Our Story

The Local Orthodox 18 Ball was launched by long-time friends Ari Schaffer, and Zack and Aharon Schrieber. The three first met in sixth grade, though Zack and Aharon had known each other since birth.

After spending high school together at Yeshiva University High School for Boys (also known as MTA), they stayed in touch through a gap year in Israel, colleges in different states, and careers that left them on opposite ends of the Acela corridor. It was when Ari decided to return to the Northeast from a three-year stint in Atlanta, Georgia, that the Local Orthodox 18 Ball was born.

Zack and Aharon Schrieber on the far left and the far right respectively. Ari Schaffer second from the left at an NCSY convention.

No one is quite sure how the idea came into being but that fateful day at a table outside Sammy’s Bagels in Teaneck began an epic journey of discovery that resulted in perhaps the greatest innovation in unnecessary Jewish-themed toys.

Ari, Zack, and Aharon are pleased to present the Local Orthodox 18 Ball. Ask a question, from a simple “can I do this or not?” to your most profound faith struggles, give the ball a shake, and let the ball settle before revealing the answer to your burning query.*

Zack, Aharon, and Ari (stating second from the left) joining a mutual friend as he put on tefillin for the first time.

* The Local Orthodox 18 Ball is shtick. Do not rely on it for actual halachik decisions or telling the future. Also, it is not fit for consumption.