"The Other New Jew": Zionism and the Failure of the Gymnast Body in Fin-de-siècle Palestine

• In Event: The New Jew: Between Germany and Zion

Abstract

This paper analyzes the cultural place of gymnastics in the Zionist project of the 'regeneration' of the Jewish body in Fin-de-siècle Palestine. Gymnastics is a familiar subject in Jewish and Zionist historiography of 'Turn-of- the-Century' Europe. Many scholars have followed in the footsteps of George Mosse and established gymnastics as a pivotal site in the creation of Jewish masculine and national identity at that time. Therefore, Max Nordau’s key texts - including both his 'Muscular Judaism' speech and, two years later, 'What does gymnastics mean to us Jews?' not only marked gymnastics as a primary tool in the longing to revive the Jewish body but are also considered a focal point of Zionist bio-politics.
However, despite the significance of Nordau and gymnastics to the early days of Zionism in Central Europe, when historians shifted their gaze to Palestine, Nordau’s relation to gymnastics is neglected and he is most often transformed into the “father figure” of the hegemonic pioneer (HALUTZ) movement. While I do not wish to argue with the significance of the "Muscular Judaism" discourse or with the influence Nordau had on the Romantic worldview of the HALUTZ, I do wish to emphasize that there is a crucial missing link in the historiography – the Zionist gymnast in Fin-de-siècle Palestine.
Based on rich and hitherto unstudied sources, the paper examines the untold story of Jewish Gymnastics in Palestine, from the first Maccabi club founded in 1906 until WW1. In doing so, it sheds light on the connection and shared motives between Hebrew gymnastics and Jewish Gymnastics in Germany, like the well-researched Jüdische Turnerschaft, and tells the tale of Jews that - already in the Fin-de-siècle - made the long trip from Europe to Palestine in hope of reviving the nation and their body through gymnastics, and not by the cultivation of the frontier land of Eretz Israel. Perhaps most importantly, this paper provides a historical narrative for the ultimate failure of such people and ideas to impact Hebrew culture, in contrast to the far more dominant figure of the HALUTZ.

Author

• Ofer Idels, Zvi Yavetz School of Historical Studies, Tel-Aviv University