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Jewish Olympics: The Maccabi Sports Movement and the 1932 Maccabiah’s Role in Nation-building and Gender Dynamics

David Gasparjan, M. Ed.

David Gasparjan forscht und lehrt am Arbeitsbereich Didaktik der Geschichte an der Freien Universität zu Berlin. Der Titel seiner Promotion lautet Geschlecht, Sexualität und Körper in der Jüdischen Sportbewegung 1921-1938. Ein Forschungsschwerpunkt für ihn ist die Geschlechtergeschichte. Seit Oktober 2022 ist er Fellow im internationalen Leo Baeck Fellowship Programm der Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes.

The executive committee member of the Maccabi World Union – Werner Bloch from Berlin – emphasised the impact of the first Maccabiah in Tel Aviv and Haifa in March 1932:

“The Maccabiah succeeded as a great, truly national manifestation, […] a sign of the attachment of the young Jewish generation from all parts of the [Jewish diaspora] to the evolving Eretz Israel.”[1]

Bloch’s newspaper article makes it clear that Eretz Israel[2] (Hebrew, meaning “Land of Israel”) was no longer a theoretical and visual imagination. It had become a practical experience for the participants of the first Maccabiah and the leaders of the Maccabi Sports Movement. The Maccabi Sports Movement refers to the Jewish gymnastics and sports clubs that have come together under the international Jewish sports organization Maccabi World Union since 1921, along with their supporters and representatives from the Jewish national movement.[3] Maccabi World Union pursued a clear goal since 1930, as outline in its statutes: “The Maccabi World Union actively strives to promote and contribute to the development of Eretz Israel.”[4] The center of the Maccabi World Union was in Berlin – and after 1935 in London. The presidium primarily consisted of male members. However, the German-Jewish leaders played a dominant role in the processes of shaping a unique sports movement.

How did the leaders of the Maccabi Sports Movement intertwine their vision of Jewish belonging with membership in the sports organization? And how did power and gender relations in the movement impact sports?

From the leaders’ perspective, Jewish athletes doing sports under one flag and using one language – Hebrew  – at the Maccabiah were key elements in creating a new sense of Jewish belonging and promoting their vision of a Jewish nation. During the opening ceremony in the newly constructed stadium in Tel Aviv, the Maccabi flag was symbolically raised above the flags of the athletes’ countries of origin. The Maccabi flag itself was a stylized representation of the Star of David, which further emphasized its significance as a symbol of Jewish identification and national unity. This gesture showcased the athletes’ sense of belonging to the Maccabi Sports Movement and their shared commitment to a united Jewish representation during the Maccabiah. The leaders linked the engagement for the Movement with social and economic requirements.

Poster of the first Maccabiah in 1932. The Josef Yekutieli Maccabi Sports Archives, Ramat Gan (Israel), 2-01-029.

Building the Nation: Maccabi’s Investment, the Maccabiah Impact and Gender

The investment in local infrastructures of the Yishuv[5] (Jewish communities in Mandate Palestine) by the Maccabi Sports Movement, which included the financial support of new sports and educational facilities, demonstrated the leaders’ idea to intensify the notion of Jewish belonging – and support the formation of a national home. Therefore, the Maccabiah, as an international Jewish sports event, must be seen as a core element in the process of recreating and modernizing the Yishuv.

Sports become much more than just sports and open new perspectives on movements and societies, international relations, and politics as well as on gender roles. Within the Maccabi Sports Movement, athletics played a significant role in shaping perceptions of Jewish belonging influenced by the evolving concepts of femininity and masculinity. In this highly gendered context, male-dominated power relations limited women’s sporting and political resources, reinforcing traditional gender norms. As a result of these challenges in access to sports facilities and training, women not only confronted barriers but also actively contested male power relations, working to establish a more inclusive sports environment. However, through the analysis of various sources, it becomes evident that women actively participated in the movement and the organization of the first Maccabiah. Sports provided a platform for self-empowerment for women, allowing them to challenge traditional gender roles by creating their own sports sections and political positions in the movement. Through active participation in sports, women contributed to the organization of the first Maccabiah and the modernization of the Yishuv.

Using the example of the first Maccabiah in Tel Aviv and Haifa in 1932, it becomes clear, that the history of the Makkabi Sports Movement offers new insights into the history of sports, but also into the history of Zionism, gender relations, and nation-building.


[1] Bloch, Werner: „Makkabiah und Erez-Israel” in: Der Makkabi. Organ des deutschen Kreises im Makkabi-Weltverband, 33 (1932) 2, S. 5.

[2] The term Eretz Israel is not geographic, rather it refers to the religious connection of the Jewish communities or people with the biblical Land of Israel. For further information, Wagner, Thomas: “Jischuw” in: Diner, Dan (Ed.): Encyclopaedia of Jewish History and Culture, (http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2468-2845_ejgk_COM_0336, last accessed: 08.08. 2023).

[3] Wildmann, Daniel: Der veränderbare Körper. Jüdische Turner, Männlichkeit und das Wiedergewinnen von Geschichte in Deutschland um 1900, London 2009.

[4] Kaminski, Nathan: “Statuten des Makkabi-Weltverbandes“, in: Der Makkabi, 31 (1930) 12, S. 1.

[5] Wagner, Thomas: “Jischuw” in: Diner, Dan (Ed.): Encyclopaedia of Jewish History and Culture, (http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2468-2845_ejgk_COM_0336, last accessed: 08.08.2023).


OpenEdition schlägt Ihnen vor, diesen Beitrag wie folgt zu zitieren:
Sportmuseum Berlin (15. August 2023). Jewish Olympics: The Maccabi Sports Movement and the 1932 Maccabiah’s Role in Nation-building and Gender Dynamics. Sportmuseum Berlin. Abgerufen am 14. November 2024 von https://doi.org/10.58079/vk7i


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