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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
24—Friday, Sept. 13, 1974

MUSIC BY

SAM BARNETT

AND HIS ORCHESTRA.

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Special School Due
for Jewish Disabled

Jewish Attitude on Sports

There is only one clear ref- I
erence to sports in the Bible,
namely to archery as can be
seen from the story of David
and Jonathan (I Samuel
20:21-22), but this omission
might have been purely co-
incidental. At the beginning
of the Maccabean periods, in

Muth erchtetadi and emtsacciate4

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New Year
from

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and Her Staff

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the second century BCE in the '19th century lived in
circumstances conspired to conditions unfavorable to ath-
make sporting activities as letic pursuits, a number of
such, "for the sake of the
game,' repugnant to Jews as them did well in Europe and
the very antithesis of Jewish America: in 1896, seven Jew-
ideals, and this approach re- ish athletes won 13 medals
m a i n e d characteristic of at the first modern Olympic
games in Athens. In a speech
Judaism until the dawn of before the Fifth Zionist Con-
the modern period, according
gress in 1901, Max Nordau
to Encyclopedia Judaica.
asked the Jewish people to
One of the overt signs of renew their interest in sports
the attempt to hellenize Judea and physical fitness. His call
was the establishment of a was answered by the Mac-
gymnasium in Jerusalem in cabi movement which spread
174 BCE where the partici- around the world. It was
pants engaged in their sport- Hungary that produced the
ing activities in the nude. most successful Jewish ath-
Sport thus became associ- letes in Europe. Early in the
ated with the alien and dan- 20th century, immigrant chil-
gerous hellenistic culture. The dren learned the games of
Olympic Games were con- their new countries, while
nected with the idolatrous professional sports attracted
cult. There is evidence nev- many Jews throughout the
ertheless that in countries world.
under Greek influence, sports
were indulged in by Jews.
The opposition to sports be-
came more outspoken when
Roman theaters and circuses
were linked together as the
very antithesis of "synagogue
and school," the authoritative
Encyclopedia Judaica states.
states.
An added factor was the
great cruelty associated with
Roman sport, which was not
confined to the characteristic
aspect of gladiatorial con-
tests, and the humane aspect
of the Jewish opposition finds
expression in the ruling that
"one is permitted to go to
stadiums if by his shouting
he may save the victim's
life." The first Jewish ruler
to encourage sports in
4 BCE erected s port s
stadia in some cities and in-
troduced a Palestinian Olym-
piad for which he brought
athletes from all parts of
the world.
There are few references
to organized sport during the
Middle Ages. Jews in Spain
distinguished themselves in
the art of fencing, but other-
wise the sports Jews indulged
in belonged either to recrea-
tions or intellectual pastimes
or to children's games. The
most popular sport in the
Middle Ages appear to have
been ball games which were
permitted even on Sabbath
though the Midrash gives as
one of the reasons for the
destruction of Jerusalem that
"they played ball on the
Sabbath."
In 1386 there were Jewish
tournaments in Germany
where, later in the 15th cen-
tury, Jews participated in
competitions in running,
jumping, throwing and bowl-
ing. Jews distinguished them-
selves in sports competitions
in Rome in 1487, 1502 and
1595. There is even a song
about Jewish runners, com-
posed in 1513.
Though most of the Jews

WASHINGTON (JTA) — A
communal school for special
education, named Shma
V'Ezer, recently opened to
teach the Jewish heritage to
deaf children .and those with
special learning disabilities,
according to the Washington
Board of Jewish Education.
Rabbi Matthew Clark, the
board's director, said classes
will be held for deaf child-
ren, aged eight to 11, at one
location, and five classes for
children with special disabil-
ities, aged five to 18, at three
locations.

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With Friendly Greetings

and Good Wishes

Eban Sets Public
Lectures in NY

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NEW YORK—Abba Eban,
former Israel foreign minis-
ter and visiting professor at
Columbia University, will
deliver three public lectures
at the university this fall
under the general title
"Peace or Conflict in the
Middle East."
Prof. Eban is teaching
courses in modern diplo-
macy and case histories of
war and peace in the Middle
East at Columbia during the
fall semester.

for a very

Happy New Year!

