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 |