Jewish Olympics - History of the Maccabiah Games

Jewish athletes were discriminated against in Europe, so in the late 1800s they created their own sports clubs which grew into the Maccabiah Games, an international competition held in the Land of Israel, despite British opposition. Learn about Zionist leader Max Nordau’s “Muskeljuden” or Muscular Jews, and Yosef Yekutieli who created what was called the “Jewish Olympics” during a time when the Nazis were gaining strength. Find out about the Jewish motorcycle club involved in a riot against the Anti-Semitic National Democratic Party in Poland, and the men and women who escaped the Holocaust to participate in the Jewish sporting event that continues to this day.

High jump at the 3rd Maccabiah Games at the newly inaugurated Ramat Gan Stadium, 1950. Credit: Fritz Cohen, Israeli Government Press Office.

Jewish Bulgarian delegation at the opening of the 2nd Maccabiah Games, Tel Aviv, 1935. Credit: Zoltan Kluger, GPO.

A group from Rishon LeZion at the 1st Maccabiah games, Tel Aviv, 1932.

Jewish Weight lifters at the 3rd Maccabiah Games, 1950. Credit: Fritz Cohen, GPO.

Leah Fletcher won the women’s javelin throw and shot put at the 1st Maccabiah Game sin 1932. She went on to found Israel’s first finishing school, the Leah Fletcher Studio for the Cultivation of Grace and Manners, Modeling and Gymnastics. Credit: Fletcher family / Wiki Commons.

Yosef Yekutieli, founder of the Maccabiah, lights the torch at the Tombs of Maccabees in Modiin for the 8th Maccabiah Games, 1969. Credit: Israel Press and Photo Agency (I.P.P.A.) / Dan Hadani collection, National Library of Israel

Poster for the 1st Maccabiah Games, 1932.

Poster for the 2nd Maccabiah Games, 1935.

Poster for the 3rd Maccabiah Games, 1950.

NOTES:

• Maccabi World Union / Official Maccabiah website

• Jewish Motorcyclists from Tel Aviv Arrested in Warsaw Riot - JTA, 1930

• Tel Aviv En Fete for Maccabiade: Town Decorated with Zionist Flags - JTA, 1932

• Palestine Maccabiade: 5,000 Maccabee Members March Through Streets - JTA, 1932

• History of Muscle Jews - Jewish Museum, Berlin

• Max Nordau - Muskeljuden, Muscular Judaism

• Biography of Yosef Yekutieli - Encyclopedia of the Founders and Builders of Israel

• Largest Stadium Crowd in Israel’s History at Third Maccabiah - JTA, 1950

• David Ben-Gurion Speech at 3rd Maccabiah Games - JTA, 1950