Jews in the Gym: Judaism, Sports, and Athletics

by Leonard Greenspoon (Editor)

Overview

For some, the connection between Jews and athletics might seem far-fetched. But in fact, as is highlighted by the fourteen chapters in this collection, Jews have been participating in”and thinking about”sports for more than two thousand years. The articles in this volume cover a wide chronological range: from the Hellenistic period (first century BCE) to the most recent basketball season. The range of athletes covered is equally broad. The authors of these essays raise a number of intriguing questions such as: What differing attitudes toward sports have Jews exhibited across periods and cultures? In what sports have Jews excelled, and why? How have Jews overcome prejudices on the part of the general populace against a Jewish presence on the field or in the ring? This volume features a number of illustrations (many of them quite rare). It is accessible to the general reader and contains much information of interest to the scholar in Jewish studies, American studies, and sports history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781557536297
Publisher:	Purdue University Press
Publication date:	09/28/2012
Series:	Studies in Jewish Civilization Series , #23
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	370,401
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Leonard J. Greenspoon is professor of Classical and Near Eastern Studies and of Theology. He holds the Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization at Creighton University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Editor's Introduction x

Contributors xv

Playing Roman in Jerusalem: Jewish Attitudes toward Sport and Spectacle during the Second Temple Period Loren R Spielman 1

Sports and the Graphic Novel from Diaspora to Diaspora: James Strum's The Golem's Mighty Swing and JT Waldman's Megillat Esther in the Tree of Contexts Ori Z. Soltes 25

The Jew in the Gym: Judaism, Sports, and Athletics on Film Nathan Abrams 53

Is Life a Game? Athletic Competition as a Metaphor for the Meaning of Life Steven J. Riekes 65

The Jewish Athlete of Faith: On the Limits of Sport Danny Rosenberg 79

Antisemitism and Sport in Central Europe and the United States c. 1870-1932 Steven A. Riess 97

Cutting the Way into the Nation: Hungarian Jewish Olympians in the Interwar Era Mihály Kálmán 125

Grappling with Ghosts: Jewish Wrestlers and Antisemitism William Kornblum Erin Sodmiak Phil Oberlander 177

Sporting a Nation: The Origins of Athleticism in Modern Israel Nina Spiegel 189

Gyms and the Academy: Professional and Personal Reflections on Stepping Up to the Scholarly Plate Jeffrey S. Gurock 197

Jewish Women in the American Gym: Basketball, Ethnicity, and Gender in the Early Twentieth Century Linda J. Borish 213

From Benny Leonard to Abi Olajuwon: Jews, Muslims, Evangelicals, and the Evolving Religious Challenges of being an American Athlete Ori Z. Soltes 239

Buster Haywood and the Jews of Black Baseball Rebecca T. Alpert 263

A Global Game: Omri Casspi and the Future of Jewish Bailers David J. Leonard 275