Sporting Jews

There is an old joke that the shortest book in the world is entitled "Great Jewish Sporting Achievements". Though brains over brawn is one image of the Jewish people, it isn't the whole story. For instance, did you know that...

Daniel Mendoza was the first Jew to become the boxing champion of England in 1792. He was one of the father's of modern boxing because of his great ability to duck punches and use his head as well as his hands in the ring.

Alfred and Gustav Flatlow were cousins who both won gold medals for gymnastics during the very first modern Olympics held in Greece in 1896. Years later, they were murdered by the Nazis for being Jews.

Harold Abrahams was an English Jew who won a gold medal in the 1924 Olympics for the 100M. The film Chariots of Fire celebrated his determination and victory.

Mark Spitz ranks as one of the greatest athletes of all time. He won seven gold medals for swimming in the 1972 Olympics and holds many world records. Mark had to combat racism from some of his own team mates and was always proud to be a Jewish swimmer.

Kerri Strung was responsible for the US gold in the women's gymnastics team event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. With a twisted ankle this little Jewish girl still managed to successfully complete a second vault and become a national hero in the process.

Origins of the Maccabi World Union

Most Jews know about Maccabi sports clubs but not so many know how they began. At the end of the nineteenth century, the Jews of Europe were in dire straits. Pogroms, persecution and discrimination made Jews to want to return to the land of their ancestors - Israel. Zionism, the yearning for a national homeland in Israel, was born. Many young Jews realised that if Israel was to be their national home then they would need to prepare themselves. They needed to be strong, fit and healthy and so they set up gymnastic clubs in a number of European countries. These clubs were not originally called Maccabi (Judah Maccabee was the hero of the Chanukah story) They had names like Bar Kochba (a Jewish warrior in Roman times), or were given Hebrew names like "HaKoach" (strength) or "HaGibbor" (strong man).

In 1898 at the annual large Zionist gathering, Max Nordau gave a moving speech that encouraged the establishment of a national sports movement:

"...gymnastics and physical training are exceedingly important for us Jews...nature has endowed us with the spiritual qualities required for athletic achievements of an extraordinary quality. All we lack is muscle, and that can be developed with the aid of physical exercise..."

Within ten years there were 100 affiliated clubs in Europe with thousands of members. In 1921, the World Maccabi Union was formed and within a year had nearly 100,000 members.

Maccabiah

The Maccabiah is the 'Jewish Olympics'. It was first officially staged in Tel Aviv in the spring of 1932 and was attended by 500 athletes from 23 countries. A great number of the athletes stayed in Israel after the Maccabiah and thus the Games became not only a tool for stimulating sports but also an important means for promoting Aliyah - permanent resettlement in Israel. The 2nd Maccabiah in 1935 caused even more Aliyah because of the anti-Semitism that was sweeping Europe at the time. Most of the 1700 participants stayed in Israel.

Due to W.W.II and its aftermath, it was not until 1950 that the Maccabiah was staged again. In the Holocaust millions of Jews had been wiped out, but in the young State of Israel, Jews were determined to rebuild what was lost. For the Jewish people to grow they needed to be healthy and strong. To defend against attackers they needed to be resourceful and confident. A sporting nation is a living nation. The Maccabiah came to stand for these ideals.

1997 was the 15th Maccabiah. Some Jews think that in the present climate there is a touch of racism in that Israeli Arabs are not allowed to compete because only Jews are eligible to enter.

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