Auburn's Bruce Pearl receives Sinai Award

AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl is one of 12 recipients of the 2025 Sinai Awards, presented to people who have protected or generated freedom throughout the world by Tablet magazine, an online outlet covering Jewish life and culture.

“I had no idea the impact that calling out Edan Alexander’s name would have,” said Pearl, referring to the 21-year-old from New Jersey held captive in Gaza for 584 days before his May 12 release. “I was so pleased to hear from his father and his brother and then got an opportunity to invite them down to the Sweet 16 in Atlanta and spend some time with them.”

Former NBA standout Amar’e Stoudemire presented Pearl the award June 23 in New York City at Casa Cipriani.

“We’re going to the Sweet 16, and I’m thanking God and in my great joy, it reminds me a Jewish tradition of breaking glass at a wedding," Pearl said. "We’re celebrating a wedding, we’re all happy, and yet we’re reminded, by breaking a glass, how fragile life can be, how fragile a marriage can be.

“I told the players about the story and I didn’t want to take away from the moment. That whole thing about asking the players meant a lot to other people. The guys responded, ‘Yes, coach. It’s an American held hostage.’”

The other 2025 Sinai Award winners included Yisrael Aumann, Azealia Banks, Justin Bateman, He Jiankui, Debra Messing, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Cynthia Ozick, Joel Salatin, Matt Taibbi, Mario Vargas Llosa and David Zweig.

“People way more accomplished than me,” Pearl joked.

In its communications about Pearl’s selection, Tablet referred to the Auburn coach as an outspoken advocate, commending him for his “role shaping and inspiring gifted young men to be their best selves, and to take responsibility for each other on and off the court,” while showing “how those lessons apply in the wider world beyond basketball when you decided to consistently stand in solidarity with Edan Alexander.”  

Pearl reflected on the honor, the connection he made with Alexander’s family, the vast audience his gesture reached, and how it came about. 

“It’s almost sad when such a small contribution is looked at like it’s such a big thing,” he said. “I don’t think what we did regarding freedom was that big a deal, so that tells me there aren’t enough people who are fighting for freedom that we obviously take for granted.

“While I was happy for Edan and his family, I was actually angry because there were 58 other families at that time that weren’t able to have that celebration. It was a moment of joy for Edan and his family, but it kicked the anger right back in. We had Americans held hostage.”

Entering his 12^th season on the Plains, Pearl thanked Auburn University and Tiger basketball fans for helping him lead the program to unprecedented success.

“I go to work every day trying to reward Auburn for giving me the opportunity to be their basketball coach,” he said, “and for supporting our program to the point where we could compete for championships and thus giving us this larger platform to be able to lead.”

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer