SPORTS

There is no evidence of sports among the Jews during the obscure period between the close of the Bible and the Maccabean periods. At the beginning of this latter period, in the second century b.c.e., circumstances conspired to make sporting activities as such, i.e., sport not as associated with the need for physical exercise or as an aspect of military training but competitive sport "for the sake of the game," repugnant to the Jews as the very antithesis of Jewish ideals, and this approach remained characteristic of Judaism until the dawn of the modern period.

A number of circumstances contributed to the negative and antipathetic attitude toward sport. The first was that, with the conquest of Alexander the Great in the fourth century b.c.e., hellenistic culture began to infiltrate into Ereẓ Israel, and the attempt of Antiochus *Epiphanes to forcibly hellenize Judea led to the outbreak of the Maccabean War. One of the overt signs of this process was the establishment of a gymnasium in Jerusalem by *Jason in 174 b.c.e., where the participants engaged in their sporting activities in the nude. The antithesis between the gymnasium as an expression of *Hellenism and Judaism was dramatically and almost symbolically highlighted by the fact that some of the Jewish participants, according to the Book of i Maccabees (1:15), actually underwent operations for the purpose of concealing the fact that they were circumcised. Sport thus became associated with the alien and dangerous hellenistic culture. An additional factor was that the Olympic games were connected with an idolatrous cult, particularly of the Greek deity of Hercules, and it is significant that during the period of hellenization, when a Jewish contingent went to the games held at Tyre concurrently with the 152^nd Olympic games in Greece, they refused to bring the customary gifts, which were dedicated to Hercules, unless they were devoted to a non-idolatrous cause.

Nevertheless, there is some evidence that in countries under Greek influence, sports were indulged in by Jews. Claudius warned the Jews of Alexandria that they "should not strive in gymnasiarchic and cosmetic games" (Philo, Legatio ad Gaium), and one interpretation of a second- or third-century inscription in Hypaepa, Asia Minor, has it refer to a sports association of young Jews.

This opposition to sport became even more intensified when, following the intervening period of independence, Roman overlordship was substituted for Greek, and theaters and *circuses were linked together as the very antithesis of "synagogue and school." To the considerations which applied to the gymnasia were the added factors of cruelty associated with Roman sport, which was not confined to the characteristic aspect of gladiatorial contests, and also the fact that at the theaters the Jews were made the butt of satire, parody, and mockery (cf. Lam. R. intro. 17). The first sentence of the Book of Psalms, "Happy is the man… who sat not in the seat of the scorners" was made to apply to those who refrained from attending "theaters and circuses and did not attend gladiatorial combats" (Pes. 148b), and the humane aspect of the opposition finds expression in the ruling that "one is permitted to go to stadiums if by his shouting he may save the victim" (Av. Zar. 18b). At one period of his life the famous amora Simeon b. Lakish (Resh Lakish) was a professional gladiator (Git. 47a), but he justified this on the grounds of grim necessity. The very vehemence of the denunciation of the rabbis would seem to point to the fact that participation in, or at least attendance at, those sports by Jews was widespread.

The first Jewish ruler to encourage sports was Herod. Between 37 and 4 b.c.e. he erected sports stadia in Caesarea, Sebaste, Tiberias, Jericho, and other cities, and also introduced a Palestinian Olympiad with sports competition every five years. He brought athletes from all parts of the world to compete in gladiatorial games and contests of boxing, racing, archery, and other sports, and also contributed large sums to the Olympic games in Greece. His extensive activities in this sphere were, however, part of his program of the "romanization" of the realm.

Middle Ages

There are a few references to organized sport during the Middle Ages. According to Shevet Yehudah (ch. 8), Jews in Spain distinguished themselves in the art of fencing. An examination of all the data given in I. Abrahams' Jewish Life in the Middle Ages (1932², repr. 1960, 397–411) reveals that, almost without exception, the instances which purport to prove that the Jews indulged in sport belong either to recreations like strolling, self-defense, dancing, and intellectual pastimes, such as chess and riddles, or to children's games. There is a reference by Jerome in the fourth century to Jewish boys in Syria lifting heavy stones "to train their muscular strength" (to Zech. 12:4) and in the 13^th century it was the custom to hold tournaments and jousts as part of marriage celebrations. Isaac Or Zaru'a refers to "young men who go out on horseback to greet the bridegroom, and indulge in combats with one another, and tear one another's garments or cause injury to the horse" (Hil. Sukkot ve-Lulav no. 315). He ruled that the injured party had no claim for damages since he had been partaking in a joyous occasion. In Provence the Jews trained falcons and engaged in hawking on horseback. On the other hand, in the 15^th century Israel *Bruna, in answer to a question whether it was permitted to even attend non-Jewish horse-racing competitions, gave guarded permission only because one could thereby judge the quality of the horses and learn to ride "in order to escape from one's enemies." "Nevertheless," he added, "I doubt whether it is permitted to go and see such races as are intended merely as jousting tournaments for pleasure" (Resp. 71).

The most popular sports in the Middle Ages appear to have been ball games. Although the Midrash (Lam. R. 2:4) gives as one of the reasons for the destruction of the Temple that "in Tur Malka they played ball games on the Sabbath." Moses Isserles, disagreeing with Joseph Caro, permitted ball playing on the Sabbath and festivals and stated that in his time (16^th century) it was customary to do so (Sh. Ar., oḤ 308:45), and on festivals (when there is no prohibition against carrying) it is permitted "even in a public domain and even for pure sport" (ibid. 518:2). He based himself upon Tosafot (to Beẓah 12a), which states explicitly that "we find that they play with the ball called pelota" (cf. the modern Basque game called by the same name). No details are given; according to one authority, however, "it was very like handball but, instead of being struck by the hand, the ball was caught in a long narrow scoop-like basket attached firmly to the wrist and thrown against the wall" (jqr, 26 (1935/36), 4).

In 1386 there were Jewish tourneys in Wiesenfeld, Germany. In the 15^th century, competitions were held in Augsburg, Germany, in running, jumping, throwing, and bowling, in which Jews also participated. *Immanuel of Rome mentions "boys who trained in stone throwing" (in his Maḥbarot 22, no. 42). In this same century, at the popular festivals initiated in Rome, sports competitions were also included: Monday was for youth, Tuesday for Jews (under 20 years of age), Wednesday for older boys, and so on. The Jews were obliged to provide precious carpets as prizes. It is known that Jews distinguished themselves in these games in 1487, 1502, and 1595. There is even a song about Jewish runners, composed in 1513. These games and festivals continued for some 200 years despite the fact that during these years the mob interfered with the Jewish runners, who participated half naked. In 1443 there was a registration of a Jew who knew "wrestling without shedding blood."

In the 16^th century there was a famous Austrian converted Jew by the name of Ott who was outstanding at the Augsburg games and was even invited to the court of the Austrian prince in order to train the courtiers. He wrote a book in which wrestling was separated from fencing for the first time and was known as "Ottish Wrestling." There was also a book on fencing published by Andres Jud, who, together with his brother Jacob Lignitzer, took special care of fencing. The decrees of Rudolph ii show how important fencing was for the Jews in Germany. Among these decrees was one which forbade Christian fencing teachers to train Jews and, later on, also forbade competitions between Jews and Christians. There is little information about sport in the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

Despite the examples given, there is no doubt that S.W. Baron is correct in stating that during the Middle Ages sporadic voices in favor of recreational pauses were as ineffective as those which advocated physical exercises. Northern Jewry especially had little use for physical education and paid little heed even to the injunction of a talmudic sage that a father give his son instruction in swimming as a "life-saving precaution." It is only in the modern period that sports became popular and widespread among Jews.

Modern Era

Though most Jews in the 19^th century lived in conditions unfavorable to athletic pursuits, a number of them in England, Germany, Hungary, Canada, France, Austria, and the United States did well in a variety of sports. In 1896, six Jewish athletes won 13 medals at the first modern Olympic games in Athens.

In a speech before the Second Zionist Congress in 1898, Max *Nordau asked the Jewish people to renew their interest in sports and physical fitness. Nordau's call for "muscular Judaism" was answered by the *Maccabi movement, which spread first to the countries of Europe and Palestine and then around the world. Over 100 Maccabi clubs were in existence in Europe by the beginning of World War i. The largest of these clubs – Ha-Koah of Vienna, Bar Kochba of Berlin, and Ha-Gibor of Prague – became famous for their outstanding teams. It was Hungary, however, that produced the most successful Jewish athletes in Europe. Hungarian Jews won numerous Olympic medals in various sports.

Early in the 20^th century immigrant Jewish children in Great Britain and the United States learned to play the games of their new countries in youth clubs, settlement houses, and ym-ywhas. Living in crowded urban areas, they became proficient in sports which required little space and equipment, such as boxing, handball, table tennis, basketball, gymnastics, and wrestling. Professional sports, particularly boxing and basketball, attracted many Jews, who used athletic scholarships to gain admission to some U.S. colleges.

The sports picture changed radically for Jews following World War ii. In the affluent communities of North and South America and in Western Europe, the emphasis shifted to social sports, such as tennis, golf, polo, yachting, and squash. Most Jews attending colleges in the United States could afford to pay tuition fees and participate in university sports for recreation. When Jews were excluded from established yacht and country clubs they organized their own.

Jews were active in formulating sports programs in the Soviet Union during the 1920s, and after World War ii they contributed to that nation's successful entry into international competition. Many Soviet Jews have been accorded the title "Honored Master of Sport."

[Jesse Harold Silver]

In Israel before 1948

Physical education was first introduced into Jewish schools in Ereẓ Israel toward the end of the 19^th century by Yeshayahu *Press and Heinrich Eliakum *Loewe. The first Jewish sports clubs in the country, the Rishon le-Zion Club in Jaffa and the Bar Giora Club in Jerusalem, were established in 1906 by Leo Cohen and Aviezer *Yellin, respectively, and shortly afterward the first qualified club leaders were appointed. In 1908, the first national sports competition – the Reḥovot Festival – was organized under the leadership of Ẓevi Nishri (d. 1973) and was held annually until the outbreak of World War i. Sports outside the framework of the schools were organized by voluntary organizations associated in varying degrees with social or political movements.

maccabi

Maccabi started as an apolitical sports organization, but was favored by the General Zionists. The first Maccabi club was established in Jerusalem in 1911 and soon had 300 members. A second club was formed in Petaḥ Tikvah, and the two clubs, together with the Rishon le-Zion Club in Jaffa, formed the countrywide Maccabi Organization in 1912. Maccabi did not confine its activities to sports. It was active in cultural affairs and fought for the recognition and dissemination of the Hebrew language, the employment of Jewish labor, and Jewish self-defense. On the eve of World War i, it had about 1,000 members in 15 clubs. With the participation of Maccabi and the *Ha-Shomer movement in the Reḥovot Festival in 1913, a genuine national Jewish sports movement seemed to have emerged.

Even before the outbreak of World War i, however, the first signs of the dissolution of this movement were visible. Maccabi boycotted the Reḥovot Festival of 1914 because Arab guards and Arab workers were employed in the village. On the other hand, the Jewish workers alleged that the Maccabi clubs had fallen under the control of the landowners and employers. It therefore came as no surprise when the Reḥovot Festival was not revived after the war and Maccabi organized its own festival, the first Maccabi games, in 1920.

development of physical education

Physical education in Palestine was given a new lease by the arrival of several experienced Jewish athletes as part of the wave of Jewish immigration that followed the end of World War i. The newcomers included David Almagor, gymnast and wrestler from Cairo, Yehoshua Alouf, one of the best gymnasts in Maccabi-Warsaw, and Dr. Emanuel Simon, one of the best track and field men in the Bar-Kochba Club in Berlin, who all contributed to the expansion and improvement of physical education in the schools and the Maccabi clubs.

establishment of ha-poel

The workers, for their part, began to organize their sports clubs in 1924, and in 1926 they founded a countrywide workers' sports organization under the name of '*Ha-Poel as an affiliate of the *Histadrut. A year later Ha-Poel joined the International Workers' Sports Federation. Initially, the main objective of Ha-Poel was to cater to the masses, rather than to breed champion athletes. In 1935 there were 10,000 participants in its fourth festival. These festivals are still held once every five years. Maccabi, by contrast, laid greater emphasis on competitive sports and devoted its energies to organizing them on a national basis, as well as introducing Palestine to the international sports arena.

soccer introduced

The establishment of the British Mandatory regime in Palestine after World War i had a marked effect on local sports. Whereas prior to the war, gymnastics had been the dominant sport, under Eastern and Central European influence, it was now supplanted by soccer due to the influence of the British army teams which competed with the Maccabi teams. In 1925 the Organization of Jewish Soccer Clubs was founded. In 1928 the Palestine Football Association – the first national sports federation – was established. It comprised British, Jewish, and Arab teams and was the only body in which Maccabi and Ha-Poel cooperated until after the establishment of the State of Israel. Through the association, Palestine – and later Israel – has been represented in the World Cup Championships regularly since 1936.

the maccabiah: entry into international sports

Maccabi initiated the establishment of the Palestine Amateur Sports Federation in 1931 in order to take part in international competitions, and was accepted by most federations. Two years later, the Palestine Olympic Committee was set up. Maccabi's greatest achievement prior to World War ii was the organization of the international *Maccabiah Games in 1932, in which 500 Jewish athletes from 23 countries participated and 1,500 in a gymnastic display. At the second Maccabiah, in 1935, there were 1,700 participants from 27 countries. As many of the athletes, accompanying personnel, and tourists remained in the country after the contest was over, the Maccabiah became not only a means of stimulating sports, but also an important lever for the promotion of aliyah. The Second Maccabiah was even more of an "Aliyah Maccabiah," since most of the participants and their escorts remained in Palestine, in view of the wave of antisemitism sweeping Europe after the Nazi accession to power in Germany. Y. Alouf was the chief organizer of the first five Maccabiah Games.

Maccabi was also the first body to send a delegation to an official event in Asia (the West Asian Games in New Delhi in 1934) and to an international event for women (the London Games in 1934). In the same period, Ha-Poel athletes twice represented Palestine in Workers' Olympics, in Vienna (1931) and Antwerp (1937). An invitation to participate in the Berlin Olympics in 1936 under the Nazi regime was rejected for obvious reasons and, as a result, the appearance of Palestinian or Israel athletes in the Olympics was delayed for 16 years. (The Games were not held in 1940 and 1944. In 1948 the Palestine Olympic Committee no longer existed, the Israel Olympic Committee had not yet been recognized, and Israel was fighting for survival.)

Between 1924 and 1939 young Jews from Palestine studied physical education in Denmark, and the number of qualified physical education teachers in the schools increased. In 1938, Yehoshua Alouf was appointed the first supervisor of physical education. One of his achievements was the organization of the first countrywide inter-school competitions. In 1939 the Va'ad Le'ummi set up a department of physical education, which was to become the government body responsible for sports on the establishment of the State of Israel (since 1961 it has been known as the Sports Authority). The department, as it was then, introduced a course for physical education teachers that was later expanded into a permanent college for physical education teachers. The department also published books on physical education.

In the State of Israel

physical education

With the establishment of the State of Israel, the number of schools increased enormously, and sports facilities improved. Physical education is taught twice weekly in schools throughout Israel. Some 70,000 pupils participate in annual sports competitions, which include track and field, basketball, volleyball, handball, swimming, and soccer. About 70,000 pupils participate annually in the "Sports Badge" trials, and outstanding pupils are invited for advanced training lasting from three to twelve days.

In addition to supervising sports and physical education in the schools, the authority encourages sports throughout the country and gives financial assistance to the Wingate Institute for Physical Education, which comprises a three-year college for physical education teachers run by the Ministry of Education and Culture, a three-year school for physiotherapists, a one-year course for coaches, and a school for physical training instructors of the Israel Defense Forces.

The Sports Authority lays special emphasis on popular sports, such as marching, running, swimming, etc. It provides financial assistance for the provision of sports facilities and the publication of sports literature. In addition to the one at the Wingate Institute, there are three other colleges of physical education in the country: one in Tel Aviv, at a seminar run by the kibbutz movements; one in Beersheba; and a third, a religious college, at Givat Washington.

organization of sport in israel

World War ii took a heavy toll of Jewish athletes, and it was only with great reservations that the Third Maccabiah was organized in 1950. On this occasion, Israel's team for the first time included athletes from Maccabi and Ha-Poel, and this made a major contribution to the unification of Israeli sports one year later. The Maccabiah was held again in 1953 and then 1957 and was a quadrennial event thereafter. In 1951, Maccabi and Ha-Poel agreed to cooperate on the Israel Olympic Committee and the Israel Sports Federation. The two associations were already represented on the Israel Football Association.

In 1970, over 40,000 athletes participated in organized competitive athletics in Israel. Fifteen thousand came under the jurisdiction of the Israel Sports Federation, which controls 14 sports; 13,000 belonged to the Israel Football Association; 9,000 to the Israel Basketball Association; and the rest to smaller associations controlling tennis, judo, and other sports. All sports are amateur, and a much greater number of people are active in noncompetitive sports. The major sports organizations are: Ha-Poel, with 300 branches and 85,000 members; Maccabi, with 75 branches and 18,000 members; Elitzur (founded 1939) for religious youth, with 80 branches and 10,000 members; Betar (founded in 1924), affiliated to Ḥerut, with 74 branches and 5,000 members; Academic Sports Association (1953) with nine branches in the institutes of higher education and 5,000 members.

in international sports

Israel participated in the Olympic Games for the first time in Helsinki in 1952 and thereafter at all subsequent games. Since 1954 it has also competed at the Asian Games (with the exception of the Jakarta Games in 1962, which were canceled due to a boycott of Israel by Indonesia). Israel has made endeavors to integrate into Asian sport, except in basketball and volleyball, where it belongs to the zone covering Europe and the Mediterranean countries. The efforts of Arab countries to boycott Israel have generally been frustrated by international sports bodies. Israel's achievements in international sports have been modest. The Israel national soccer team reached the World Cup Championships in Mexico in 1970, after defeating Australia in the eliminating round, and acquitted itself creditably. The small Israel team at the 1970 Asian games at Bangkok won six gold medals, six silver, and five bronze, finishing in sixth place. Israel tennis players have competed at Wimbledon and in Davis Cup matches, and since 1962 a youth team has competed at Miami Beach. Gliding has been practiced in Israel for over 30 years, and free-fall parachuting has recently been introduced. Israel won the Asian Football Championships once, the Asian Youth Championships four times, and the Asian Champions' Cup twice. Up to June 1969, Israel's basketball team had won 62 out of 126 official international games.

In recent years, dinghy sailing has become popular, and in 1969 Ẓefania Carmel and Lydia Lazarov won the world championships in the 420 class in Sweden. In the following year the championships were held in Israel off Tel Aviv.

noncompetitive sports

The most popular noncompetitive sports event in Israel are the annual Three-Day March to Jerusalem, organized by the Israel Defense Forces, the swim across Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee, started by Ha-Poel), and the cross-country race around Mount Tabor. The Three-Day (originally Four-Day) March is in a category of its own. It is not the same as hiking, which may be motivated by the wish to "get away from it all"; nor is it comparable with the walking race, for it is not a race at all. It has been most aptly described as Israel's folk "happening," although the idea was taken from a similar Dutch event. Thousands of people of all ages – organized in clubs or in family groups, coming from offices, factories, banks, or hospitals, and some individuals – go out tramping over the hills around Jerusalem together with contingents of soldiers in training. Visitors from overseas also participate. The army builds camps and lays on entertainment facilities for the participants, and the event culminates in a march through the streets of Jerusalem. One-day marches are also held in other parts of the country organized by Maccabi and Ha-Poel, and an Israel Defense Forces contingent participates every year at the annual Four-Day March in Holland. Ha-Poel has organized sports activities in factories and offices. Cross-country running also has a special Israel character: the route, and sometimes the date of the event, is usually related to some event in the Bible or Jewish history. On *Ḥanukkah, for instance, relays of runners from Maccabi carry torches from Modi'in, birthplace of the Maccabees, to the presidential residence in Jerusalem, as well as to various other parts of the country. There is also the annual run around Mount Tabor. The annual swim across Lake Kinneret, from Ein Gev to Tiberias; the Haifa Bay swim; and the "crossing of the Red Sea" at Eilat, are mass events with a competitive element. As in the annual marches, all participants who complete the course are awarded certificates and, for some events, medallions.

[Yehoshua Alouf and

Uriel Simri]

1968–2005

The third decade of the existence of the State of Israel was marked by a significant improvement of its representative sports and by the intervention of politics into the activities of Israel sports on the international scene. At the beginning of the decade the improvement was modest. Thus at the Olympic Games of Mexico (1968), Israel had only a fifth place in soccer to show. Two years later, however, the soccer team of Israel was to return to Mexico as one of the 16 teams participating in the World Cup (for professionals and amateurs).

The year 1969 saw Israeli athletes gain their first world championship, when Zefanya Carmel and Lydia Lazarov became world champions in sailing in the (non-Olympic) 420 class. Since then Israel has gained six more world championships in this event, the recipients being Joel Sela, Yoram Kedar, Mordechai Amberam, Eitan Friedlander, Shimshon Brockman, and Amnon Samgura.

In 1970 Israel was represented by 27 athletes in the Asian Games at Bangkok, and they returned with 6 gold, 6 silver and 5 bronze medals. Four years later the Israeli delegation (61 athletes) was to return with 7 gold, 4 silver and 8 bronze medals from the Asian Games in Teheran. The appearance at the games in Teheran may have been Israel's last major appearance on the scene of Asian sports which, under Arab influence, has increasingly brought politics into the sphere of sports, with the result that Israel was excluded from the Asian Games of 1978, under the pretext of "security reasons" and it was prevented from participating in many other Asian events.

Arab terrorism played havoc on Israeli sports, and 11 Israeli coaches and athletes paid with their lives during an Arab attack on the Olympic Village at Munich on September 5, 1972. This attack, however, did not prevent Israel from appearing on the international sport scene. In fact, it returned with a bigger and stronger delegation to the Olympic Games in Montreal (1976), gaining a fifth (Edouard Weitz in weightlifting), a sixth (Esther Rot in hurdling), a seventh (Rami Meron in wrestling), and a twelfth place (Micha Kaufmann in shooting) in individual events, while the national soccer team reached the last eight in the Olympic tournament. Esther Rot can definitely be considered Israel's top athlete of this decade, having been elected five times (1970, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976) athlete of the year in Israel.

Tennis has come to the fore as a popular sport, with 14 centers having opened in various parts of Israel. The most outstanding Israeli tennis player is Shlomo Glickstein (b. 1958), who first entered the national Israeli youth championship competition at the age of 10 and won the title for his age group. He went on to compete in international events, and by the end of 1981 was seeded 30 in the rankings of the Association of Tennis Professionals.

Basketball continued to be Israel's best representative sport during this period. Major achievements were: Asian Games championships (1970, 1974), the European Cup for nations (1976) and the victory of Maccabi Tel Aviv in the European Cup for champions in 1977 and 1981. Furthermore, basketball became the first sport in which an Israel national team defeated a national team of the U.S.S.R. when Israel won its game in the European junior championship in 1972. Israel also placed sixth in the Intercontinental Cup of 1977 and fifth in the European championship of that year. A striking victory in this sphere of sport was the defeat of the Washington Bullets, the champions of the U.S. National Basketball Association by Maccabi Tel Aviv in September 1978 by the narrow margin of 98–97. The major sport events in Israel during this period were again the Maccabiah Games (the eighth in 1969, the ninth in 1973, the tenth in 1977, the eleventh in 1981), and the International Hapoel Games (the ninth in 1971 and the tenth in 1975). Other major events held in Israel include: The Olympic Games for the Disabled (1968); the International Spring Cup in volleyball (1970, 1976); the world championship in sailing in the 420 class (1970); the Eight Nations' Cup in swimming (1971, 1978); and the European junior championship in judo (1974).

At the end of the 1970s Israel was attempting to enter the European sport scene, as a result of its rejection by Asian sport organizations. Up to date Israel has been accepted into the European region of seven sports and is continuing its efforts to be accepted in more European federations.

In January 1979, the praesidium of the Israel Olympic committee issued a statement breaking off all sporting relations with South Africa, apparently in order to remove any objection to Israel's participation in the Olympic Games scheduled to be held in Moscow the following year. At a plenary meeting of the ioc held a few days later, however, it rejected the statement. Ultimately Israel did not participate in the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

[Uriel Simri]

The following years were noted in Israel's sports for two major breakthroughs – one in the political domain, the other in the athletic arena.

The political breakthrough began in 1989, when the Soviet Union, under President Gorbachev, relented in its opposition to the acceptance of Israel into the European zone of the various international sport federations. Thus Israel, which had been without a continental affiliation since its expulsion from Asian sports in the mid-1970s, was able to enter the European federations and their regular activities. By 1992 this procedure had been completed for all practical purposes, the European Soccer Federation (uefa) being one of the last federations that had not granted Israel full membership status. At the same time, from 1987 uefa invited Israel's youth teams to participate in its championships and in 1992 invited the national champion as well as the cup-holder to participate in the annual competitions organized by it.

The major breakthrough in athletics occurred during the Olympic Games in Barcelona in the summer of 1992, when two Judokas succeeded in bringing to Israel for the first time Olympic medals – Yael Arad returning with the silver medal in women's 61 kg. class and Oren Smadja with the bronze medal in the men's 71 kg. class.

Israel had, in fact, been very close to gaining its first Olympic medals already at Seoul in 1988. However, Joel Sela and Eldad Amir had to be satisfied with a fourth place in the Flying Dutchman class of the Olympic yachting competitions, after forfeiting one race because it was held on Yom Kippur. The same couple was placed eighth in the 1984 Olympics at Los Angeles. Similar placings, which were the best during those Olympics, were achieved by the yachtsmen Shimshon Brockman and Eitan Friedlander in the 470 class, as well as by the marksman Yitzchak Yonassi.

In Israel's representation at the Barcelona Olympics, 11 out of the 31 representatives were newcomers to the State of Israel, primarily from the former Soviet Union. The top achievements of those newcomers were the sixth place of weightlifter Andre Danisov in the 100 kg. class and the eighth place of Yevgeni Krasnov in the pole vault.

The significant improvement of the standard of the top athletes can further be seen from a list of achievements in recent years in other sports. In July 1992 Johar Abu-Lashin, a Christian Arab from Nazareth, became the first Israeli professional athlete to gain a world champion's title, when he became lightweight champion of the World Boxing Federation. The same year windsurfer Amit Inbar was placed second in the world championship (and a disappointing eighth in the Olympics), after having ranked first in the previous year. Another newcomer from the Soviet Union, the wrestler Max Geller, succeeded in winning the silver medal at the European championships in freestyle wrestling in 1991.

On the other hand basketball, which had been the outstanding sport in Israel for its quality for a long time, had its ups and downs. Whereas the men's national team was placed second in the European championship in 1979, sixth in 1981, and fifth in 1983, it receded to ninth place in 1985, to eleventh in 1987, and thereafter did not qualify for the final stages of the championship (until 1993). However, in 1986 the team succeeded for the second time in history (after 1954) to qualify for the final stages of the world championship, where it came seventh.

The Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team also did not succeed in repeating its earlier successes (wins in 1977 and 1981) in the European Champions' Cup games. Although the team reached the finals three years in a row (1987–1989), it was beaten at that stage by teams from Italy and Yugoslavia. The women's national team in basketball succeeded in 1990 to reach the "final eight" in the continental championship, but this turned out to be a one-time achievement.

Israel's tennis managed to be in the limelight from 1986 until 1989, when the men's team held its place among the top 16 nations in the world within the framework of the Davis Cup games. As of 1990 attempts to return to the top have not been successful. The above achievement was mainly due to Israel's no. 1 player, Amos Mansdorf, who at the peak of his career (in 1987) ranked no. 18 in the world. In the following years Mansdorf had a ranking around no. 30.

While soccer remained Israel's most popular sport, the Football Association had very little to show as far as achievements on the international scene were concerned. In 1989, Israel came closest to repeating its appearance in the final stages of the World Cup (the first and only time was in 1970), but drew with Colombia in Ramat Gan, after losing by a single goal in the away game. Israel reached this stage after winning the zone of Oceania, to which it was removed by fifa as a result of the Asian boycott and uefa's refusal, up to that time, to let Israel participate in the European zone.

In 1988 the Knesset passed the "Sports Law," after tabling it for 13 years. Its major provisions called for mandatory certification of coaches and instructors; mandatory health and loss of income insurance of athletes participating in competitive sports; mandatory periodical medical examinations for participants in competitive sports; and prohibition of the use of any doping materials. The Minister of Education and Culture was given a number of regulatory powers within the framework of the law.

The Knesset also approved, early in 1991, the appointment of a deputy minister in the Ministry of Education and Culture to be in charge of sports. When the Labor Party returned to power in 1992, it too appointed a deputy minister.

The quadrennial Maccabiah and the Hapoel Games continued to be the major sports events in the country. While the participation in the Maccabiah Games expanded – in 1989 athletes from the former Communist bloc participated for the first time – the athletic standard of the Games left much to be desired. The Hapoel Games, on the other hand, developed in scope and in standard up to 1987, but were greatly reduced in 1991 as a result of a serious financial deficit.

Israeli team sports in the 1990s and early 2000s were dominated by the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team, which continued to sweep local league play and won three European championships under Coach Pini *Gershon (2001, 2003, 2004) after a long drought in international competition. Local basketball also developed a number of superstars, most playing for Maccabi but some also for European teams. Among them were Doron Jamche, Doron Shefer, Gur Shelef, Tal Burstein, and Oded Katash, who led Greece's Panathinaikos to a championship win over Maccabi, his former team, in 2000. In women's basketball, Elitzur Holon built a parallel dynasty, taking 18 Israeli cups and 20 Israeli league championships between 1977 and 1996. Israeli Shay Doron was an All-American guard at Maryland and led the Terrapins to an ncaa Championship in 2006.

Women's tennis also made great strides, with two stand-outs on the wta tour. Anna Smashnova finished the 2002 and 2003 seasons with a No. 16 world ranking and through 2005 had taken 11 titles (in 11 finals), chalking up over $2 million in winnings. Nineteen-year-old Shahar Peer climbed to No. 23 in June 2006. In 2002 Alex Averbach took the gold medal in the pole vault at the European championships, a first for an Israeli athlete, and in 2004 Gal Fridman won Israel's first Olympic gold medal, taking it in windsurfing.

[Uriel Simri /

Elli Wohlgelernter (2^nd ed.)]

jewish athletes

Association Football (Soccer)

Shortly after 1900, the Bohr brothers, Neils Henrik David (1885–1962) and Harald August (1887–1951), of Denmark, became famous soccer players in Scandinavia. In 1908 Harald won a silver medal in the first Olympic soccer competition. Other *Olympic medalists included Sandor Geller (Hungary) in 1952 (gold); Boris Razinsky (1933– ) (U.S.S.R.) in 1956 (gold), and Arpad Orban (1938– ) (Hungary) in 1964 (gold). In the 1920s, Austria's Hakoah-Vienna All-Stars, an outstanding all-Jewish team, played a series of matches in Palestine and the United States. In New York City in 1926 Hakoah-Vienna set a U.S. single-game attendance record (46,000) that was not broken for over 40 years. Many of the teammates of Hakoah-Vienna left Austria in the 1930s and continued their soccer careers in Palestine and the United States. Bela Guttmann (1900–1981), a Hungarian who also played for Budapest's mtk Club, became one of the world's top soccer coaches in the 1950s and 1960s.

The Meisel brothers, Hugo (1895–1968) and Willy (1897–1967), were Austrian soccer personalities. Willy, who became one of Europe's most respected sportswriters, was a goalkeeper for the Austrian national team; Hugo founded the International or World Cup competition in 1927 and was head of the Austrian Football Association in the 1930s. Hungary produced many outstanding Jewish players, coaches, and administrators, beginning with a member of the first national team, Olympic swimmer and medalist Alfred Hajos (Arnold Guttmann) (1878–1955), the first modern Olympic swimming champion, and his brother, Henrik. Mark Lazarus (1938– ) was a British soccer player. In the Soviet Union, Mikhail Romm was one of the organizers of soccer in the 1920s, and Mikhail Loshinsky played on the national team before World War ii.

The Israel Football Federation was founded in Palestine in 1928 and its first international match was played in 1934. The first side representing the State of Israel played in New York City in 1948. Israel reached the quarterfinal round in the 1968 Olympic Games and the final round of 16 in the World Cup competition in 1970. The star of the team was the captain, Mordechai ("Mottele") Spiegler.

American soccer pioneer Nathan Agar (1887–1978) introduced soccer in the New York City area in 1904 and helped found the United States Football Association in 1913. In 1929 the all-Jewish Hakoah All-Stars of New York City won the National Challenge Cup.

Johan Neeskens (1951– ) played for Ajax of Amsterdam, which won the European Cup in 1971–73, and for World Cup finalist Netherlands in 1974 and 1978. As a player for the New York Cosmos, he was named to the North American Soccer League All-Star team in 1979.

Goalie Shep *Messing (1949– ) was a member of the 1972 United States Olympic team and the 1977 North American League champion New York Cosmos. Goalkeeper Arnold Mausser (1954– ) of the Tampa Bay Rowdies was named American Player of the Year in the North American Soccer League in 1976, and goalie Alan Mayer was accorded the same honor in 1978. Mayer played for the San Diego Sockers.

The Maccabee Club of Los Angeles, which included a number of Israeli students, won the United States National Challenge Cup in 1973, 1975, and 1977–78.

Alan Rothenberg, a lawyer, was elected president of the U.S. Soccer Federation in 1990. Rothenberg served as commissioner of soccer in the 1984 Olympic Games. In 1990 Henry Kissinger, former U.S. secretary of state, was named vice chairman of the U.S. World Cup '94 organizing committee.

Yair Allnut was a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic Games team and a gold medalist in the 1991 Pan American Games. Jeff Agoos (1968– ) had 134 international appearances with the national team, played with the U.S. Under-15, Under-17, Under-20, World University and Indoor National Teams, and was a member of five championship teams during his mls career. Debbi Belkin played with the U.S. gold medal team in the inaugural Women's World Championships in China in 1991. Arcady Gaydamak (Ari Barlev, 1952– ), a Russian-Israeli billionaire, bought the Betar Jerusalem soccer team in August 2005. He is also owner of the Hapoel Jerusalem basketball team. His son, Alexandre "Sasha" Gaydamak, bought a 50 percent share of the Portsmouth fc soccer team in January 2006.

Automobile Racing

Britain's Woolf Barnato (1895–1948), a director of Bentley Motors and son of Barney *Barnato of South African diamond fame, won three consecutive Le Mans 24-hour Grand Prix of Endurance races in 1928–30. In a 14-year career, Rene Dreyfus (1905–1993) of France triumphed in 36 races and gained the Grand Prix of Monaco (1930) and the Grand Prix of Belgium (1934). After winning the national driving championship in 1936, Mauri *Rose (1906–1981) of the United States drove to three victories (1941, 1947, and 1948) in the Indianapolis 500-mile classic. Sheila Van Damm (1922–1987) of Great Britain was the European women's driving champion in 1954–55. Robert Grossman (1923– ) of the United States placed among the top ten finishers in six consecutive Le Mans races (1959–64). Peter Revson (1939–1974) of the United States won the World Challenge Cup in 1968, the 1973 British and Canadian Grand Prix events and was runner-up at the 1971 Indianapolis 500, but was killed during a practice run in 1974. American Steve Krisiloff placed fourth in the 1978 Indianapolis 500. Jody *Scheckter (1950– ) of South Africa placed third in the world driving championships in 1974 and was runner-up in 1977. His Grand Prix victories included Swedish (1974 and 1976); British (1974); South African (1975) and Argentinean, Monegasque and Canadian in 1977. In 1979 Scheckter won the Belgian, Monegasque and Italian Grand Prix events and became South Africa's first world driving champion. He retired from international racing competition after the 1980 season. Kenny Bernstein (1944– ) won a record-tying four consecutive U.S. National Hot Rod Association Funny Car Championships in 1985–88. He switched to the Top Fuel class in 1990 and the following year had a record six victories in a season. In 1992 Bernstein recorded four wins and became the first drag racer to cover a quarter mile at more than 300 miles per hour.

Baseball

Jews early developed an interest in baseball, which had its origins in the 1840s. Lipman E. (Lip) *Pike became baseball's first professional in 1866 when he played third base for the Philadelphia Athletics at a salary of $20 per week. In 1882 Louis Kramer (1849–1922) helped organize the major league American Association, and was its president in 1891. Aaron S. Stern (1853–1920), a clothing merchant, was a co-founder of the American Association and owner of the Cincinnati Reds in 1882–90. The Reds won the first American Association championship in 1882. Other officials of the Cincinnati club included Edgar Mayer Johnson (1836–?), secretary, 1877–80, and Nathan Menderson (1820–1904), president, 1880. Jacob C. (Jake) Morse (1860–1937), who became a noted sportswriter, was manager of the Boston team in the Union League in 1884. Barney *Dreyfuss, president of the Louisville Colonels in 1899 and owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1900 to 1932, founded the World Series in 1903. One of the game's most controversial owners, Andrew Freedman (1860–1915), a lawyer and a power behind New York City's Tammany Hall, was president of the New York Giants in 1894–1902. Louis W. Heilbroner (1861–1933) managed the St. Louis Cardinals in 1900, and nine years later founded baseball's first statistical bureau. Harry (Judge) Goldman (1857–1941) was an organizer of the American League in 1900, and with the Frank brothers, Moses and Sydney, served as an official of the Baltimore club in the new league in 1901–2. Besides Pike, the outstanding players prior to 1900 were William M. (Billy) Nash (1865–1929), a third baseman who played in the major leagues for 15 years, a member of pennant-winning teams in 1890 (Boston, Players League) and 1891–93 (Boston, National League), and manager of Philadelphia in 1896; James John (Chief) Roseman (1856–1938), an outfielder with the New York team that won the American Association pennant in 1884, and player/manager of the St. Louis club in the same league in 1890; and Daniel E. Stearns (1861–1944), first baseman on the Cincinnati team that won the first American Association championship in 1882.

Players who gained success in the major leagues after 1900 included Hank *Greenberg (1911–1986), the first Jewish member of the Baseball Hall of Fame; pitching great Sandy *Koufax (1935– ), first Jewish pitcher and youngest player ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame; and Lou *Boudreau (1917–2001), a member of the Hall of Fame whose mother was from an Orthodox Jewish family. Al *Rosen (1924– ), third baseman, American League home run champion in 1950 and 1953, voted the league's Most Valuable Player in 1953; Erskine Mayer (1891–1957), a pitcher who won 21 games for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1914 and 1915; Charles Solomon (Buddy) Myer (1904–1974), an infielder with Washington and Boston for 17 years who played in the 1925 and 1933 World Series, won the League batting title of 1935, and compiled the lifetime batting mark of .303; Larry *Sherry (1935– ), pitching hero of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1959 World Series; Art *Shamsky (1941– ), an outfielder who hit four home runs in four consecutive at bats and batted.300 for the 1969 World Champion New York Mets; and Kenny Holtzman (1945– ), who had the most number of wins for a Jewish pitcher and who pitched no-hitters in 1969 and 1972.

Also George R. Stone (1876–1945), an outfielder for the St. Louis Browns who won the American League batting title in 1906; Barney Pelty (1880–1939), pitcher, compiled a 2.62 earned run average in a ten-year (1903–12) American League career with the St. Louis Browns and Washington Senators; Benjamin M. (Benny) Kauff (1890–1961), outfielder, was the batting champion of the Federal League in 1914 and 1915, and a member of the National League champion New York Giants in 1917; Sid *Gordon (1917–1975), 1941–43, 1946–55; Harry Danning (1911–2004), 1933–42; Saul Rogovin (1922–1995), 1949–53, 1955–57; Samuel A. (Sammy) Bohne (Cohen) (1896–1977); Andrew (Andy) Cohen (1904–1988), 1926, 1928–29; Calvin (Cal) *Abrams (1924–1997), 1949–56; Morris (Morrie) Arnovich (1910–1959), 1936–41, 1946; Harry Eisenstat (1915–2003), 1935–42; Harry Feldman (1919–1962), 1941–46; Myron (Joe) Ginsberg (1926– ), 1948, 1950–54, 1956–62; Moe *Berg (1902–1974), an outstanding linguist as well as baseball player and a member of the U.S. Intelligence who undertook espionage in Japan and Germany, and worked for the Office of Strategic Services (oss) during World War ii, 1923, 1926–39; Barry Latman (1936– ), 1957–67; James (Jim) Levey (1906–1970), 1930–33; Jimmy *Reese (1904–1994), 1930–32; Jacob (Jake) Atz (1879–1945), 1902, 1907–09; Goodwin (Goody) Rosen (1912–1994), a Canadian, 1937–39, 1944–45; Philip (Mickey) Weintraub (1907–1986), 1933–35, 37–38, 1944–45; Norman (Norm) Miller (1946– ), 1965– ; Michael P. (Mike) Epstein (1943– ), 1966– ; Steve *Stone (1947– ), 1971–81, won the Cy Young Award in 1980; Ross Baumgarten (1955– ), 1978–82; Ron Blomberg (1948– ), 1969, 1971–76; Jeff Newman (1948– ), 1976–84; Steve Yeager (1948– ), 1972–86; Larry Rothschild (1954– ), 1981–82; Scott Radinsky (1968– ), 1990–93, 1995–2001; Jesse Levis (1968– ), 1992–99; Alan Levine, (1968– ), 1996, 1998– ; Brad Ausmus (1969– ), 1993– ; Shawn *Green, (1972– ), 1993– ; Mike Lieberthal, (1972– ), 1994– ; Scott Schoeneweis (1973– ) 1999– ; Gabe Kapler, (1975– ), 1998– ; Jason Marquis, (1978– ), 2000– ; Kevin Youkilis (1979– ), 2004– ; Justin Wayne (1979– ), 2002–2004, Adam Stern (1980– ), 2005– ; and Adam Greenberg (1981– ), who was hit in the head by the first pitch he saw in the Major Leagues on July 9, 2005, and was out for the remainder of the season.

Jacob A. (Jake) Pitler (1894–1968) was an infielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1917–18) and a popular coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1948–57), and Al *Schacht (1892–1984) pitched for the Washington Senators (1919–21), was a coach for the Senators and Boston Red Sox and became known as the "Clown Prince of Baseball." He was followed by Max *Patkin (1920–1999), who was also known as the "Clown Prince of Baseball" for his goofy antics as a rubber-necked, double-jointed comic genius. Dolly *Stark (1897–1968) and Al Forman (1928– ) were National League umpires.

Baseball executives of the modern era included Judge Emil E. Fuchs (1879–1961), owner and manager (1929) of the National League Boston club in 1923–35; Leo J. Bondy (1883–1944), vice president of the New York Giants, 1934–44; Sidney Weil (1891–1966), owner of the Cincinnati Reds, 1930–33; William Benswanger (1892–1972), son-in-law of Barney Dreyfuss, president of the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1932–46; Harry M. Grabiner (1890–1948), vice president of the Chicago White Sox, 1939–45, and part-owner and vice president of the Cleveland Indians, 1946–48; Hank Greenberg, vice president and general manager, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, 1948 to 1963; Gabe *Paul (1910–1998), was vice president and general manager of the Cincinnati Reds (1951–1960), president and general manager of the Cleveland Indians (1961–1973), president of the New York Yankees (1974–1977), and president of the Indians (1978–1984). Jerold C. Hoffberger (1919–1999) helped return major league baseball to Baltimore in 1953, became principal owner of the Orioles in 1965, and sold the team in 1979; Marvin Milkes, general manager of the Seattle (1969) and Milwaukee (1970) teams of the American League; Charles R. Bronfman was chairman and principal owner of the Montreal Expos from 1968 to 1990. Fred Wilpon (1936– ) is owner of the New York Mets; Walter Haas Jr. (1916–1995) was owner of the Oakland Athletics from 1980–1995; Lewis Wolff, U.S., owner of the Oakland Athletics; Jerry *Reinsdorf (1936– ) has been owner of the Chicago White Sox since 1981 (and the Chicago Bulls since 1985). Jeffrey Loria bought the Florida Marlins in 2002; the president is David Samson, the vice chairman is Joel Mael, and the general manager is Larry Beinfest. Stuart Sternberg became principal owner of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in October 2005.

Al Rosen served as president of the New York Yankees (1978–79), Houston Astros (1980–1985) and San Francisco Giants (1985–1992). Bob Lurie was owner of the San Francisco Giants (1976–1992). Theo N. Epstein (1973– ), son of novelist Leslie *Epstein (1938– ) and grandson of Oscar-winning screenwriter Philip G. *Epstein (1909–1952), is general manager of the Boston Red Sox (2002– ). Andrew Friedman is executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Harold (Lefty) Phillips (1969–71) and Norman *Sherry (1976–77) managed the American League California Angels; Larry Rothschild managed the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1998–2001, and was pitching coach for the Cincinnati Reds (1992–1993), Florida Marlins (1995–1997) and Chicago Cubs (2001–present).

Hank Greenberg's son, Steve, served as the deputy commissioner of baseball from 1989–93. Bud *Selig (1934– ), former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, was named chairman of baseball's executive council in 1992 and given the authority to act as commissioner.

Marvin *Miller (1917– ) served as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association from 1966 to 1984.

Basketball

Invented in 1891 in the United States, the game was ideally suited to the crowded urban areas where most of the nation's Jewish population lived. Jewish settlement houses on New York's East Side and Chicago's West Side gave Jewish youth their first opportunity to play the game and set many players on their way to stardom. Jews played basketball in the 1890s, and in 1900 the first Jewish professional player, Paul ("Twister") Steinberg (1880–1964), began his career at Little Falls, New York. Later he coached at Cornell University (1910–12), and for many years acted as referee at college games. Frank Basloe (1887–1966), professional player and coach of the Herkimer, New York, team, organized a squad that toured the country in 1903–23. Basloe was president of the New York State League in 1937–48. Harry Baum (1882–1959), a New York City settlement worker and professor of electrical engineering at the City College of New York, developed a style of play that made outstanding professional players of Barney *Sedran, Louis Sugarman (1890–1951), Jake Fuller (Furstman), and Max (Marty) Friedman (1889–1986). Friedman captained the World War i American Expeditionary Force team that won the Inter-Allied Games basketball tournament and introduced the sport to Europe. Other outstanding professionals of the 1910–25 era were William Cone and Emanuel (Doc) Newman (1890–?). Henry Hart Elias (1882–1941) was the first Jewish college player. He played on the initial Columbia University team in 1901; was the team's captain in 1903, and the school's first basketball coach in 1904–05. The first Jewish player to win collegiate honors, Samuel Melitzer (1888–1970), an All-East selection in 1907, and an All-American in 1909, was also from Columbia. William Laub, 1926; Louis Bender (1910–?), 1930, 1932, and David Newmark (1946– ), 1966, also received All-America recognition at Columbia. From 1909 to 1950 the City College of New York produced teams that were among the best in the nation and were nearly all-Jewish. With the exception of Ira Streusand (1890–1964), 1908, professional star Nat *Holman trained all the other Jewish players from ccny who were selected as All-Americans, namely Louis Farer, 1922; Pincus (Pinky) Match (1904–1944), 1925; Moe Spahn, 1932; Mo Goldman (1913–?), 1934; Bernard Fliegel, 1938; William (Red) *Holzman (1920–1998), 1942, and Irwin Dambrot (1950). All-America selections from other New York City schools (New York University, Long Island University, and St. John's) were Maclyn (Mac) Baker (1898–1985), 1920–21; Milton Schulman, 1936; Robert Lewis, 1939; Jerome (Jerry) Fleishman (1922– ), 1943; Sid *Tannenbaum (1925–1988), 1946–47; Dolph *Schayes (1928– ), 1948; Donald Forman (1926– ), 1948; Barry Kramer (1942– ), 1963–64; Ben Kramer (1913–1999), 1936; Jules Bender (1914–1982), 1937; John Bromberg, 1939; Daniel Kaplowitz, 1939; Irving Torgoff, 1938–39; Oscar (Ossie) Schectman, (1919– ), 1941; Jackie Goldsmith (1921–1968), 1946; Max (Mac) Kinsbrunner (1909–1972), 1930; Max (Mac) Posnack, 1931; Nathan Lazar, 1933; Jack (Dutch) Garfinkel (1920– ), 1939; Harry Boykoff (1922–1978), 1943, 1946; Hyman (Hy) Gotkin, 1944–45; and Allan Seiden, 1958–59. In 1928–31 Kinsbrunner, Posnack, Albert (Allie) Schuckman and Jack (Rip) Gerson were members of the "Wonder Five," one of college basketball's most famous teams.

Other All-America players included Cyril Haas, Princeton, 1916–17; Leon (Bob) Marcus, 1918–19; Samuel Pite, Yale, 1923; Emanuel (Menchy) Goldblatt (1904–1994), Pennsylvania, 1925–26; Carl M. Loeb Jr., Princeton, 1926; Edward Wineapple, Providence, 1929; Louis Hayman, Syracuse, 1931; Jerry Nemer (1912–1980), Southern California, 1933; Herbert Bonn, Duquesne, 1936; William Fleishman, Western Reserve, 1936; Marvin Colen, Loyola of Chicago, 1937; Meyer (Mike) Bloom, Temple, 1938; Bernard Opper (1915–2000), Kentucky, 1939; Louis Possner, DePaul, 1940; Morris (Moe) Becker (1917–1996), Duquesne, 1941; Irving Bemoras (1930– ), Illinois, 1953; Len Rosenbluth (1933– ), North Carolina, 1955–57, college player of the year in 1957; Lawrence Friend (1935–1998), California, 1957; Donald Goldstein, Louisville, 1959; Jeff Cohen, William and Mary, 1960–61; Arthur Heyman (1941– ), Duke, 1961–63, college player of the year in 1963; Howard Carl, DePaul, 1961; Robert I. (Rick) Kaminsky (1942– ), Yale, 1964; Talbot (Tal) *Brody (1943– ), Illinois, 1965, and subsequently a star in Israel; Neal Walk (1948– ), Florida, 1968–69; and Dave Kufeld, Yeshiva U. 1977–1980, and a 10^th-round draft pick of the nba's Portland Trailblazers.

College coaches included Leonard Palmer (1882–?), first ccny coach, 1909–16; Edard Siskind (1886–1955), Fordham, 1910; Samuel Melitzer, nyu, 1911; Michael Saxe, Villanova, 1921–26; Louis Sugarman, Princeton, 1921; David Tobey (1898–1988), Savage School of Physical Education, 1924–42 and Cooper Union, 1947–60, an outstanding referee from 1918 to 1945 and the author of the first book on basketball officiating (1943), and a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame; Leonard D. Sachs (1897–1942), Loyola or Chicago, 1924–42, had a 224–129 record; Emil S. Gollubier (1890–1969), Chicago Hebrew Institute, 1918–62; Dolly Stark (1897–1968), Dartmouth, 1929–36, 1945–46; Bernard (Red) *Sarachek (1912–2005), Yeshiva, 1943, 1946–69; Harry Stein (1916–1959), Brandeis, 1949–58; Samuel Cozen, Drexel Tech, 1952–68, had a 213–94 record; David Polansky, ccny, 1953–54, 1957–58, 1960–68, 1970–71; Roy Rubin, Long Island University, 1961–, in 1968 liu was the small college national champion; Harold (Hal) Blitman, Cheyney State, 1962–69; Jules Rivlin, Marshall, 1956–62; Irving Olin (1917–1970), Brandeis, 1964; and Harry *Litwack (1907–1999), Temple, at the Philadelphia school beginning in 1925 as a player and coach. He became head coach in 1953 and his teams won over 300 games, including the 1969 National Invitational Tournament in New York City.

The majority of the players who made All-America in college went on to play professional basketball. Other Jewish players who excelled as professionals were David (Pretzel) Banks (1901–1952), the Original Celtics; George (Red) Wolfe (1905–1970), Shikey Gotthoffer and Inky Lautman of the Philadelphia Sphas; Louis Spindell and Phil Rabin (Rabinowitz) of the American League; National Basketball Association players Leo Gottlieb, Sidney (Sonny) Hertzberg, Max *Zaslofsky (1925–1985), all-nba guard in 1947–50, who led the league in scoring in 1948, and Danny Schayes, son of Dolph.

Coaches, managers, and owners of professional teams included Jack (Nibs) Neiman, manager of the Rochester, New York, Centrals, 1902; Eddie *Gottlieb (1900–1979), organized, played for, and coached the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association (Sphas) team in 1918–45. In 1946 he helped found the Basketball Association of America (which became the National Basketball Association) and from 1947 to 1968 was a coach and owner of the Philadelphia Warriors; Abe *Saperstein (1902–1966), founder, owner, and coach of the Harlem Globetrotters; Barney *Sedran (1891–1964), a coach and promoter in 1932–46; Les *Harrison (1904–1997), coach and owner of the Rochester Royals of the nba, 1949–1958; Benjamin (Ben) Kerner (1917– ), owner of the Tri-Cities/Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks in the National Basketball League and the National Basketball Association, 1946–68; Max Winter, owner of the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950s; Mark *Cuban (1958– ), owner of the Dallas Mavericks; Jerry Reinsdorf (1936– ), owner of the Chicago Bulls; Leslie Alexander, Houston Rockets; Micky Arison, Miami Heat; William Davidson, Detroit Pistons; Abe *Pollin (1923– ) Washington Wizards; Donald Sterling, Los Angeles Clippers; Herb Kohl, Milwaukee Bucks; and Howard Schultz, Seattle Supersonics.

Arnold (Red) *Auerbach (1917– ), was Boston Celtics coach and general manager; Red Holzman played for the Rochester Royals in 1946–54, and led the New York Knicks to the nba championship in 1970 and 1973. Maurice *Podoloff (1890–1985) was elected president of the Basketball Association of America in 1946 and served as the first commissioner of the National Basketball Association until 1963. Marty *Glickman (1917–2001) was a radio broadcaster and founding father of basketball on radio, and is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Leo Fischer (1897–1970), an outstanding sportswriter, was president of the National Basketball League in 1940–44, and Harry Rudolph (1907–1973), president of the Eastern League. Larry *Fleisher (1930–1989) was head of the nba players union from 1962–1988, and a member of the nba Hall of Fame as contributor.

Referees who gained prominence were Sam Schoenfeld (1907–1956), who starred at Columbia University in 1928–30 and later founded and was first president of the Collegiate Basketball Officials Association; Mendy *Rudolph (1928–1979), who became an nba official in 1953 and in 1969 became the league's chief of referees; and Norman Drucker, who after 15 years with the nba became supervisor of aba officials in 1969. Jews coached and won medals at the Olympic *Games. Julius Goldman, an American, coached Canada to an Olympic medal in 1936, and Alexander Gomelsky did the same for the Soviet Union in 1964 and 1968. Canadian Olympic coaches include Men Abromowitz (1948) and Ruben Richman (1934– ). Harry D. *Henshel served as chairman of the United States Olympic Basketball Committee in 1956, and Harold Fischer coached United States gold medal teams at the 1951 and 1967 Pan-American Games. Tanhum (Tanny) Cohen-Mintz of Israel was named to the European All-Star team in 1964 and 1965. Members of the Basketball Hall of Fame are Leonard D. Sachs, David Tobey, Barney Sedran, Nat Holman, Red Auerbach, and Abe Saperstein.

Ernie *Grunfeld won gold medals as a member of the American men's teams at the 1975 Pan-American Games and the 1976 Olympic Games, and Nancy *Lieberman (1958– ) was a member of the American women's teams which gained Pan-American Games gold and Olympic Games silver medals. Lieberman was named outstanding college player twice, winning the Wade Trophy following the 1978–79 and 1979–80 seasons, when her school Old Dominion won the women's championship. In 1979 she helped the United States win the fiba World Championship and a silver medal in the Pan-American Games.

Larry *Brown (1940– ) was named Coach of the Year in the American Basketball Association in 1973 and 1975. In 1979 Brown moved to the college ranks to coach at ucla. His team reached the finals of the national collegiate (ncaa) championship in his first season. Brown, basketball's traveling man, then went to the nba New Jersey Nets (1981–1983), and then to the University of Kansas, which won the ncaa championship in 1988. He returned to the nba in 1988 with the Antonio Spurs, which went from a 21–61 record in Brown's first year to 56–26 the following year – the 35-game swing from one season to the next an nba record. In 1992 he moved from San Antonio to the Los Angeles Clippers, then to the Indianapolis Pacers (1993–1997), Philadelphia 76ers (1997–2002), Detroit Pistons (2003–2004), and New York Knicks (2005–2006). His brother Herb (1936– ) is also a veteran coach.

Alexander Gomelsky (1928–2005) returned to coach the U.S.S.R. national team in 1977. His team won an Olympic bronze medal in Moscow.

Players Dolph Schayes (1972) and Max (Marty) Friedman (1971); coach Harry Litwack (1976); and contributors Edward Gottlieb (1971) and Maurice Podoloff (1973) were elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

David Stern became the commissioner of the National Basketball Association in 1983 and in 1992 was named the most powerful person in sports by a national sports publication. The Sporting News said of him, "As a direct result of David Stern's progressive leadership, the nba now has the greatest universal appeal of any professional sport."

Mickey *Berkowitz (1954– ) is considered the greatest basketball player in Israel's history.

Senda Abbott *Berenson was the "Mother of Women's Basketball" and was inducted into the International Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985.

Billiards

John M. Brunswick (1819–1886), who was born in Bengarten, Switzerland, and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, was one of the earliest manufacturers of billiard equipment in the United States. He built the country's first perfect billiard table in 1845. Moses Bensinger (1839–1904), Brunswick's son-in-law, invented the balkline game in billiards in 1883, and in 1890 became president of his father-in-law's firm, which had been moved to Chicago. Outstanding American professional billiard players were Leon Magnus, winner of the first world three-cushion championship in 1878; Harry P. Cline, world three-cushion (1907) and 18.2 balkline (1910) champion, and Arthur Rubin (1905–?), world professional three-cushion champion (1961 and 1964); Sydney Lee (1903–?), the British amateur champion in 1931–34 and winner of the world amateur billiard championship in 1933, American amateurs Max Shimon, winner of the national three-cushion championship in 1929 and 1930, and Simon ("Cy") Yellin, national pocket billiard champion in 1929.

Bowling (Tenpin)

The Brunswick Company entered the bowling business in 1888 and helped establish the tenpin game around the world. Bowling pioneers Samuel Karpf (1866–1923) and Dutch-born Louis B. Stein (1858–1949) helped organize the American Bowling Congress in 1895. One of the first to write about bowling in the United States, Karpf served in 1896–1907 as the first secretary of the American Bowling Congress. Stein, an outstanding bowler, established 300 as the score in tenpin bowling and determined that the weight of the ball should be 16 pounds. The Bowling Hall of Fame includes charter member Mortimer ("Mort") Lindsey (1888–1959); Phil Wolf, American Bowling Congress champion (1928); and Sylvia Wene Martin (1928– ), women bowler of the year in 1955 and 1960.

Mark *Roth (1951– ), Bowler of the Year in 1977, 1978, 1979, and 1984, is a member of Pro Bowlers Association (pba) Hall of Fame. Roth, Barry Asher (1972–73), and Marshall Holman (1977–78) gained All-America selections. Holman was player of the year in 1987. Roth and Holman were voted into the U.S. Professional Bowlers Association's Hall of Fame in 1987 and 1990, respectively. Veteran Barry Asher joined the pba Hall of Fame in 1988, and the American Bowling Congress' Hall of Fame added Norman Meyers in 1983 and Al Cohn in 1985.

Boxing

The most active years of Jewish participation in professional boxing were in the latter part of the 18^th and the first quarter of the 19^th centuries in England, and in the first half of the 20^th century in the United States. The best boxers of the early era were Daniel *Mendoza (1764–1836), champion of England in 1792–95, and Samuel ("Dutch Sam") Elias (1776–1816), credited with the invention of the uppercut. Other English Jews who fought in the ring during this period were Barney Aaron ("the Star of the East"; 1800–1850); Henry Abrahams; the Belasco brothers – Abraham ("Aby") (1797–?), Israel (1800–?), Samuel, and John; Isaac Bittoon (1778–1838); Elisha Crabbe (d. 1809); Abraham da Costa; Barnard Levy; Keely Lyons; Daniel Martin; Isaac Mousha; Abraham Robes; Solomon Sodicky; and the cousins of Daniel Mendoza, Angel Hyams and Aaron Mendoza.

A number of English fighters bridged the gap between the early and modern eras. Barney ("Young Barney") Aaron (1836–1907), son of Barney Aaron, Asher Moss, nephew of Daniel Mendoza and Israel ("Izzy") Lazarus (1812–1867); and his sons Harry (1839–1865) and Johnny, who emigrated to the United States in the 1850s and 1860s and helped build interest in boxing by giving lessons and putting on exhibitions around the country. "Young Barney" Aaron won the lightweight championship of the United States in 1857.

The first Jewish boxer to win a world championship under Marquis of Queensberry rules was Harry ("The Human Hairpin") Harris (1880–1959), bantamweight, 1901–02.

Other American world professional champions were light heavyweight Battling *Levinsky (Barney Lebrowitz; 1891–1949) in 1916–20; Maxie ("Slapsie") *Rosenbloom (1904–1976) in 1930–1934; and Bob Olin (1908–1956) in 1934–35; middle-weights Al McCoy (Albert Rudolph; 1894–1966) in 1914–17; Ben Jeby (Morris Jebaltowsky; 1907–1985), 1932–33; and Solly Krieger (1909–1964), 1938–39; welterweights Jackie *Fields (Jacob Finkelstein; 1907–1987) in 1929–30, 1932–33; and Barney *Ross; lightweights Benny *Leonard; Al ("The Bronx Beauty") Singer (1907–1961) in 1930; and Barney *Ross; featherweights Abe *Attell (1884–1970) in 1901–12; Louis ("Kid") Kaplan (1902–1970) in 1925–27; and Benny Bass (1904–1975) in 1927–28; bantamweights Abe Goldstein (1898–1907) in 1924; Charley ("Phil") Rosenberg (Green; 1902–1976) in 1925–27; and flyweight Izzy ("Corporal") Schwartz (1900–1988) in 1927–29. Other world champions were Ted ("Kid") *Lewis, Great Britain; Victor ("Young") Perez (1911–1942), France (Tunisia), flyweight 1931–32; Robert Cohen (1930– ), France (Algeria), bantamweight 1954–56; and Alphonse Halimi (1932– ), France (Algeria), bantamweight 1957–59. World junior champions were Mushy Callahan (Vincent Morris Sheer; 1905–1986), welterweight 1926–30; Jack Bernstein (John Dodick; 1899–1945), lightweight 1923; and Jackie ("Kid") *Berg (Judah Bergman; 1909–1991), Great Britain, welterweight 1930–31. Other noted American boxers were Monte Attell (1885–1960), Abe's brother; Jacob ("Soldier") Bartfield (1892–1970); Joe Bernstein (1877–1931); Harry Blitman (1908–1972); Phil ("Ring Gorilla") Bloom (1894–?); "Newsboy" Brown (Dave Montrose; 1904–1977); Joe Choynski (1869–1943); Leach Cross (Louis Wallach; 1886–1957); Charley Goldman (1887–1968), who was also a successful trainer; Ruby ("The Jewel of the Ghetto") *Goldstein (1907–1984), both a boxer and referee; Willie Jackson (Oscar Tobler; 1897–1961); Danny Kramer (1900–1971); Harry Lewis (Besterman; 1886–1956); Ray Miller (1908–1987); Young Montreal (Morris Billingkoff; 1897–1978); Young Otto (Arthur Susskind; 1886–1967); Dave Rosenberg (1901–1979); Johnny ("Young") Rosner (1895–1974); Lew Tendler (1898–1970); Sid ("Ghost of the Ghetto") Terris (1904–1974); Al "Bummy" *Davis (Albert (Avraham) Davidoff; 1920–1945), welterweight boxer; Abe ("The Newsboy") *Hollandersky (1887–1966, who engaged in more professional bouts (1,309) than any other fighter in boxing history; and Mike Rossman, who won the World Boxing Association light heavyweight championship in 1978 at age 21, the youngest claimant of the light heavyweight title. He lost the championship in 1979.

Champions of Europe included British boxers Anshel ("Young") Joseph, welterweight, in 1910; Matt Wells (1886–1953), lightweight in 1911–12; Harry Mason, lightweight, in 1923; Johnny Brown (d. 1975), bantamweight, in 1923 and Al Phillips, featherweight, in 1947; and also Albert Yvel, France, light heavyweight, in 1950–51. Winners of national professional titles were Jack Bloomfield in 1922, Joe Fox (1892–1965), in 1921; and Harry Mizler (d. 1990) in 1934 of Great Britain; Al Foreman, Curly Wilshur (Barney Eisenberg), Sammy Luftspring and Maxie Berger of Canada; Tiger Burns (Dan Levine), Al James, and David Katzen of South Africa; and Waldemar Holberg of Denmark. In 1971, Henry Nissen of Australia (1948– ) won the British Commonwealth flyweight title.

Jews have been involved in all other activities connected with the boxing business as managers, trainers, and promoters. Promoters included Mike *Jacobs (1880–1953), Joe *Jacobs ("Yussel the Muscle"; 1896–1940), Harry Markson, Herman Taylor, Lew Raymond, Johnny Attell, Sam Becker, Larry Atkins, Goldie Ahearn, Archie Litman, Irving Schoenwald, Willie Gilzenberg, Bonnie Geigerman, and Jack Begun of the United States; Bella Burge, Jack *Solomons, Nathan Shaw, Mickey Duff, Esther Goldstein, and Harry Levene of Great Britain; Ludwig Japhet of South Africa; Gilbert Benaim of France; and Paul Damski of Germany. Ray *Arcel (1899–1994) is considered the greatest trainer in the sport. Whitey (Morris) *Bimstein (1897–1969) was another outstanding boxing trainer. Teddy *Brenner (1917–2000), considered the greatest matchmaker in boxing history, is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Lou *Stillman (Louis Ingber; 1887–1969) was owner of Stillman's Gym.

The Boxing Hall of Fame, founded by ring historian Nat *Fleischer, has enshrined charter members Daniel Mendoza, Benny Leonard, Abe Attell, Barney Ross, Joe Choynski, Lew Tendler, Ted ("Kid") Lewis, Battling Levinsky, Barney ("Young") Aaron, and Max *Baer.

Gilbert Cohen of France won the light middleweight championship of Europe in 1978.

Australian Henry Nissen was the Commonwealth flyweight champion in 1971–74. Victor Zilberman of Romania won a bronze medal in welterweight division, and Rollie Schwartz served as manager of the very successful American team at the 1976 Olympic Games.

American Saoul Mamby won the World Boxing Council's version of the world junior welterweight championship in 1980. Shamil Sabyrov of the ussr won a 1980 Olympic gold medal in the light-flyweight division. Dmitry *Salita, a religious Jew who does not box on Shabbat, won the naba junior welterweight championship in August 2005.

French boxers Gilles Elbilia and Fabrice Benichou enjoyed ring successes in the 1980s and 1990s. Elbilia won the French and European welterweight titles in 1982 and 1983 while Benichou won the World and European featherweight championships in 1989 and 1991.

Scotland's Gary (Kid) Jacobs defeated an Australian opponent and won the British Commonwealth welterweight championship in 1988. He lost the title the following year. In 1992 he became the British welterweight champion.

Bullfighting

Jewish bullfighters include Sidney *Franklin of the United States and Randy Sasson (El Andaluz) of Colombia.

Canoeing

The sport began in 1865 and four years later Montagu Mayer competed in canoe races in England. In 1880 Arthur *Brentano and Adolph Lowenthal were among the 25 canoeists who founded the American Canoe Association. Leo Friede (1887–1959) of the United States won canoe sailing's oldest trophy, the International Sailing Challenge Cup, in 1913 and 1914. Olympic medalists include Leon Rottman (Romania) two gold (1956) and one bronze (1960); Imre Farkas (Hungary), two bronze (1956, 1960); Laszlo Fabian (Hungary), gold (1956); Klara Fried (Hungary), bronze (1960), and Naum Prokupets (U.S.S.R.), bronze (1968).

The two-man whitewater team of Joe Jacobi and his partner won a Olympic Games gold medal in 1992. It was only the fifth canoeing or kayaking gold medal won by the U.S. in Olympic Games history.

Cricket

The first Jewish cricket players of note played at Oxford and Cambridge. D.L.A. Jephson represented Cambridge University in 1891 and 1892 and John E. Raphael played for Oxford from 1903 to 1905. Both later represented Surrey County. International cricket players included the South Africans Manfred J. Susskind, Norman ("Mobil") Gordon, Dennis Gamsy and Aron ("Ali") Bacher. The last, a physician who devoted his early years of medical practice to nonwhites, achieved widespread distinction as a cricketer in the South African victory over Australia in 1966. He was appointed captain of the South African team for the 1970 test matches against England, the first Jew to reach such a position. Though an outspoken advocate of multiracial cricket, he was to have led his all-white team in the Commonwealth Matches at Edinburgh in 1970, but violent opposition in England to South African apartheid in sport caused cancellation of his team's participation.

Prue Hyman of Great Britain was captain of the women's team at Oxford and represented her country in international competition. Patrons of the game were Sir Julian Cahn of Great Britain, Wilfred Isaacs of South Africa, and John I. Marder (d. 1975), president of the United States Cricket Association. Cricket has been played in Israel since the Mandate period and later gained popularity with tours of Israel by Maccabi teams and still later by teams from England. Dr. Aron (Ali) Bacher of South Africa served as the first Jewish captain of a national cricket side in 1970–74. In 1979 Julian Wiener became the first Jewish cricketer to play for Australia's full international Test side.

Cycling

Louis Gompertz of Great Britain perfected the gear rope, or bicycle chain, in 1821. Felix Schmal of Austria won one gold and two bronze medals at the first Olympic Games in 1896.

Equestrian

American Neal Shapiro won an Olympic silver and bronze medal in 1972 in show jumping, and his countrywoman Edith Master gained a 1976 Olympic bronze medal in dressage. Mark Laskin, Canada's top rider in 1978 and 1979, helped his country win the gold medal at the "alternate Olympics" in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in 1980. Margie Goldstein was named the 1989 and 1991 American Grand Prix Rider of the Year. In 1991 she became the first show jumper to win eight Grand Prix events in one season. Serious injuries cost her an Olympic Games opportunity in 1992.

Fencing

Between 1896 and 1976, 38 Jewish fencers won 76 medals (39 gold, 22 silver, and 15 bronze) in Olympic competition. Over the years they won numerous world, national, European, British Empire, Commonwealth, and Pan-American games (see *Olympic Games). Olympic medalists include Eduard Vinokurov (silver, 1972 and gold, 1976), Mark Rakita (silver, 1972) and Grigori *Kriss (bronze, 1972), all of U.S.S.R., and Ildiko Uslaky-Rejtoe (silver, 1972), Hungary. Kriss won the world epee title in 1971. Albert (Albie) *Axelrod (1921–2004) was one of the greatest American fencers in history, competing in five consecutive Olympics from 1952 to 1968 and winning a bronze in 1960. Allan *Jay (1931– ) was a British fencer and a silver medalist in Individual and Team Epee at the 1960 Olympic. In 1975 Martin Lang of the United States won a Pan-American Games gold medal. Americans Yuri Rabinovich of Wayne State and Paul Friedberg of Pennsylvania won the sabre event in the national collegiate championships in 1979 and 1980. Leonid Dervbinsky was national epee champion in 1980 and Peter Schifrin (gold) and Edgar House (silver) won Pan-American Games medals in 1979. American medalists in the Pan American Games were Elaine Cheris, Paul Friedberg, and Jeff Bukantz in 1987 and Nick Bravin, John Friedberg, Chris O'Loughlin, and Joseph Socolof in 1991. Israel's Udi Carmi placed fourth in the foil competition in the 1987 World Championships.

Field Hockey

A women's Olympic Games gold medalist in 1984, and a bronze medal winner in 1988, Carina Benninga carried the Netherlands flag at the Olympic Games opening ceremony in 1992.

Football (American and Canadian)

In 1870, a year after college football began in the United States, Moses Henry Epstein represented Columbia University against Rutgers in the third game ever played. The following year, Emil G. *Hirsch, a future Reform rabbi, appeared in the initial football game at Pennsylvania University. In 1874, Henry Joseph, a Canadian, played for McGill University against Harvard in an important series of contests. Lucius Littauer, future "Glove King of America" and congressman from New York State, played for Harvard in 1875 and 1877. Littauer returned to his alma mater in 1881 and became college football's first coach. Phil King of Princeton University, one of early football's greatest players, was an All-American selection in 1890–93 and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He later coached at his alma mater and at Wisconsin University. Sam Jacobson, a member of the Syracuse Athletic Association, helped organize the first football team at Syracuse University in 1889.

Those who followed King as All-American selections were Sigmund ("Sig") Harris (1883–1969), Minnesota, 1903–04; Israel ("Izzy") Levene (1885–1930), Pennsylvania, 1905–06; Joseph Magidsohn (1888–1969), Michigan, 1909–10; Arthur ("Bluey") Bluethenthal (1891–1918), Princeton, 1911–12; Leonard Frank (1889–1967), Minnesota, 1911; A. Harry Kallet (1887–1965), Syracuse, 1911; Victor H. Frank (1900– ), Pennsylvania, 1918; Joseph Alexander (1898–1975), Syracuse, 1918–20; Ralph Horween (1896–1997), Harvard, 1916; his brother Arnold Horween, (1898–1985), Harvard 1920; Max Kadesky (1901–1970), Iowa, 1922; George Abramson (1903–1985), Minnesota, 1924; Milton ("Irish") Levy, 1925; Benny *Friedman (1905–1982), Michigan, 1925, and a member of the College and Professional Football Hall of Fame; Ray Baer (1905–1968), Michigan, 1927; Benny Lom, California, 1927–29; Lou Gordon (1908–1976), Illinois, 1927; Fred Sington (1910–1998), Alabama, 1929–30; and Mike Alexander, a member of the College Football H all of Fame; Gabriel Bromberg, Dartmouth, 1930; Aaron Rosenberg (1912–1979), Southern California, 1932–33, and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame; Harry "Doc" Newman (1909–2000), Michigan, 1932; Franklin Meadow (1912–1989), Brown, 1932; David Smukler (1914–1971), Temple, 1934; Isadore ("Izzy") Weinstock (1913–1997), Pittsburgh, 1934; Marshall *Goldberg (1917– ), Pittsburgh 1937–39, and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame; Sid *Luckman (1916–1998), Columbia, 1937–38, and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame; Leroy Monsky (1916–1981), Alabama, 1937; A. Sidney Roth (1916–2001), Cornell, 1938; Mervin Pregulman (1922– ), Michigan, 1943; Dan Dworsky (1927– ), Michigan, 1947; Bernard Lemonick, Pennsylvania, 1950; Al Goldstein (1936–1991), North Carolina, 1958; Ron *Mix (1938– ), Southern California, 1959; Rich Stotter (1945– ), Houston, 1967; Bob Stein (1948– ), Minnesota, 1967–68; Michael Andrew Seidman (1981– ), Carolina Panthers; and Igor Olshansky (1982– ), San Diego Chargers.

Among other leading football coaches were Israel Levene (1885–1930), an All-American selection, who played for Pennsylvania and later coached at the University of Tennessee and at his alma mater; Fred Lowenthal (1879–1931), who starred at the University of Illinois and later coached its team; Edward Siskind (1886–1955), who played and coached at Fordham University; Frank Glick (1893–1979) of Princeton University, who coached at his university and at Lehigh; Arnold Horween, All-American at Harvard and coach of the team in 1926–30. Others were Benny *Friedman, Joe Alexander, Louis Oshins (1902–1975), Marv *Levy (1926– ), and Maurice ("Mush") Dubofsky (1910–1970), captain of the Georgetown University team.

Although professional football began officially in 1895, the Syracuse, N.Y., Athletic Association played the game for money before that date. Jewish members of the team included the manager and coach, Samuel Jacobson; the Freeman brothers, David and Chuck (1882–?), and an outstanding running back, Paul (Twister) Steinberg (1880–1964). Steinberg was also a member of the champion Philadelphia Athletics in 1902, and the famous Canton Bulldogs in 1905–06. In 1898, Barney *Dreyfuss of baseball fame was co-owner and manager of the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, the champions of professional football. Other professional players included John Barsha (Abraham Barshofsky) (1898–1976), 1919–20; Leonard Sachs (1897–1942), 1920–26; the Horween brothers, Arnold, 1921–24, head coach of the Chicago Cardinals in 1923–24, and Ralph (1896–1997), 1921–23; Joseph Alexander, 1921–22, 1925–27, head coach of the ny Giants in 1926; Jack Sack (Jacob Bernard Sacklowsky) (1902–1980), 1923, 1925–26; Samuel Stein (1906–1966), 1926, 1929–32; Saul Mielziner (1905–1985), 1929–34; Ollie (Bernard Oliver) Satenstein (1906–1959), 1929–33; Benny *Friedman, 1927–34, head coach of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1932; Philip (Motsy) Handler (1908–1968), 1930–36, head coach of the Chicago Cardinals in 1943–45, 1949; Louis Gordon, 1930–38; Harry "Doc" Newman (1909–2000), 1933–37, in 1933 he led the National Football League in passing for the n.y. Giants; Charles (Buckets) *Goldenberg (1911–1986), 1933–45; Edwin Kahn (1911–1945), 1935–37; David Smukler, 1936–39, 1944; Marshall "Biggie" Goldberg (1917– ), 1939–43, 1946–48; Sidney *Luckman (1916–1998) 1939–50, a member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame; Alexander (Allie) *Sherman (1923– ), 1943–47, head coach of the n.y. Giants, 1961–68; Herbert Rich, 1950–56, an all-league selection in 1952; Sidney Youngelman, 1955–63; Michael Sommer, 1958–63; and Ron Mix, 1960–69, a member of the all-time American Football League team. Sid *Gillman (1911–2003) served as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams in 1955–59 and Los Angeles and San Diego Chargers in 1960–69. Al *Davis (1929– ) was head coach and is now owner of the Oakland Raiders, and was commissioner of the American Football League in 1966. Benjamin F. Lindheimer (1896–1960) was commissioner of the All-America Conference in 1946–47; and Art *Modell (1925– ), owner of the Cleveland Browns which became the Baltimore Ravens, and president of the National Football League in 1967–70. Referees of note were Norman ("Bobie") Cahn (1892–1965), Joseph J. Lipp (1889–1958), Joseph Magidsohn (1888–1969), and Samuel A. *Weiss (1902–1977).

Canadian professional football executives included Louis Hayman, Harry Sonshine, Neville Winograd, David Loeb, Samuel Berger, and G. Sydney Halter, the first commissioner of the Canadian Football League. Halter and Abe Eliowitz (1910–1981), a U.S. player, are members of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Gary Wichard, quarterback, C.W. Post (1971), Randy Grossman (1952– ), end, Temple (1973) and David Jacobs (1957– ), kicker, Syracuse (1978) won All-America honors. Grossman played professionally with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Ron Mix (1938– ), offensive tackle with the San Diego Chargers, retired in 1973 after a 13–year career. He was named to the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1979. Harry Newman, an All-America quarterback at Michigan in 1932, was named to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975.

In 1972 Carroll *Rosenbloom (1907–1979) exchanged ownership of the Baltimore Colts for the same position with the Los Angeles Rams of the nfl. Zygmunt Wilf, a child of Holocaust survivors, became owner of the Minnesota Vikings in 2005. Other owners include Al Lerner (1933–2002), Cleveland Browns; Arthur Blank (1942– ), Atlanta Falcons; Robert *Kraft (1942– ), New England Patriots; Daniel Snyder, Washington Redskins; Malcom Glazer (1928– ), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (and majority owner of Manchester United), Jeffrey Lurie (1951– ), Philadelphia Eagles; and Robert *Tisch (1926–2005), co-owner of the New York Giants.

Players who performed on Super Bowl teams were Lyle Alzado (1949–1992), Los Angeles Raiders, 1984; Ed Newman (1951– ), Miami Dolphins, 1985 and John Frank (1962– ) and Harris Barton (1964– ), San Francisco 49ers, 1989 and 1990. Alzado, Newman, Barton, and Brad Edelman of the New Orleans Saints were named to All-Pro teams during this period. Barton, an offensive tackle, was an All-Pro in 1990 and 1992.

Coach Marv Levy, the Phi Beta Kappa scholar who was hired by the Buffalo Bills in 1986, led the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances (1991–1994). Coach Sid Gillman and Al Davis were voted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and 1992. In 1989 Gillman was also named to the College Football Hall of Fame. Beginning in 1960, Davis served as a personnel assistant and scout, head coach, general manager, league commissioner, principal team owner, and chief executive officer. Davis was a Gillman assistant in 1960.

Golf

The development of outstanding Jewish golfers was slow as most established golf clubs barred Jews from membership. Elaine V. Rosenthal (1896–?) of the United States was one of the first successful golfers. She won a number of tournaments after placing second in the national amateur championship in 1914. Herman Barron (1909–1978) was a leading player on the United States professional tour in the late 1940s, a member of the United States Ryder Cup team in 1947, and world professional senior champion in 1963. Sidney Brews (1899–1972) of South Africa had a long career as a professional golfer. Beginning in 1925, he won 30 Open championships in six countries. South African national amateur champions and international players included Brews' brother-in-law, Mickey Janks, South African national champion of 1948; Betty Bental Peltz; Florrie Josselsohn; Rita Levitan; Isabel Blumberg; and Judy Angel. Martin (Marty) Fleckman of the United States won the national collegiate title in 1965 and two years later became the first golfer in history to win the first tournament he entered as a professional. In 1968, Bruce Fleisher (1948– ) won the United States amateur championship, and, with Richard Siderowf, was a member of the winning U.S. team at the world amateur championships in Australia. Fleckman, Fleisher, Siderowf, and Arnold Blum were all members of winning U.S. teams in Walker Cup competition. Douglas Silverberg of Canada and Roberto Halpern of Mexico were also international golfers. Jane Weiller Selz, an American, won the women's national amateur championship of Mexico in 1960. In 1960–61, Lord (Lionel) Cohen of Great Britain served as captain of the famous Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland. Israel opened its first golf course at Caesarea in 1961.

American Amy *Alcott (1956– ) had 29 career wins, including five majors, and was inducted into World Golf Hall of Fame in 1999. Richard Siderowf, an American, won the Canadian Amateur in 1971 and the British Amateur in 1973 and 1976.

After 13 years as a club professional, Bruce Fleischer returned to the tour and won his first Professional Golf Association tournament in 1991. In 1992, Monte Scheinblum won the National Long Drive championship. Entertainer Dinah Shore was the 1985 recipient of the Patty Berg Award for outstanding contributions to women's golf.

Gymnastics

Germany's Flatow cousins, Alfred (1869–1942) and Gustav Felix (1875–1945), won six medals (five gold) in gymnastic competition at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Other Olympic medalists included Imre Gellert (Hungary), silver, in 1912; George Gulack (1905–1986; United States), gold, in 1932; Philip Erenberg (1909–1992); United States), silver, in 1932; Agnes *Keleti (1921– ; Hungary), 11 medals, including five gold, in 1948–52, and 1956; Alice Kertesz (Hungary) gold and silver, in 1956; Mikhail Perelman (U.S.S.R.), gold, in 1952; and Vladimir Portnoi (U.S.S.R.), silver and bronze, in 1960. Abie *Grossfeld (1934– ) and Mark Cohn (1943– ) of the United States won gold medals in the Pan-American Games, and Daniel Millman (1946– ) of the United States became the first world trampoline champion in 1964. Joseph Salzman was co-coach of the United States Women's Olympic team in 1948. Harvey Berkman, who was physical education director of Chicago's Jewish People's Institute from 1908 to 1922, was responsible for the training of some of America's best gymnasts.

Abie *Grossfeld coached the United States men's team at the 1972 Olympic Games. Marshall Avener was a 1972 Olympian and a 1975 Pan-American Games gold medalist. Sharon Shapiro of ucla won all four individual events and the all-around title at the United States women's college championships in 1980.

Olympic medalists included Mitch *Gaylord (1961– ) of the U.S., who won a gold, silver, and two bronze medals in 1984; Valeri Belenki of Azerbaijan, a gold and bronze winner in 1992; and Kerri *Strug (1977– ) of the U.S., who won a gold medal at the 1996 Games.

Soviet gymnast Maria *Gorokhovskaya (1921– ) won seven medals at the 1952 Olympics. Americans Lucy Wener and Brian Ginsberg won Pan American Games gold medals in 1983 and 1987.

Handball

This is a very popular sport with American Jews. During the 1960s, the membership of the United States Handball Association was 35 percent Jewish. The game has had numerous Jewish national champions including Vic *Hershkowitz (1918– ), handball's greatest all-round player, and Jimmy *Jacobs (1931–1988), the best player of the 1960s. Hershkowitz won a record 40 national titles in one-wall, three-wall, and four-wall play between 1942 and 1968. Jacobs' victories were gained in three-wall and four-wall competitions.

Handball held its first national championship in 1919, and the following year Max Gold won the title. Other players who gained national singles titles were George Nelson, Ken Schneider, Paul Haber, Simon ("Stuffy") Singer, Martin Decatur, Ken Davidoff, Steve Sandler, Michael Schmookler, Irving Jacobs, Harry Goldstein, Jack Londin, David Margolis, Joseph Garber, Arthur Wolfe, the Alexander brothers Seymour and Morton, and Sheila Maroschick. Members of the Helms Handball Hall of Fame include players Hershkowitz and Schneider and Hyman Goldstein and Judge Joseph Shane, both national commissioners of the United States Handball Association.

Paul Haber (1970–71) and Fred Lewis (1972, 1974–76, 1978) won United States Handball Association singles titles.

Horse Racing

An English Jew named Lamego was engaged in this sport as early as the 18^th century. Active in English racing during this period were Baron Maurice de *Hirsch, who gave all his racing winnings to charity, and Sir Ernest *Cassel. Philip Levi (1821–1898) was an early patron of the sport in Australia. In the United States, Ben Cohen was an officer of the Maryland Jockey Club in 1830, and six years later a horse owned by Aaron Philip Hart won the first running of the King's Plate in Canada.

America's leading jockey before the Civil War was Jacob Pincus (1838–1918) who began to ride in 1852. Pincus became a trainer and in 1881 he saddled the first American-bred horse to win England's Epsom Derby. One of those who employed Pincus as a trainer was August *Belmont, who had entered the sport in 1866 as a founder of Jerome Park and was the first president of the American Jockey Club. This club included many Jewish horse owners. Other prominent American owners and trainers in the 19^th century were David Gideon (1846–1929), Charles Fleischmann (1834–1897), Moses Goldblatt (1869–1941), and Julius (Jake) Cahn (1864–1941), owner and trainer of the 1897 Kentucky Derby winner, Typhoon ii.

Georges Stern (1882–1928) of France earned the title "King of the Jockeys" during a career that ran from 1899 to 1926. During that time Stern won almost every major European event, including the 1911 Epsom Derby. America's Walter Miller (1890–1959), another successful jockey of the same era, is a member of the national Jockeys Hall of Fame. He had ridden in the United States (1904–09) and Europe before weight problems forced his retirement. Miller was the American riding champion in 1906–07 and had ridden 388 winners in 1906, a record that lasted until 1952. Other outstanding American jockeys were Lewis Morris; the Renick brothers, Joseph (1910–?) and Sam (1912–1999); Robert Merritt (1912– ); Willie *Harmatz (1931– ); and Walter ("Mousy") *Blum (1934– ), who rode over 3,000 winners from 1953 and was national riding champion in 1963–64. Harry ("Cocky") Feldman (1915–1950) was the national riding champion of South Africa seven times during an 18-year career. He was killed in a riding accident, as was Britain's Reginald Sassoon (1893–1933), an amateur steeplechase rider. Nikolai Nasibov was the Soviet Union's leading jockey in the 1960s.

The most noted American trainers, who were also owners and breeders, were Hirsch *Jacobs (1904–1970) who saddled more winners (3,596) than any other trainer in history; his brothers Eugene and Sidney; the Byer brothers, Nathaniel, Frank, and Jacob; Mose Shapoff; the Lowenstein brothers, Jake (1889–1971) and Mose; Philip Bieber, founder and first president of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association; Kentucky Derby winners Sol Rutchick and Jacob ("Jack") Price; Arnold Winick; Howard ("Buddy") Jacobson (1931–1989), the national training champion in 1963–65; and Yevgeni Gottlieb of the U.S.S.R.

Prominent owners and breeders included Sir Ellice V. Sassoon (1881–1961), who had four Epsom Derby winners; the Joel brothers, Jack (1862–1940) and Solomon ("Solly"; 1866–1931); Nat Cohen (d. 1988), winner of the 1962 Grand National Steeplechase at Aintree; Stuart Levy (1908–1966); Heinrich Loebstein; Michael Sobell; Sir Henry *d'Avigdor-Goldsmid; and Evelyn *Rothschild, Great Britain; Jean Stern (1874–1962), who won the Grand Steeplechase of Paris four times; Georges *Wildenstein (1893–1964) and his son Daniel; Alec Weisweiller; Barons Edouard (1868–1949), James (1878–1957), Maurice (1891–1957) and Guy de Rothschild, France; Sir Adolph Basser (1887–1964), Australia, winner of the Melbourne Cup in 1951; Abe Bloomberg and G.M. Jaffee, South Africa; and the Americans Benjamin Block (1873–1950) and John D. Hertz (1879–1961; Hertz and his wife Frances (1881–1963) won the Triple Crown in the United States in 1943 with Count Fleet; Herbert M. Woolf (1880–1964), J.J. (Jack) Amiel, Harry F. *Guggenheim, and Isaac Blumberg were all Kentucky Derby winners; Bernard M. *Baruch, William Littauer (1865–1953); Harry M. *Warner (1881–1958); Alvin Untermeyer (1882–1963); Louis B. *Mayer; Albert Sabbath (1889–1969) whose horse Alsab cost him $700, earned $350,000 from him and sired winners who earned $4,000,000. There were also Nelson I. Asiel (1886–1965); Robert Lehman, Arlene Erlanger (1895–1969); Louis K. Shapiro (1897–1970); Irving Gushen (1899–1963), president of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association in 1953–63; Stanley Sagner (1908–1964); John M. *Schiff; Jacob Sher (1889–1972); Louis E. Wolfson; Isador (Colonel) Bieber (1887–1974); Maxwell H. Gluck (1896–1984); Jack Dreyfus Jr. (1914–?), chairman of the Board of Trustees of the New York Racing Association in 1969–70; and David J. Davis, whose Australian thoroughbred, Phar Lap, was considered by many to have been the greatest racehorse of all time.

American racing executives included Louis Smith (1888–1968), Benjamin F. Lindheimer (1890–1960), Leonard Florsheim (1880–1964), Joseph Schenck (1878–1961), Morris Shapiro (1883–1969) and his son John D., the originator of the Washington, d.c., International Classic and president of the Thoroughbred Racing Association; Mervyn *Leroy (1900–1987); J.J. ("Jake") Isaacson (1896–?); David Haber; Nat Herzfeld; Joseph Cohen; Joseph Gottstein (1891–1971); the Cohen brothers, Herman and Ben, who controlled Maryland's famous racetrack, Pimlico; Dr. Leon Levy (1895–?) and his son Robert; Hyman N. Glickstein, Saul Silberman (1896–1971), Philip H. Iselin, and J. Samuel Perlman (1900– ), a Canadian, who was publisher and editor of the Daily Racing Form and Morning Telegraph.

Harness racing became a major sport in the United States in 1940 when George Morton Levy (1889–1977) introduced night racing at Roosevelt Raceway in New York. Levy also encouraged and backed the invention of the mobile starting gate. He is a member of the Hall of Fame of the Trotter. Even before 1940, track-owner Louis Smith modernized the sport by eliminating the use of heats to determine winners; he built and owned New England's first modern racetrack, Rockingham. Sacher ("Satch") Werner (1898–?), was the outstanding American trainer and driver; before turning professional he was an amateur champion of Vienna, Austria. Amateur drivers included Nathan S. *Straus (1848–1931), who gave up racing and yachting to devote himself to philanthropies which helped lay the foundations of the State of Israel; and Neal Shapiro, won an Olympic silver and bronze medal in 1972 in show jumping.

American jockey Walter Blum (1934– ) retired after the 1975 season, after a 22-year riding career with 4,383 winners. Maxwell Gluck (1977) and Louis Wolfson (1978) were named the outstanding American thoroughbred owner-breeders of the year. Wolfson's horse Affirmed won the 1978 Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes) and was named Horse of the Year in 1978 and 1979. Sir Michael Sobel and Sir Arnold Weinstock's Troy won the 200^th running of the English Derby and Harry Meyerhoff 's Spectacular Bid won the Kentucky Derby.

Jockeys Walter Blum and Jacob Pincus were enshrined in the U.S. Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame in 1987 and 1988. Blum rode 4,382 winners in a 22-year career (1953–1975), and Pincus, a leading 19^th-century jockey, was also an outstanding trainer. Another Hall of Fame entry in 1990 was owner Sam Rubin's John Henry, a two-time American Horse of the Year.

In 1983, with 2,500 victories to his credit, South African jockey Stanley Amos retired, the same year another South African jockey, Basil Barcus, recorded his 1,000^th win.

Ice Hockey

Defense man Yuri Lyapkin of the U.S.S.R. won an Olympic gold medal in 1976.

Mathieu *Schneider (1969– ) is a two-time nhl All-Star and was a member of the U.S. Olympic team and Team U.S.A.

Gary *Bettman (1952– ) has been commissioner of the National Hockey League since 1993. Edward and Peter Bronfman, owners of the Montreal Canadiens since 1971, sold the team in 1978. Steve Ellman is owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, and Ed Snider owns the Philadelphia Flyers. Stan *Fischler (1932– ) is an author, broadcaster, and leading authority on ice hockey.

Ice Skating (Figure and Speed)

American Scott Cramer won the men's professional figure skating gold medal at the world championships in 1980. Dr. Alain Calmat, an Olympic silver medalist in figure skating in 1964, became France's Minister of Youth and Sports in 1984. American Judy Blumberg and her partner won bronze medals in ice dancing in the World Figure Skating Championships in 1983–85. They placed fourth in the 1984 Olympic Games.

In speed skating, American Andrew Gabel (1964– ) is a four-time Olympian (1988, 1992, 1994, 1998) and holds a silver medal as a member of the 1994 5,000 m Short Track relay team. In figure skating, Sasha *Cohen (1984– ), Sarah *Hughes (1985– ), and Irina *Slutskaya (1979– ) all skated in the Olympics and have won numerous medals.

Jai Alai

Richard I. Berenson (1893–1967) was responsible for the success of jai alai in the United States. He was president and general manager of the Miami Fronton from 1929 until his death. He was succeeded by his son, L. Stanley ("Buddy") Berenson. Among Americans who played professional jai alai were Martin Perfit and Howard Wechsler.

American Joey Cornblit, a professional for 20 years, won the Tournament of Champions (a meeting of the sport's top players) in 1992, when he also won his ninth Florida singles championship.

Judo

In 1964, when this sport was added to the Olympic program for the first time, James Bregman (1941– ) of the United States won a bronze medal in the middleweight division. Other internationalists included Gabriel Goldschmied, Mexico, a bronze medalist in the 1967 Pan-American Games; Ronald Hoffman (1944– ), Bernard Lepkofer (1933– ), and Irwin Cohen of the United States; Ivan Silver of Great Britain; Salvadore Goldschmied of Mexico, and Jorge Gleser (1947– ) of Argentina and the United States.

Irwin Cohen (1971–72, 1974, 1976–78), Steve Cohen (1974–75, 1977) and David Pruzansky (1973) won United States national titles. Jesse Goldstein won a 1979 Pan-American Games silver medal for the United States in the heavyweight division. Amy Kublin won American women's titles in 1976–78, 1980.

After 40 years, Israel won its first Olympic medals in 1992. Yael *Arad gained a silver medal in women's competition and Shay Oren Smadga took a bronze in the men's events. Other Olympic medalists were American Robert Berland, silver, and Canadian Mark Berger, bronze, in 1984.

Pan American Games medalists in 1983 and 1987 included Berland, Berger and also American Damon Keeve.

Karate

Between 1986 and 1988, Kathy Jones won two silver and four bronze medals in World Cup and World Championship competition. Danny Hakim of Australia won a silver medal in the 1988 World Championships.

Lacrosse

Early internationalists were Henry Joseph of Canada, who in 1876 played in a game before Queen Victoria in London, and Lionel Moses of the United States, the first known Jewish captain of an intercollegiate sports team. Like Joseph, Moses was a member of teams that toured Great Britain before 1900. Bernard M. Baruch played the game at the City College of New York in the late 1880s. Another early American player was Clarence M. Guggenheimer, who played for Johns Hopkins and later for Harvard. Milton Erlanger (1888–1969), also of Johns Hopkins, served as president of the Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association and was later elected to the Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Other members of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame include Henry S. Frank, captain of the 1909 Johns Hopkins team, and Victor K. Ross, who starred at Syracuse University and led his team to victory over Oxford-Cambridge in 1922.

Lawn Bowling

This is a very popular game with the Jews of South Africa. In the 1960s, when Jews represented 1% of the total population, 25% of all lawn bowlers in the country were Jewish. South African bowlers and administrators included Alfred ("Alf") Blumberg, who in 1950 became his country's first Jewish lawn bowling internationalist and winner of an Empire Games' gold medal in Auckland, New Zealand, that year; Abraham (Pinky) Danilowitz, 1958 Empire Games gold medalist in singles, and Leon Kessel who represented South Africa in the first world lawn bowling championship in 1966. Harry Hart of Rhodesia was awarded the mbe for his services as player and administrator in 1964. David Magnus was one of Australia's star players.

Luge (Toboggan)

American Gordy Sheer won gold medals in the North American Championships doubles in 1990 and 1991. Sheer also participated in the 1992 Olympic Games.

Motorboat Racing

In 1905, two years after the sport began, America's Jacob Siegel won the inboard hydroplane National Championship Trophy. The following year, Britain's Lionel de *Rothschild was co-owner of the winning boat at the Harmsworth Trophy event in Ireland. Bernard M. Baruch and his brother Hartwig won the National Championship Trophy in 1906–09. Herbert Mendelsohn was victorious in the 1937 Gold Cup race, and S. Mortimer Auerbach (1901– ) won the National Sweepstakes in 1939. Donald Aronow of the United States, a boatbuilder, designer, and driver, won the world title in ocean racing in 1967 and 1969. In the latter year, the Union of International Motorboating awarded him its Gold Medal of Honor. Other American ocean drivers were Jerry Langer (1966 national outboard champion), Peter Rothschild (1966 national inboard champion), and William Wishnick (1924– ; 1970 national inboard champion). In 1967, Milton Horwitz of the United States won the national title in predicted-log competition. Horwitz, Aronow, Langer, and Rothschild are members of the Gulf Marine Hall of Fame. Other international drivers included Arnie Levy and his son Derrick, South Africa; and Alan Bernstein, Rhodesia.

American William Wishnick won the 1971 world ocean racing title and Dr. Robert Magoon (1971–73) and Joel Halpern (1976–77) United States national ocean racing championships.

Don Aronow, American boat designer and two-time world offshore powerboat champion (1967 and 1969), died in 1987.

Motorcycling

In 1936 Australia's Lionel Maurice Van Praag (1908–?) won the world's first speedway championship in Wembley, England, and Benjamin Kaufman (1911– ), of the United States, gained national speedway titles in 1936–37.

Olympic Games

Israel joined the United States and a number of other nations in the 1980 boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games as a protest against the U.S.S.R. invasion of Afghanistan. See *Olympic Games for list of Jewish medal winners.

Polo

A favorite sport of the Rothschild banking family since the 1890s, they helped popularize polo in Austria and France. Leading Rothschild players were Baron Louis (1882–1954), Austria; Barons Edouard Alphonse James (1869–1949), Robert (1880–1946), and Elie (1917– ), France and Evelyn (1931– ), Great Britain. American players included William Littauer (1865–1953); the *Fleischmann brothers, Julius (1872–1925) and Max (1877–1951); Robert Lehman (1891–1969); Adam Gimbel (1893–1969); Samuel Cohen (1896–1965); and John M. Schiff (1904–1987).

Roller Skating

American Scott Cohen, who won the world free skating championships in 1985, 1986, 1989, and 1990, became the first singles skater to win the title four times. Cohen also won a Pan American Games silver medal in 1987.

Rowing

In 1858, Britain's Sir Archibald Levin Smith (1836–1901) rowed in the Cambridge University crew that defeated Oxford and triumphed in the Henley Royal Regatta. During the 1870s Henry Altman (1854–1911), Isaac N. *Seligman (1856–1917), and Lucius *Littauer were engaged in collegiate rowing in the United States. Seligman rowed at Columbia, Littauer at Harvard, and Altman helped to establish the sport at Cornell University. The Lone Star Boat Club of New York City, America's first Jewish rowing group, was organized in 1887. Samuel G. Sterne was its president.

In Olympic competition, Allen P. Rosenberg (1931– ) coached the 1964 American rowing team to a pair of victories. As a coxswain, Rosenberg won a gold medal in the 1955 Pan-American Games. Between 1963 and 1966 Donald Spero (1939– ) of the United States won seven national, two Canadian, and the 1966 world championship, in single-sculls. He was an Olympic finalist in 1964 and winner of the Diamond Sculls in Britain's Henley Royal Regatta in 1965. Spero and Rosenberg are members of the Helms Rowing Hall of Fame. Frederic Lane stroked the University of Pennsylvania to victory in the Grand Challenge Cup of England's Royal Henley Regatta in 1955, to defeat a Soviet crew. George Hermann, Herbert Senoff James Kreis, Jerry Winkelstein, James Fuhrman (1943– ), and Lawrence Gluckman (1946– ) were Pan-American Games gold medalists.

Allen Rosenberg coached and David Weinberg was coxswain of the American crew that won the 1974 eight-oared heavyweight race at the World Championships.

Seth Bauer won an Olympic Games bronze medal in 1988. Other American participants in the 1988 Olympic Games were Sherri Cassuto and Jon Fish. Bauer, Fish, and Cassuto won Pan American Games and World Championships medals between 1985 and 1991.

Pablo Bulgach of Argentina and Betsy Kimmel, U.S., won Pan American Games gold medals in 1987 and 1991.

Rugby

John E. Raphael (1882–1917) represented England nine times in international rugby competitions in 1902–06, and Bethel Solomons (1885–1965), later a leading gynecologist, played for Ireland ten times in 1908–10. Aaron ("Okey") Geffin of S. Africa was the hero of the 1949 test series victory over New Zealand. Samuel Goodman was the manager of the United States Olympic gold medal teams in 1920 and 1924. Australia's Albert A. Rosenfeld (1885– ) and Britain's Lewis Harris were outstanding Rugby League players. Rosenfeld appeared in the first test series between England and Australia in 1909, and during the 1913–14 season he scored a record 80 tries for Huddersfield in the Northern Rugby Football League. Harris was a member of the Hull Kingston Rovers when they won the Challenge Cup in 1925 and were Northern Rugby Football League champions in 1921 and 1923.

Shooting

In 1868, Philo Jacoby (1837–1922) won the Berlin shooting championship as the representative of the American Sharpshooters Association of New York. During the next 30 years Jacoby made many trips to Europe, where he triumphed in numerous shooting tournaments. In 1876 he captained the California team that won the world shooting championship at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. For many years he was editor and publisher of The Hebrew, one of the first Jewish newspapers in San Francisco. Among outstanding U.S.S.R. modern shooters were Olympic medalists Lev Vainshtein, 1952; Allan Erdman, 1956; world champion Mikhail Itkis, 1958; and Larissa Gurvich, 1967. Gurvich won the European and World skeet championships in 1975. Joelle Fefer of Canada won three Pan American Games medals in 1983 and 1987. Thomas Bernstein, a member of the Norwegian national team, won the U.S. national collegiate (ncaa) rifle championship in 1988.

Squash Racquets & Racquetball

Victor Niederhoffer won United States squash racquets championships in 1972–75, and the Canadian and North American Open titles in 1975. In 1977 Selwyn Machet won the South African amateur championship. American Stuart Goldstein won the World professional title in 1978.

In racquetball Martin Hogen won the United States championship in 1978, and his second and third national professional racquetball titles in 1979 and 1980. Kathy May Teacher won the United States women's national paddle tennis championship in 1980.

Surfing

South African Shaun Tomson won the 1975 American Championship Cup and the World professional title in 1977; he remained among the world's best surfers in 1985. After a decade of competition Tomson had recorded the most victories in the Association of Surfing Professionals world tour.

Swimming and Water Polo

Jews were active in competitive swimming from the time the sport began in the 19^th century. Marquis Bibbero of England participated in swimming races in the 1860s and G. Cohen set an American record for the 440-yards in 1878. In 1896, Jews triumphed in all three swimming events at the first modern Olympic Games. They were Alfred Hajos (Guttmann; 1878–1955), of Hungary and Paul Neumann (1875– ), of Austria (see *Olympic Games). Hajos, an architect, built Budapest's main swimming pool and in 1924 won a silver medal in the Olympic Art competition. Otto Wahle (1880–1963), an Austrian Olympian, immigrated to the United States, where he became a coach and helped influence the course of American swimming and coached the American Olympic teams in 1912 and 1920. His Olympic successor was William (Bach) Bachrach (1879–1959), who coached the Illinois Athletic Club swimming team in 1912–54. Bachrach trained many national and Olympic champions, including the great Johnny Weissmuller, and headed the Olympic swimming teams in 1924 and 1928. During the same period, Charlotte Epstein (1885–1938) established swimming as a sport for women in the United States. She founded the Women's Swimming Association in 1917 and was responsible for women's swimming being included in the 1920 Olympic Games. Miss Epstein was manager of the women's Olympic swimming teams in 1920, 1924, and 1932, and served as chair of the United States Olympic Women's Swimming Committee. She was also chair of the United States Maccabiah Games Swimming Committee in 1935. Leo Donath of Hungary headed the International Swimming Federation in the 1930s. Mark *Spitz (1950– ), who won four medals in the 1968 Olympic Games, set records in the butterfly stroke. In 1967, when he was named "world swimmer of the year," Spitz won five gold medals in the Pan-American Games. In 1972, the year after he became the first Jewish sportsman to win the Sullivan Award as the outstanding American amateur athlete, Spitz won an unprecedented seven gold medals and set seven world records at the Olympic Games. In 1983, Spitz was one of the first 20 Olympians named to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame and Museum. Chosen by the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters, Spitz received the second highest number of votes cast; only Track and Field great Jesse Owens received more. Other swimming Olympic medalists were Eva *Szekely (1927– ) Hungarian-born swimmer who set ten world records, five Olympic records, and over 100 Hungarian national records while winning two Olympic medals, ten World University Championships and 68 Hungarian National Championships over her 19-year career. She is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Other winners are Andrea Gyarmati, Hungary (silver and bronze), 1972, Wendy Weinberg, United States (bronze), 1976; and Lenny *Krayzelburg (1975– ), who won four Olympic gold medals.

Israel's star swimmers and divers in the 1960s were Yoav Raanan, Yvonna Toviss, Abraham Melamed, Gershon Sheffa, Moshe Gartel, and Yoram Schneider.

Jews were prominent too in water polo at the Olympics (see *Olympics). Bela Komjadi (1892–1933), coach of the Hungarian national team in the late 1920s and early 1930s, established Hungary as an Olympic power in water polo. American Peter Asch won a 1972 Olympic bronze medal in water polo. Australia's Russell Basser and American Charles Harris represented their countries in the 1984 and 1992 Olympic Games. Harris was a silver medalist in the 1991 Pan American Games.

In 1980, Helen Plaschinski of Mexico won the Latin Cup 100 meter freestyle gold medal in Madrid, Spain. Barbara Weinstein won the United States indoor platform diving title in 1979 and the outdoor event the following year. She also won the 1979 Pan-American Games gold medal in platform competition.

Dara Torres won her second gold and third Olympic medal in 1992. She gained her first gold in 1984 and received a Olympic bronze medal in 1988. Other American medalists in major international competition were John Witchel, 1987, Pan American Games, two golds, and Cheryl Kriegsman, Dan Kutler, and Dan Kanner in the World University Games in 1987 and 1991.

Olympic finalists in 1988 and 1992 were Vadim Alekseev, U.S.S.R., and Tomas Deutsch, Hungary. Alekseev, who is now an Israeli, won a Goodwill Games silver medal in 1990.

In Synchronized Swimming, Americans Tracy Long and Ann Miller won Pan American Games gold medals in 1987 and 1991.

Al Schoenfield, publisher and editor of swimming publications, and Dr. Paul Neumann, Austria, 1896 Olympic gold medalist, were named to the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1985 and 1986.

In water polo, American Peter Asch won a 1972 Olympic bronze medal. Australia's Russell Basser and American Charles Harris represented their countries in the 1984 and 1992 Olympic Games. Harris was a silver medalist in the 1991 Pan American Games.

Table Tennis

Table tennis was organized as a modern sport in the 1920s. It proved a very popular game with Jews and several became world champions. The Honorable Ivor Montagu (1904–1984) served as president of the English or International Table Tennis Federation from 1922 to 1967. His mother, Lady Swaythling (1879–1965), was also president of the English Table Tennis Federation and in 1926 donated the men's world team cup which bears her name. M. Cohen of Great Britain won the second English open championship in 1922, and Marcus Schussheim of the United States was the first American champion in 1931. Dr. Roland Jacobi of Hungary triumphed in men's singles at the initial world championship in 1927. Other world champions in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles were Hungary's Zoltan Mechlovitz; Gyozo Viktor *Barna (1911–1972), who won 22 world titles including five singles championships; Richard *Bergmann (1919–1970), an Austrian who won four singles titles; Alfred Liebster, Austria, and Angelica *Adelstein-Rozeanu (1921– ), Romania; the sisters Thelma Thall and Leah Thall Neuberger, United States; and Svetlana Grinberg, U.S.S.R.

Ivor Montagu of Great Britain, who became the first chairman of the Table Tennis International Federation and held the post for over 40 years, died in 1984.

Tennis and Squash

As most tennis facilities were located in private clubs that barred Jewish membership, progress in this sport was slow. Conditions improved after World War ii, as did the rankings of Jewish players. The first Jewish player officially ranked in the United States was Dr. William Rosenbaum (1882–1951) in 1908, and the first to gain the top-ten was Julius Seligson (1909–1987) in 1929. In Europe, Mikhail Stern represented Romania in the 1922 Davis Cup competition, and in 1928–30 Baron Hubert de Morpurgo (1897–?) of Italy received world ranking. Other players who achieved world ranking included Daniel Prenn (1905– ), 1929 Germany, and 1932 Great Britain, 1934 (doubles); Ladislav Hecht (1910– ), Czechoslovakia, 1934 (doubles), who defeated Britain's Davis Cup player Bunny Austin; Angela *Buxton (1934– ) Great Britain, who was a Wimbledon doubles title winner in 1956. Outstanding tennis players also included Abraham Segal (1931– ), South Africa, winner of South African singles championship in 1967; Pierre *Darmon (1934– ) France, 1958, 1963–64; Tom ("the Flying Dutchman") Okker (1944– ), Netherlands, Dutch national champion who won the Italian national singles title in 1968; Dick *Savitt (1927– ) an American who was Wimbledon champion in 1951 and came out of retirement to win both the singles and doubles championships at the 1961 Maccabiah Games; Herbert *Flam (1928– ), who won more top world rankings than any other Jewish tennis player and represented the U.S. Davis Cup team in 1951 and 1952; Americans Barbara Breit, 1955, 1957; Anita Kanter, 1952; and Julie M. Heldman (1945– ), who as a girl of 12 won her first national title, the Canadian Junior Championship, and later won the Italian National Women's singles title in 1968; and Pete *Sampras (1971– ), whose father is Jewish and who is considered by many tennis analysts to be the greatest tennis player of all time. Among Israel players of note was Eleazar Davidman.

Americans Julie Heldman (1974), Harold *Solomon (1975–77, 1979), Brian Gottfried (1977–79), and Eliot Telscher (1980) were ranked among the world's top ten players. Held-man played in Federation and Wrightman Cup competition and Solomon and Gottfried in Davis Cup play. Solomon was South African Open champion in 1975 and 1976, and Gottfried won the French (1975 and 1977), World (1975) and Wimbledon (1976) doubles championships. Brian Gottfried and Harold Solomon, retired from the professional tour in 1984.

In 1976 Ilana Kloss of South Africa won the French mixed doubles and the United States women's doubles titles. American Bruce Manson won a 1975 Pan-American Games gold medal, and Dana Gilbert the 1978 United States women's Clay Court championship.

American Dick Savitt, 1951 Wimbledon winner, was included in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1976.

Other Americans Eliot Telscher, Brad *Gilbert (1961– ), Aaron Krickstein, and Jay Berger and Israel's Amos Mansdorf and Argentina's Martin Jaite joined the world's tennis elite in the 1980s. These players and Shlomo Glickstein, Shahar Perkiss, and Gilad Bloom of Israel and Andrew Sznajder of Canada played in Davis Cup competition. Elise Burgin represented the U.S. in Federation Cup play.

American Jim Grabb was a member of the men's doubles combination that won the U.S. Open championship in 1992, and Brad Gilbert won a men's singles bronze medal in the 1988 Olympic Games.

Joseph Cullman iii, who helped launch the women's pro tour, was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1992. Anna Smashnova was ranked No. 16 on the woman's tour in 2002 and 2003.

National champions in American squash racquets and squash tennis were Victor Niederhoffer, Victor Elmaleh, Abraham M. Sonnabend (1897–1964), Milton Baron, and James Prigoff. Prigoff served as president of the National Squash Tennis Association, and Roger Sonnabend held the same position with the National Squash Racquets Association. Cecil Kaplan, David Duchen, and Jeffery Maisels were South African national champions and internationalists.

Track and Field

Modern track and field had its beginnings in England in the 1850s and 1860s. An early American runner was Lipman *Pike, a professional baseball player. Pike ran 100-yards against a Canadian Indian on the Capitoline Grounds in Brooklyn, New York, in 1869 and four years later became the Maryland State 100-yard champion. Daniel Stern (1849–1923) began to race-walk in 1873 and three years later won the one-and three-mile events at the first American track-and-field championships. He was an early member and officer of the New York Athletic Club and served on the committee charged with building the first cinder track in the United States. In 1875, Philo Jacoby (1837–1922) participated in the San Francisco Olympic Club's first outdoor athletic games. Victor E. Schifferstein (1863–?) represented the same California club when he won the national long-jump championship in 1888. Earlier that year, Schifferstein ran 100 yards in ten seconds to equal the world record of the time. The greatest American runner of the 19^th century was Lawrence ("Lon") *Myers. He set world records in the 440- and 880-yard runs, and won American, Canadian, and British national championships in 1879–85. In 1900, Myer Prinstein (1880–1925) of the United States became the first Jewish medalist in Olympic track-and-field competition. He won the triple jump and placed second in the long jump. Earlier that year Prinstein had established a new world mark of 24 feet, 7.25 inches in the long jump. He repeated his Olympic triple-jump victory in 1904 and added a gold medal in the long jump. In 1906, Prinstein won another gold medal in Athens in the long jump, in what was then considered the Olympic Games, but some 50 years later the 1906 competition was ruled not to have been an Olympiad. Michael Spring (d. 1970) won the Boston marathon race in 1904. Abel Kiviat (1892–1991) won a silver medal at the 1912 Olympics, and set a world 1,500 m record that year. England's most famous track star was Harold *Abrahams who won the 100 meters race at the 1924 Olympic games; and his brother Sir Sydney *Abrahams also represented Britain at the Olympic Games. Harold Abrahams in 1969 became chairman of the British Amateur Athletic Board. Fanny ("Bobbie") Rosenfeld (1905–1969) in addition to starring in ice hockey, basketball, and softball, tied the women's world record for the 100-yard dash in 1925, excelled at the Olympics in 1928, and was hailed by the Canadian press as her country's "outstanding woman athlete of the half-century." Lillian *Copeland (1904–1964) was an Olympic gold and silver medallist, and member of U.S. Track & Field Hall of Fame. Deena Kastor (1973– ) won a bronze medal in the women's marathon at the 2004 Olympics. Marty *Glickman (1917–2001) was a U.S. sprinter and a track star who was pulled from the 1936 Berlin Olympics because he was Jewish.

Jews were also medalists in European, British Commonwealth and Empire, Pan-American, and Asian Games.

Irena *Kirszenstein-Szewinska (1946– ) of Poland won seven Olympic medals and ten European Championship medals, and is a member of the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. Faina Melnik-Velva of the U.S.S.R. won an Olympic gold medal in the discus throw in 1972.

Abigail (Abby) Hoffman of Canada won a Pan-American Games gold medal in the 800-meter run in 1971 and silver and bronze medals in the 1975 Pan-American Games. In 1974 Y.C. Yohanna of India won the long jump event and set an Asian record in the Asian Games.

Israeli-born Boris (Dov) Djerassi won the United States national hammer throw in 1975 and 1978, and Ron Wayne won the U.S. national marathon championship in 1974.

Svyetlana Krachevskya of the U.S.S.R. won a 1979 bronze medal in the World Cup and a silver medal in the 1980 Olympic Games in the shot-put.

American Pincus (Pinky) Sober (1905–1980), was chairman of the International Amateur Federation's technical committee and longtime Madison Square Garden track announcer.

In 1992 Mel Rosen served as the U.S. men's Olympic coach, and Yevgeniy Krasnov of Israel placed eighth in the Olympic pole vault competition.

American Ken Flax won medals in the World University Games in 1989 and 1991 (gold) and was named the ninth ranked hammer thrower in the world in 1991.

In 2002, Russian-born Israeli Alex Averbach took the gold medal in the pole vault at the European championships.

Fred Lebow (Ephraim Fishl Lebowitz, 1932–1994) was president of the New York Road Runners Club and founder and director of the New York Marathon and the Fifth Avenue Mile.

Volleyball

Jews have also had a prominent part in volleyball. Sid Nachlas' (1920– ) achievements brought him election to the Helms Volleyball Hall of Fame. Harlan Cohen (1934– ) coached the American women's Olympic team in 1968. Eugene Selznick (1930– ) is a member of the Volleyball Hall of Fame. Doug Beal and Israel's Arie Selinger coached the U.S. Olympic men's and women's teams to gold and silver medals in 1984. These were the first medals ever won by American teams in Olympic competition.

In 1992, Selinger coached the Netherlands men to an Olympic silver medal. Selinger's son Arbital was a member of the Dutch team. Other Olympic Games medalists were Bernard Rajzman, Brazil, silver, 1984; and Dan Greenbaum, U.S, bronze, 1992.

Water Skiing

David Nations pioneered this sport in Great Britain. He founded the British Water Ski Federation in 1951 and was the national overall champion in 1955–56.

Weightlifting

Britain's Edward Lawrence Levy (1851–1932) was among the first to engage in amateur weightlifting in the 19^th century. He won the first English and international competitions in 1891, and five years later served as a weightlifting judge at the first modern Olympic Games. There have been many Olympic weightlifting medalists (see *Olympics). Jews also engaged in the European, Commonwealth, Empire, and Pan-American Games. Oscar State (1911–1984), obe, of Great Britain organized the weightlifting competitions at the Olympic Games in 1948 and 1956, and officiated at nine Olympic Games, 21 Regional meets such as the Pan-Am, Maccabiah, Asian and Commonwealth Games, two World Games, 24 World Weightlifting Championships, 27 World Bodybuilding Championships, nine Mr. Olympias, 51 international bodybuilding contests and 101 international weightlifting contests, served as secretary of the International Weightlifting Federation, and is a member of the International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness Hall of Fame. David A. Matlin, a weightlifting official, served as the 33^rd president of the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States in 1967–68. Isaac ("Ike") Berger (1936– ), U.S. Olympic weightlifter, winner of gold and two silver Olympic medals, and a member of U.S. Weightlifters Hall of Fame.

David Rigert of the U.S.S.R. won a 1976 Olympic gold medal in the 198-pound division. Commonwealth Games medalists were Terrance (Terry) Perdue, England (bronze), 1974, and Ivan Katz, Australia (silver), 1978.

Grigory Novak, U.S.S.R. world champion in 1946 and 1952 Olympic silver medalist, died in 1980.

David Lowenstein of Australia won a Commonwealth Games silver medal in 1986, and Giselle Shepatin and Rachel Silverman won silver medals for the U.S. in the Women's International Weightlifting Tournaments in 1985 and 1987. Allon Kirschner of Israel won a gold medal in the World Powerlifting Championships in 1989.

Windsurfing

Gal *Fridman (1975– ) was the first Israeli ever to win an Olympic Gold medal (2004), and the first Israeli to win two Olympic medals.

Winter Sports

In 1900–20, Cecil *Hart (1883–1940) pioneered amateur ice hockey in Canada. He entered the professional game in 1921 and became a successful coach with the Montreal Canadians. Samuel E. Lichtenhein (1871–1936) owned the Montreal Wanders hockey team (National Hockey Association) in 1911–18. Americans who owned teams in the National Hockey League included Sidney Solomon Jr. and Sidney Solomon iii of the St. Louis Blues and Edward M. Snider of the Philadelphia Flyers. In 1964 the all-Jewish Ha-Koah-Melbourne team won the Australian ice hockey championship.

Louis Rubenstein of Canada introduced figure skating into North America in the late 1870s. He won many titles, including the 1890 world championship in Russia. One of the organizers of the 1890 world competition was Baron Wolff of the St. Petersburg Skating Club. Rubenstein's brothers and sisters, Moses, Abraham, and Rachel, were all champion skaters. Lily Kronberger of Hungary was world figure skating champion in 1908–11. Joel Liberman (1883–1955) of the United States was founder of the New York Skating Club and an Olympic judge in 1928 and 1932. Benjamin Bagdade (1902– ) served as president of the American Skating Union in 1947–51 and was manager of the U.S. team at the 1948 Olympic Games. Irving *Jaffee (1906–1981) is a member of the Speed Skating Hall of Fame. France's Alain Calmat, world figure skating champion (1965), was awarded the Legion d'Honneur by President de Gaulle.

Alice Damrosch Wolf Kiaer (1893–1967), a daughter of conductor Walter *Damrosch, organized the first United States women's ski team in 1935 and the following year served as manager of the Olympic team. Richard Rubitscek of Austria won a gold medal in skiing in the 1933 European Maccabiah games and was a founder of the Arlberg ski method. American Hayley Wolff won a grand prix mogul gold medal in 1983 and a silver medal in the first world freestyle championship in 1986. Baron Robert de Rothschild (1880–1946) was the 1936 bobsledding champion of France, and in 1888 E. Cohen of the United States won the Grand National of Tobogganing at St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Montreal Curling Club numbered Canadian Jews among its members in the early 1800s. In 1965, Terry Braunstein skipped the Manitoba rink to the Canadian curling title.

Wrestling

There were a large number of medalists in wrestling at the Olympics. Jews also won medals for wrestling in European, Commonwealth, Empire, and Pan-American Games. Alfred Brull (1876–1944) of Hungary was president of the World Wrestling League.

David Pruzansky of the United States (1971) and Howard Stupp of Canada (1975, 1979) won Pan-American Games gold medals. Keith Peache of England won a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 1974, and Victor Zilberman of the U.S.S.R. was a silver medalist at the European championship. Zilberman later competed for Canada.

Pan American Games medalists included Canada's Gary Kallos, sambo wrestling, gold, 1983; Andrew Borodow, free and Greco-Roman wrestling, two silvers, 1991; and also American Andrew Seras, Greco-Roman wrestling, gold, 1991. Seras and Borodow competed in the Olympic Games in 1988 and 1992.

Ralph (Ruffy) Silverstein (1914–1980) was United States national collegiate champion in 1935 and Maccabiah Games coach in 1965.

Yachting

In 1969, Israel won its first world title in any sport when Ẓefania Carmel and Lydia Lazarov sailed to victory in the 420 class championship. In the United States, Emil ("Bus") Mosbacher, *Jr. (1922–1997), triumphed in American Cup races in 1962 and 1967, and his brother Robert Mosbacher (1927– ) won the world title in the Dragon Class in 1969. Olympic medalists in yachting were Robert ("Buck") Halperin (1908–?), United States, in 1960; and Valentin Mankin, U.S.S.R. in 1968 (gold). The Levinson brothers, Alan and Harry, won a silver medal for the United States in the 1967 Pan-American Games. Other yachtsmen included Baron Phillipe de Rothschild (1902–1988) and Baron Edmund de Rothschild (1845–1934), France; and August *Belmont (1816–1890), Mortimer L. Schiff, and Walter N. *Rothschild (1892–1960), United States.

In Olympic Games competition, Valentin Mankin of the U.S.S.R. won gold (1972, 1980) and silver (1976) medals, and Daniel Cohan of the United States was a bronze medal winner in 1972.

American helmsman Larry Klein won four world's championships between 1983 and 1991. He was named U.S. Yachtsman of the Year in 1989.

[Jesse H. Silver /

Elli Wohlgelernter (2^nd ed.)]

bibliography:

I. Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages (1932², repr. 1960), 381–90; L. Rabinowitz, Social Life of the Jews of Northern France in the 12^th – 14^th Centuries (1938), 225–29; Baron, Community, 1 (1942), 16, 197–98. B. Postal et. al. (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Jews in Sports (1965). add. bibliography: J.M. Siegman, Jewish Sports Legends (2000³); R. Slater, Great Jews in Sports (rev. 2000).