Embodying Hebrew Culture: Aesthetics, Athletics, and Dance in the Jewish Community of Mandate Palestine

273 Pages·2013·3.19 MB·English

by  Nina S. Spiegel

embodyinghebrewculture

culture
AeStheticS, AthleticS,
And dAnce
in the JeWiSh commUnity
of mAndAte PAleStine
nina S. Spiegel
© 2013 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201. All rights reserved. No part
of this book may be reproduced without formal permission. Manufactured in the United States
of America.
17 16 15 14 13 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Spiegel, Nina S.
Embodying Hebrew culture : aesthetics, athletics, and dance in the Jewish community of
mandate Palestine / Nina S. Spiegel.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8143-3636-6 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8143-3637-3 (ebook)
1. Jewish athletes—Palestine—History—20th century. 2. Jewish dance—Palestine—History—
20th century. 3. Jews—Palestine—Social life and customs—20th century. 4. Great Britain. Palestine
Royal Commission—History—20th century. 5. Palestine—History—1918–1948. I. Title.
GV709.6.S73 2013
796.089’924—dc23
2012047996
Publication of this book was made possible through the generosity of the Bertha M. and Hyman
Herman Endowed Memorial Fund.
Parts of chapter 3 were first published in Jewish Folklore and Ethnology Review (2000) and in
Seeing Israeli and Jewish Dance, edited by Judith Brin Ingber and published by Wayne State University
Press (Detroit, 2011).
Parts of chapter 4 were first published in Jewish Cultural Studies, v. 3, Revisioning Ritual: Jewish
Traditions in Transition, edited by Simon J. Bronner and published for the American Folklore Society
by the Littman Library of Jewish Civilization (Oxford, 2011).
To my parents,
Fredelle and Steven

Contents
ix Acknowledgments
1 introduction: Embodying Hebrew Culture
21 1 Searching for Hebrew Beauty: The Queen Esther Competitions, 1926–1929
57 2 Promoting Sport: The First Maccabiah Games, 1932
97 3 Producing Theatrical Dance: The National Dance Competition, 1937
133 4 Creating National Folk Dance: The Dalia Dance Festivals, 1944 and 1947
175 conclusion: The Enduring Legacy
187 Notes
223 Bibliography
245 Index
| vii |

Acknowledgments
I have researched and developed this book over many years and a variety of locations
and am grateful to numerous people and institutions.
The seeds of this project were planted while I was an undergraduate at Brown
University. I owe a great debt to Calvin Goldscheider, who first encouraged me to
embark on this path and has remained a trusted adviser ever since. He recommended
that I pursue graduate studies on this topic and has steadfastly supported my work
and offered mentorship and guidance at every juncture along the way. I am also
deeply grateful to my other professors at Brown, especially Vicki Caron, Susan
Slyomovics, and Julie Strandberg. The generous support of a Dorot Fellowship
enabled me to travel to Israel for research. Fusion Dance Company, Brown’s student-
run performing dance troupe, where I was first a member and later a co-director,
taught me experientially, through the diverse dance genres and backgrounds of
company members, the connections between movement, the body, and culture.
These perspectives have profoundly shaped my research.
The early stages of the book developed during my doctoral training in history at
Stanford University. My advisers, Steven J. Zipperstein, Aron Rodrigue, Janice Ross,
and Mary Louise Roberts, offered a rich environment and intellectual rigor in which
to pursue interdisciplinary work. I am grateful that Steven Zipperstein was ready
to take on an unconventional topic in the field and that Janice Ross was prepared
to serve as my dance history adviser outside the history department; they provided
instrumental approaches and analyses. I also owe a great debt to another of my
professors, Hanna Berman, who offered essential advice, guidance, and friendship.
| ix |