Jews and Sport

A special journal issue that is dedicated to the last hundred years of Jewish experiences in sports deserves more than just a perfunctory introduction. Introductions by nature are depthless attempts to present an overview on a subject matter, often forcing us to gloss over underlying issues and subtexts not immediately notable to the reader. A mere introduction would hardly do justice, on the one hand, to the rich texture, fabric, color, and immensity of the past hundred years, with intertwining ethnic and race issues and tensions so characteristic to this turbulent period. On the other hand, Jewish history, with its infinite religio-ethnic nuances and sheer complexity, compounded by a given host-nation’s cultural value system, national aspirations, and sensibilities, and its relationship to sport and the Olympic movement, would prove too complex to be crammed into an introduction. Finally, an introduction might not be able to weave the necessary connecting tissue about the nature and extent of Jewish sports participation and complex philosophical, socio-psychological, cultural, and economic forces that made the 20th century so unique. Beyond that, Jewish history of the last two thousand years has been written, or rather dictated, not only by the Jews themselves but also by an intricate and precarious diasporic existence among diverse nations, countries, and circumstances. When one talks about Jewish history in general, it is to accept the fact that it contains several very diverse narratives—historical, emotional, religious, and mental. Sport in Jewish history and culture connects all these diverse narratives because the Jewish experiences in sport are delightfully colorful, diverse, and instructive. In turn, they can provide a valuable comparative palette of colors to other ethno-histories. Not surprisingly, then, there are many issues that one can lump into this introductory essay: philosophical, social, psychological, and cultural—to name just a few. One doesn’t need to engage in trendy“postmodernist” deconstruction of Jewish history in order to understand the precarious situation of a marginalized yet economically successful “middle-man” minoriy—a minority that was hated yet tolerated for its skills in modern societies.Thus this introductory