Athletes Atlas
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
with dogs Leviathan"
shall not partake of the
joy of the Rothenburg, Resp., ed. Mekize Nirdarnim, p. 7, § 27). Ab. Zarah (186) forbids hunting; nevertheless, there were Jews who disregarded the prohibition and were reproved for it, (Or Zarua', Alfab. No. 47). Of their actions in this regard .
.
.
(Me'ir of
'
Abrahams
(ib. p. 376) says: "Jews did at least occasionally participate in hunting. Nor are indications
wanting that this was the case throughout the Middle Ages. Zunz cites an instance" ("Z. G." p. Abrahams, citing Nowack ("Lehrbuch der 173). Hebraischen Archiiologie," i. 367) as authority, says the ancient Jews were never noted riders; but, quoting Berliner ("Aus dem Innern Leben," p. 17), he adds that in Provence " the Jews possessed trained falcons, and used them in hawking, themselves riding on horseback." JosephJacobs ("Jewish Ideals, p. 226) cites from the Forest Roll of the county of Essex for 1277, a document in which reference is made to an improvised hunt near the city of Colchester in 1267, in which several Jews took part, but afterward suffered for having thereby been guilty of a breach of the forest laws. Abrahams (op. cit.), in a note on this event, refers the reader for other records of Jewish hunters to "Hatam Sofer," resp. xiv., §§ 52, 53; J. Reischer, "Shebut Ya'akob," ii. 63. Among other exercises popular with the Jews were ball-playing, the tourney, and dueling. The first was chiefly practised by the young women, and in some measure resembled tennis but it brought .
.
.
upon them the displeasure condemned its indulgence,
of certain rabbis,
who
especialty on the
Sabbath, as one of the causes of the destruction of the Temple (see Lam. R. ii. 4), and probably because it distracted attention from the more serious duties of life
(Yer. Ta'anit, iv.
altogether
unknown
to
the Jews, especially to those of Spain and Italy. In those countries it was the custom of the Jewish boys to attend mimic tourneys, at which they fought on foot, while the men, mounted on horses, rode to the tilt-yard and there displayed their skill in tilting with blunted wooden lances at suspended effigies. Sometimes at these sports the cavaliers were escorted by mounted buglers, and their approach was heralded by a fanfare of trumpets. It has been suggested that in the fourteenth century the Jews also took part in actual tourne3r s, the suggestion being based on a fracas that occurred at Weissenfels in 1386; but according to Berliner ("Aus dem Innern Leben," p. 16) and Zunz ("Z. G." p. 184) the incident was a genuine case of attack by marauders against the
Jews, I.e.
who
transaction of such business as the laws of the countries in which they dwelt allowed, and to the pro-
Under such conditions athand sports did not flourish among them but toward the close of the eighteenth century in tolerant England a small band of Jewish pugilists stepped into the ring, and once more the Jew took an active part in the athletic life and exercises of the country in which he dwelt. The most notable of the English fighters of this period were Jews, and among them were Daniel Mendoza, champion of England from 1792 to 1795; Solomon Sodickey, Isaac Bittoon, and Samuel Elias, better known For nearly thirty years these as "Dutch Sam." men and their descendants (Samuel Evans, " Young Dutch Sam," Abraham and Israel Belaseo, and tection of their lives.
exercises
letic
maintained the position of their race and they were succeeded in the nineteenth century by others equally skilful. But it is not in the prize-ring alone that Jews have become prominent. Muscular Judaism has asserted others), steadily
in the prize-ring;
and athletic sports. Athletic clubs " have been formed in most of the large cities where there are many Jews. A special journal devoted to Jewish Athletics is published in Berlin, and nearly all Jewish papers devote space to itself also in field
and
"
Turnvereine
the reporting of events in the fields of gymnastics, and games. The spirit of physical development has so permeated the Jew of modern times that there is now no branch of Athletics in which he does not take a part. On the roll of fame may be noted the names of Jewish men who have defeated sports,
comers in open competition when they met the Athletes of the nations of the world, as at the recent revival of the Olympic Games in Greece and at the Paris Exposition of 1900. all
A
5).
The tournament was not
272
merely defended themselves (Abrahams,
xxi. 378).
That Athletics were not always unpopular with the Rabbis is shown by the various references found In Gen. R. (lxxvii. 2) there in rabbinical literature. is a comparison of " an athlete engaged in battle with the son of a king," and in Ex. R. (xxi. 10) is another; " as two athletes, one weak and one strong one overcomes the other and places a wreath on his head. The persecutions to which the Jews were subjected in almost every country during the Middle Ages restricted their movements and their liberty to such a degree that most of their time was given up to the
Jewish athletic association has been formed recently in London, England, which embraces all sports. The membership rolls of the principal yachtclubs bear many Jewish names. In the boating-clubs
found many expert Jewish oarsmen. The an enthusiastic cyclist, and has shown his dexterity at tennis, baseball, and cricket. There are few cricket-clubs in England that have not one or two Jewish members. In the United States one of the prominent baseball teams has a Jewish president, while a number of Jews play the game throughout are to be
Jew
is
the country. On the football field the Jew has his strength and nimbleness, and on the running-track his fleetness. Recentty a Jewish student at Cambridge University, Raphael, was selected to plajr football for England in the International games
shown
and cricket in the inter-university sports. As a jumper few competitors can excel the Jew; in fact, the world championship at the running jump was held by Meyer Prinstein, a Jew. The holder of the world's amateur record for heavy-weight lifting is E. Lawrence Levy. There have been, and probably there are still, Jewish jockeys. David Adler, who died in 1900 at Buluwayo, South Africa, proved conclusively that the Jewish jockey is a capable horseman. As a swimmer the Jew's power and endurance are probably not so marked as his quickness in covering short distances
nevertheless, there are many strong and there is little
swimmers among the Jews,
