Muscular Judaism () is a term coined by

Max Nordau Max Simon Nordau (born Simon Maximilian Südfeld; 29 July 1849 – 23 January 1923) was a Hungarian Zionism, Zionist leader, physician, author, and Social criticism, social critic. He was a co-founder of the Zionist Organization together with Theo ...

in his speech at the

Second Zionist Congress The Second World Zionist Congress () met in Basel, Switzerland on 28 August 1898. and was the second meeting of the Zionist Organisation. The World Zionist Congress brought together delegates from across the world to raise funds, lobby suppo ...

held in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

on August 28, 1898. In his speech, he spoke about the need to design the " new Jew" and reject the " old Jew", with the mental and physical strength to achieve the goals of

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

. Nordau saw Muscular Judaism as an answer to ''Judennot'' (the "Jewish distress" about facing rampant antisemitism).

History

The term refers to the cultivation of mental and physical properties, such as mental and physical strengths, agility and discipline, which all will be necessary for the national revival of the

Jewish people Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

. The characteristics of the muscular Jews are the exact opposite, an antithesis of the Diaspora Jew, especially in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, as shown in

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

literature and in the literature of the

Haskalah The ''Haskalah'' (; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), often termed the Jewish Enlightenment, was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Wester ...

. Nordau saw the promotion of muscular, athletic Jews as a counterpoint to such depictions of Jews as a weak people. In addition, the "muscular" Jew is the opposite of the Halakhic and the Haskalah Jew—the man of letters, the intellectual—who was said to be busy all his life engaging with esoteric subjects. His body, and his will, grew weak. Though Muscular Judaism was an idea practiced mostly by male Jews, Jewish women participated as well, especially in activities such as

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

. At the time of Nordau's speech, the idea of Muscular Christianity was already widespread in various Christian countries.

Jewish athletes in Europe

European Jewish leaders heeded Nordau's philosophy. Between 1896 and 1936, Jewish athletes won a disproportionate number of medals for Austria at the Olympics than their proportion of the total Austrian population. Nordau's idea of Muscular Judaism also inspired the founders of Hakoah Vienna, a Viennese

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

especially well known for its

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team. American journalist Franklin Foer has written that Hakoah (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

for "the strength") was "one of the best teams on the planet" at its height in the mid-1920s. Hakoah players decorated their uniforms with Jewish symbols, such as the

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

, and adopted nicknames of historical Jewish military leaders, such as Bar Kochba.

References

{{Zionism 1898 in Judaism 1898 in Switzerland Jewish movements History of Zionism 1890s neologisms Jewish sports Physical culture Masculinity

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

History

Jewish athletes in Europe

See also

References