Wednesday, August 16, 2000 --  -- Long Beach Press Telegram, Sports Page B2
UCLA Football Notebook by Billy Witz

[Also find this same text as Preperation does count at DailyNews.com]

UCLA can sell recruits on sunshine, Hollywood and academics. Now it's added a new sales pitch: We've got kosher.

It's a big reason why Eyoseph Efseaff, a freshman guard from Porterville, is a Bruin.

Efseaff's family are Russian Molokans, who not only follow the New Testament of the Bible like most Christians, but also the teachings of the Old Testament, like Jews. Hence, the kosher diet.

Efseaff, who said he was recruited by most Pac-10 schools, said UCLA was one of the few schools he could attend. There are a handful of small Molokan communities in the Southland, but a large Jewish community on the Westside will make keeping a kosher diet easier.

Kosher principals were formed as a way to maintain sanitary eating conditions. Bottom-dwelling fish, for example, are thought to be unhealthy.

``We use the word `unclean,''' Efseaff said. ``We can't eat pork or shellfish or catfish (animals that are deemed unclean in the Old Testament). It has to be prepared in a clean pan. It also has to be killed a certain way. You have to cut the throat and bleed the animal. You can't hit it over the head or shoot it.''

UCLA has provided Efseaff with a list of restaurants that prepare and/or deliver kosher food. At last week's beach barbecue for incoming freshman, a box of kosher food was brought for Efseaff.

Randy Taylor, UCLA's Director of Football Operations, said the team has had Muslims who wouldn't eat pork, but never had to accommodate a kosher diet before.

``He can't eat everything that's at the dorms,'' Taylor said. ``He's not real demanding -- he'd eat bagels all day -- but it's important for him to maintain good nutrition to keep his weight up (as an offensive lineman). It's our responsibility to take care of him.''

Efseaff, his ethnic name notwithstanding, is a third-generation American. His great-grandparents emigrated to the United States in 1902, at a time when the Cossacks (1) were persecuting religious minorities in Russia. About 2,500 Molokans -- who refused to join the  Russian Orthodox Church in the 1600s (2)  -- came to America at the turn of the century. [I find 2 errors: (1) Cossacks did not persecute the Molokans. The Molokans disobeyed laws that were enforced by the courts. Some Cossacks acting as soldiers or policemen may have punished their prisoners. (2) The last sentence is awkward. About 2,500 Molokans immigrated to Los Angeles, while some also immigrated to other parts of the US and to other countries. Dissidence against the Russian Orthodox Church began in the 1600s and continues today. As many as 500,000 Molokans may have existed by 1900 when less than 1% fled Russia, mainly from the Russo-Turkish.War zone.]

There are about a dozen Molokan families in Porterville. Efseaff said the distinguishing characteristics are a strong elder system and that all church business is conducted in Russian, a language he hopes to be fluent in by the time he leaves college.

Offensive line coach Mark Weber said Efseaff, who is 6-foot-3 and 282 pounds, has had little trouble distinguishing himself, both on the field and off, where he carried a 3.9 GPA at Monache High.

"He's got a lot of things to learn," Weber said. "But he's got all the intangibles, he's smart and he plays hard. He's got a lot of discipline. He's very business-like for an 18-year-old. He's very committed to his goals, whether it's personal, in football or spiritual."