When the three rabbis and a judge walk onto the court at a Manhattan tennis center on Wednesday nights, it is no joke.
There is, however, plenty of joking around during the weekly tennis sessions, shared by a group with four octogenarians at its core who have played together for more than 45 years.
The judge is Alvin K. Hellerstein, 82, who still oversees federal court cases. The three rabbis are Dr. Michael Shmidman, 82, and Haskel Lookstein, 83, and Jonah Kupietzky, 81, who is an ordained rabbi but a kosher caterer by vocation.
“Retired caterer,” said Bob Rothman, 63, a relative newcomer and junior member of the group, which was taking a break one recent evening at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center at the northern tip of Manhattan.