Podcast Summary: New Books Network – Ofer Idels on "Embodying the Revolution: The Hebrew Experience and the Globalization of Modern Sports in Interwar Palestine"

Date: March 4, 2026
Host: Rabbi Mark Katz
Guest: Ofer Idels
Book: "Embodying the Revolution: The Hebrew Experience and the Globalization of Modern Sports in Interwar Palestine" (Rutgers UP, 2025)

Overview

This episode delves into Ofer Idels’ groundbreaking examination of how modern sports arrived, struggled, and transformed in the Hebrew Yishuv (pre-state Jewish community in Palestine) during the interwar period. Idels explores the tension between Zionist ideals, imported sporting culture, and the unique evolution of bodily identity and nationalism among Jews in Palestine. The discussion also touches on broader themes: the meanings attached to sport, language, international engagement, and the interplay between military readiness and athletics.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Introducing Ofer Idels and the Project

• Ofer’s Background: Israeli-born, trained at Tel Aviv University, shaped by Professor Buzz Neumann, whose works on German history and Zionism influenced this project. (02:03)
• Interest in Sports History: Sparked by a curiosity about the disconnect between Zionism’s “new Jew” imagery (strong, healthy, outdoorsy) and the marginal role of athletes in Israeli hero culture. (03:20)
  • “Why...doesn’t really...kind of marginalize sports or treat it differently?” – Ofer Idels [04:10]
• Comparative Perspective: Ofer notes contrasts with sports cultures in Israel, Canada, and Germany, emphasizing the unique Israeli dynamic.

The Interwar Period & Context of the Yishuv (05:40–07:50)

• Local and Global Change: Sports became a global phenomenon in the interwar period; for the Yishuv, this coincided with political transformation after the Balfour Declaration, mass immigration, and the consolidation of Jewish life under the British Mandate. (05:58)
• Immigration Waves: Third, Fourth, and Fifth Aliyah expanded the Jewish presence, setting the stage for transformative cultural shifts.

Sports vs. Gymnastics: A Foundational Divide (07:50–14:56)

• Competing Models of Physical Culture:
  • Gymnastics: Rooted in 19th-century Central Europe (especially Germany), focused on drills, equipment, nationalistic, and non-competitive. Viewed as a means of developing a disciplined, healthy citizenry ("muscular Judaism").
  • Modern Sports: More British/American, inherently competitive, rule-bound, and oriented toward spectacle.
• Gymnastics and Zionism:
  • Zionist leaders like Max Nordau saw gymnastics as the key to forging the "new Jew"—healthy, strong, and nation-oriented.
  • “If you’re a gymnastic advocate, you’re thinking about sport as something dangerous, unhealthy, that’s really not what you wanted for your nation...” – Ofer Idels [12:04]
• Cultural Anxieties: Leaders feared competitive sports undermined collective ideals. As sports globalized, the tension between the two approaches defined much of the Yishuv’s sporting culture.
• Memorable Analogy:
  • Rabbi Katz compares historical gymnastics to today's CrossFit: "it's really about the individual person getting fitter, changing your body...the purpose is transformation, not competition." [11:54]

The Politics of Language and Media Representation (14:56–21:05)

• Hebrew Terminology and National Identity:
  • Idels shows how Hebrew writers struggled with sports vocabulary, sometimes inventing new words, sometimes borrowing. Tension between conveying excitement vs. maintaining a measured, almost clinical tone.
  • “They’re very anxious...trying to avoid describing the competition moment in an exciting term...they see as dangerous, perhaps, or opposed to...Zionist wish.” – Ofer Idels [15:34]
• Sports Reporting in the Yishuv vs. Abroad:
  • In-depth comparison of event coverage: American/Yiddish press favored emotional, immersive narratives, while Hebrew press focused on dry blow-by-blow accounts, purposely avoiding spectacle to align with perceived national interests.
  • “In the Yishuv in Hebrew, they’re trying to create something...lacking of emotion. It's narrow...just the events...” – Ofer Idels [19:04]

Economic and Ideological Underpinnings (22:06–25:10)

• Capitalism vs. Socialism:
  • Despite socialist roots of the Yishuv, aversion to sports cut across class/ideological lines. Both middle-class and socialist pioneers saw sports' "autotelic" (self-meaningful) essence as problematic.
  • “Many Zionists...are actually afraid of that because they think...we’re here to create a new Jewish experience in which the body is...more national, more revolutionary.” – Ofer Idels [22:41]

Meaning, Zionism, and the Body (25:10–29:34)

• Zionism Shapes Sport (Not Vice Versa):
  • The Zionist project imbued physical culture with national meaning; sport’s own values (competition, fun) were subsumed by ideological goals.
  • “Zionism and its promise is all the time...influences how they see sports. Basically, the entire attitude towards sport is because they’re Zionist and they’re thinking about Zionism all the time and not the other way around.” – Ofer Idels [25:28]
• Return to History:
  • Zionism sought to transform Jews from passive to active agents of history. International competitions—rather than domestic victories—offered a symbolic platform for national reentry onto the world stage.
  • “They didn’t care that they lost most of the time. They cared that there was Hebrews there in the international arena.” – Ofer Idels [27:41]

The Olympic Dilemma and Internationalism (29:34–32:31)

• 1936 Berlin Olympics:
  • Hebrew Yishuv’s first invitation to the IOC coincided tragically with Nazi Germany hosting. With little public support for participation, Palestinian Jews withdrew, highlighting the tension between desire for global inclusion and moral/political imperative.
  • “The first decision they had to receive was if I’m going to Nazi Germany or not. They...decided to skip it.” – Ofer Idels [30:17]

Militarization and the Arab Revolt (32:31–36:26)

• Arab Revolt (1936–39) Impact:
  • Uprising against the British increased the salience of self-defense and militarism in Jewish identity. The “athlete” figure hybridized with the “soldier,” and sports organizations became avenues for pre-military training (“useful sport”).
  • “It was kind of like an opening a place that like oh, we can create now also soldiers... pre-military activities which they title sports, which in the most direct translation will be useful sports.” – Ofer Idels [32:47]
• False Starts in National Sports:
  • Example of swimming, briefly seen as a potential national sport but quickly sidelined due to lack of infrastructure and international prowess.

Maccabia Games: Diaspora and Land (36:26–39:40)

• Role of the Maccabia Games:
  • Not about pure athletic achievement, but reinforcing Eretz Israel’s (Land of Israel’s) centrality by gathering Jews from across the globe. Sometimes games were a pretext for immigration, furthering Zionist aims.
  • “Sport activities are kind of still the excuse...it’s about bringing Jews into the land of Israel.” – Ofer Idels [36:48]
  • “For me at least [Maccabia], is...the paramount theme, which...is a little bit different than it would have been in the 1930s.” – Rabbi Mark Katz [38:17]

Matkot: Israel’s Unofficial National Sport (39:40–42:14)

• Matkot (Beach Paddleball):
  • Celebrated at the book’s close as a paradoxical “national sport”: non-competitive, cooperative, and enjoyable—echoing early Zionist physical culture. Symbolizes an enduring alternative to the spectacle/competition of global sports.
  • “You just play it on the beach, just passing the ball one to each other. But there’s no rules...it’s not competition...for your own fun...very reminiscent to gymnastics as something that is not competition in any case.” – Ofer Idels [40:58]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “There is a very particular Israeli sport in which the athletes are not really the symbols of the new Jew.”
  – Ofer Idels [04:10]

• “It’s very hard for us to imagine that there is like a physical...we’re doing physical culture, which...is just about enjoying it...but also in a very much national way...developing what we call the national body.”
  – Ofer Idels [12:04]

• “Sports...is supposed to be autotelic. It’s supposed to have a meaning for itself...and many Zionists...are actually afraid of that.”
  – Ofer Idels [22:41]

• “Zionism and its promise... influences how they see sports. The entire attitude towards sport is because they’re Zionist and thinking about Zionism all the time and not the other way around.”
  – Ofer Idels [25:28]

• “They didn’t care that they lost most of the time. They cared that there were Hebrews there in the international arena.”
  – Ofer Idels [27:41]

Important Timestamps

• [02:03] Ofer introduces his academic background and influences.
• [03:20] Motivation for studying the paradox of sports in Zionist culture.
• [05:58] The interwar period in Palestine and the globalization of sports.
• [07:50] Distinguishing gymnastics vs. sport in Zionist tradition.
• [14:56] Language politics: Hebrew’s response to new sports concepts.
• [19:04] Media analysis: How Hebrew coverage avoided sports spectacle.
• [22:41] Capitalism, socialism, and the ambiguous status of sport.
• [25:28] Zionism’s influence: Sport as a vehicle, not an end.
• [27:41] International competitions and the “return to history.”
• [30:17] Berlin Olympics: Participation dilemma for the Yishuv.
• [32:47] Arab Revolt and the rise of “useful sport.”
• [36:48] Maccabia Games’ dual role in early Zionist society.
• [40:58] Matkot as Israel’s “national sport” and its symbolic meaning.

Closing

The episode ends with Ofer hinting at new, related research projects and Rabbi Katz expressing appreciation for Ofer’s thorough, nuanced contribution to cultural and sports history.