It is difficult today to grasp the impact that Hank Greenberg, star slugger for the Detroit Tigers before and after World War II, had on Jews throughout the United States.

But back in a time when anti-Semitism was much more prevalent and overt, he was the first Jew (or the first to admit he was a Jew) to be a baseball star ­ and to make the Baseball Hall of Fame. Particularly after the Holocaust, Greenberg's physical strength ­ in contrast to the images of skeletal, starving Jews in the concentration camps ­ and his courage in the face of anti-Semitism in the baseball stadiums, roused Jews throughout the country to root for him and kvell (swell with pride).

Anyone wanting to experience the impact Greenberg had, can live through it vicariously in the engaging, lively new documentary, "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg," which you can look for at your local Jewish film festival.

Directed by Aviva Kemper (who co-wrote and produced Parisans of Vilna, on Jewish resistance against the Nazis), the film was 10 years in the making due to difficulties in finding funding. Kempner also wrote the script and produced the film. "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg" includes interviews with Greenberg's teammates and family, as well as with Greenberg himself, sportswriters Dick Schaap and Ira Berkow, and fellow players Bob Feller, Charlie Gehringer and Ralph Kiner. Also included are interviews with ordinary Jews who grew up during the years that Greenberg starred for Detroit, and celebrities who knew him or of him, such as Walter Matthau, Michael Moriarty, Maury Povich, Alan Dershowitz, Congressman Sander Levin and Senator Carl Levin.

The film creates a portrait of a man and of a time. Greenberg grew up in an Orthodox household in the Bronx, and his mother, the film points out, became the Queen of the City due to her famous and talented son. Kempner weaves in shots of what the Bronx looked like in those days, with push carts on the streets, enhancing our sense of the differences between then and now. When Greenberg chose to play ball on Rosh Hashanah during a pennant race, rabbis offered interpretations from the Talmud that said it was okay. Parents sent their children out of the synagogue to listen to ballgame reports, and Greenberg's cantor stopped praying to be filled in. The next day, the Detroit newspaper's headlines wished Greenberg a happy New Year in Hebrew! This was the first time the secular press had mentioned a Jewish holiday! When Greenberg chose not to play in a crucial pennant game out of respect for Yom Kippur, he was startled to find himself greeted with a standing ovation from the congregation as he entered the synagogue. Although he himself was not very religious, he had quickly realized that he was an important symbol to Jews and an equally important symbol to the nation of what a Jew could do.

For Jews of the time, the fact that Hank Greenberg could play and star in a major league baseball team meant that they, too, could strive to achieve their dreams. And for non-Jews, the fact that a Jew was so athletically capable shattered stereotypes.

Hammerin' Hank, as he was known, was a towering 6'4" tall. In the midst of his career, when he almost broke Babe Ruth's record for home runs, he chose to sign up to fight in the Second World War, When he returned years later, he shocked many with his surviving batting skill, despite being out of shape and practice. In fact, he hit a grand slam homerun on the last day of the 1945 season, which won the Tigers the pennant, and that year they went on to win the World Series.

In one of the interviews with Greenberg shown in the film, he discusses how the many anti-Semitic remarks he heard only strengthened his resolve to do well, and to "show them," Jews will be proud to learn that at the end of his career Greenberg befriended the young Jackie Robinson, who suffered even more discrimination than Greenberg himself, and gave Robinson advice on how to handle the catcalls, telling him to "hang in."

For sports fans who want to know more about Greenberg, and for people interested in how different the climate is today for Jews, watching "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg" would be a pleasurable way to be informed.