation to generation under fire, survived exiles, outlasted empires that collapsed and overcame crises that dismantled the great clubs of other peoples. We took the greatest figures of the generations and brought them down from the study hall to the pitch, and discovered that when you look at 3,000 years of Jewish wisdom through a manager’s eyes, the lineup almost arranges itself. So here they are: the starting 11 stars of the sages of Israel, in an attacking 4-3-3 formation, with a bench that would not embarrass Real Madrid in the Galacticos era. Goalkeeper: Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, with a historic save A great goalkeeper is not measured over 90 routine minutes, but by one split-second decision, in a penalty shootout in the final.