We are all aware that organized sports are a very major commercial enterprise today all over the world. It is a multi-billion dollar industry with enormous effect and influence upon the millions of its followers. The thrills, excitement and pleasure that sports provides for its followers is immeasurable, even though the high costs of being a spectator to the events of sports is painfully calculable. The devotion of fans to their favorite teams borders upon idol worship and has many times spilled over into violence and depression. The modern world is hooked on sports.
The Jewish position regarding sports is a different one than most of the modern world. Judaism encourages athleticism; exercise, care of the body, activity, ingenuity, even physical strength and well-being. It does not encourage violent behavior of one human being against another. Thus boxing, wrestling, judo, violent contact sports such as ice hockey, rugby and tackle football, would seem to fall outside the acceptable pale of permitted sports. Yet, we find in the rabbinic writings of the early middle Ages that Jews engaged in a jousting tournament in order to enliven weddings and "gladden the bride and groom!" The rabbis seemed to oppose the practice, but who listens to rabbis?
One of the greatest objections that the Jews had to the Greeks and Romans and to their culture was the violence of their sporting activities. Most Jews also condemned the nudity of the participants and the accompanying drunken spectacles, sexual orgies and animal sacrifices to the pagan gods. The use of gladiators, of sports events that were preordained to cost human lives, saddened the Jews, who believed that human life was the highest value in society. Making a sport out of maiming or killing someone was and is repugnant to the ethos of traditional Judaism. The current rampant and outlandish commercialization of sports, the exploitation of the athletes (no matter how high their salaries are) and the attendant hoopla of questionable good taste and borderline behavior also are foreign to the Jewish spirit and view of humans and their world.
In our modern era, Jews looked at organized sports in a different light. In the twentieth century, Jewish sportsmen, fans, team owners, sports writers, media broadcasters and commentators abounded. It was as though the Jews became sports crazed, since this avenue of activity served as their confirmation of being fully accepted into modern society. It was Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax who blazed the path of success for Jewish American acceptability, long before Jewish CEO's of major American corporations became more common. Thus, Jews became and are inveterate sports fans, not only for the love of the game itself, but also for the unseen but essential benefit of societal acceptability that the sports arena ostensibly afforded them.
In Israel, the same benefit of international acceptance and respectability fueled the development of Israel's sports leagues and teams. The appearance of Israel at the Olympics has become a matter of national self-vindication. How else can we explain the muted Israeli reaction to the murder of its athletes at the Olympic games in Germany or the refusal of the UEFA Soccer League to play its games in Tel Aviv? Would not a proud nation disdain participation in sports events so politically biased and insensitive to the Jewish people? Yet it is the drive that we must somehow belong, and that sports means belonging, that fuels Israel's desire to participate at all costs, no matter what the price or the shame.
I am not writing this as a killjoy or in opposition to organized sports. I definitely appreciate the beauty of a well-turned double-play or a fabulous three-point shot at the buzzer. I merely raise the issue that sports, like all other areas of modern life, should be seen within the wide and deep perspective of Jewish tradition. As such, we will be able to absorb the good, enjoy the game and discard the large amount of chaff, which is present in today's sporting society.
Shabat Shalom and Chag Sameach.
----------------------------------
Rabbi Berel Wein, noted author and lecturer, is founder of the Destiny Foundation, dedicated to educating Jews about their historical and ethical heritage (JewishDestiny.com).
The Jewish position regarding sports is a different one than most of the modern world. Judaism encourages athleticism; exercise, care of the body, activity, ingenuity, even physical strength and well-being. It does not encourage violent behavior of one human being against another. Thus boxing, wrestling, judo, violent contact sports such as ice hockey, rugby and tackle football, would seem to fall outside the acceptable pale of permitted sports. Yet, we find in the rabbinic writings of the early middle Ages that Jews engaged in a jousting tournament in order to enliven weddings and "gladden the bride and groom!" The rabbis seemed to oppose the practice, but who listens to rabbis?
One of the greatest objections that the Jews had to the Greeks and Romans and to their culture was the violence of their sporting activities. Most Jews also condemned the nudity of the participants and the accompanying drunken spectacles, sexual orgies and animal sacrifices to the pagan gods. The use of gladiators, of sports events that were preordained to cost human lives, saddened the Jews, who believed that human life was the highest value in society. Making a sport out of maiming or killing someone was and is repugnant to the ethos of traditional Judaism. The current rampant and outlandish commercialization of sports, the exploitation of the athletes (no matter how high their salaries are) and the attendant hoopla of questionable good taste and borderline behavior also are foreign to the Jewish spirit and view of humans and their world.
In our modern era, Jews looked at organized sports in a different light. In the twentieth century, Jewish sportsmen, fans, team owners, sports writers, media broadcasters and commentators abounded. It was as though the Jews became sports crazed, since this avenue of activity served as their confirmation of being fully accepted into modern society. It was Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax who blazed the path of success for Jewish American acceptability, long before Jewish CEO's of major American corporations became more common. Thus, Jews became and are inveterate sports fans, not only for the love of the game itself, but also for the unseen but essential benefit of societal acceptability that the sports arena ostensibly afforded them.
In Israel, the same benefit of international acceptance and respectability fueled the development of Israel's sports leagues and teams. The appearance of Israel at the Olympics has become a matter of national self-vindication. How else can we explain the muted Israeli reaction to the murder of its athletes at the Olympic games in Germany or the refusal of the UEFA Soccer League to play its games in Tel Aviv? Would not a proud nation disdain participation in sports events so politically biased and insensitive to the Jewish people? Yet it is the drive that we must somehow belong, and that sports means belonging, that fuels Israel's desire to participate at all costs, no matter what the price or the shame.
I am not writing this as a killjoy or in opposition to organized sports. I definitely appreciate the beauty of a well-turned double-play or a fabulous three-point shot at the buzzer. I merely raise the issue that sports, like all other areas of modern life, should be seen within the wide and deep perspective of Jewish tradition. As such, we will be able to absorb the good, enjoy the game and discard the large amount of chaff, which is present in today's sporting society.
Shabat Shalom and Chag Sameach.
----------------------------------
Rabbi Berel Wein, noted author and lecturer, is founder of the Destiny Foundation, dedicated to educating Jews about their historical and ethical heritage (JewishDestiny.com).