Shooting Rangers and rabbis earns photographer Hall of Fame induction
Photographer George Kalinsky receives his plaque from Lynne
Kramer, chair of the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, at the
April 29 induction ceremony. Photo by Gene Lesserson Photography
Any New York sports fan will recognize George Kalinsky's work. He has photographed hundreds of memorable moments in the history of the Yankees, Mets, and, as the official Madison Square Garden photographer, the Knick and Rangers.
In recognition of his 40 years in the industry, Kalinsky was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in Commack, NY, on April 29.
Immediately after the ceremony, he hightailed it over to the Garden for the Rangers 2-1 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Kalinsky estimates he's covered more than 9,000 events, taken over two million photos, and produced 1,000 covers for magazines, books, and sports yearbooks and programs.
The variety of his profession – covering baseball and ballet, concerts and circuses – keeps his work fresh. 
"I'd be bored if I did only sports," he told NJ Jewish News in a telephone interview. When pressed, he chose boxing as his favorite sport to photograph. His most famous shot? "It would probably be the picture of Ali-Frazier by the window in Frazier's training camp in Philadelphia."
Kalinsky has produced 10 books of collected works. The most personally meaningful is Rabbis: The Many Faces of Judaism (Rizzoli, 2002), the indirect result of a trip he made to the Soviet Union in 1988 with his rabbi, Martin Rozenberg, religious leader of The Community Synagogue in Port Washington, NY. Brought up in a Conservative household, Kalinsky, 64, was also a founding member of Chabad of Port Washington.
"I remember going into the Moscow Synagogue and seeing a rabbi sitting in his study, and in the shadows behind him was a KGB officer," Kalinsky said. He had a small camera in his pocket and although Rozenberg warned him to keep it out of sight, Kalinsky couldn't resist sneaking a quick snapshot. The experience left a deep impression. "I thought how lucky we are to be in the United States and be free."
The book, which features photos and essays by 100 rabbis of different denominations from around the world, reflected Kalinsky's desire 
"to help bring unity to our religion; that all of us – whether we're Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox – can all stand under the umbrella of Judaism."
His work has introduced him to celebrities of all stripes, from entertainers to presidents to Pope John Paul II (a shot of whom he called perhaps his most famous). Tony Bennett told him how, as a young singer, he would always seek out a town's rabbis and cantors for impromptu voice lessons; Frank Sinatra asked Kalinsky to teach him all he knew about photography in five minutes, a request reminiscent of a famous one made to Hillel.
The other Jewish sports personalities inducted into the Hall of Fame on April 29 included broadcaster Bonnie Bernstein, a native of Howell; marathoner Deena Kastor; Special Olympian Craig Ludin; bodybuilder Dan Lurie; NFL referee Jerry Markbreit; basketball player Lennie Rosenbluth; Olympic high jumper Dwight Stones; and Senda Berenson, considered the "mother of women's basketball." University of North Carolina soccer star Yael Averbuch, a resident of Montclair, received the Marty Glickman Outstanding Scholastic Athlete of the Year Award at the ceremony.
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