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Podcast: New Books in Jewish Studies
Episode: Ofer Idels, "Embodying the Revolution: The Hebrew Experience and the Globalization of Modern Sports in Interwar Palestine" (Rutgers UP, 2025)
Description: Join Rabbi Marc Katz for a powerful and unexpected conversation with historian Ofer Idels author of Embodying the Revolution: The Hebrew Experience and the Globalization of Modern Sports in Interwar Palestine (Rutgers UP, 2025).
This episode dives into a fascinating paradox at the heart of modern Jewish history:Why did Zionism—especially during the era of “muscular Judaism”—remain deeply ambivalent about sports?
Drawing on rich archival research and contemporary theory, Idels reveals a surprising story of Mandate Palestine, where athletes rarely became national heroes and sports never fully transformed into symbols of collective pride. This is more th...