Before I say any more, I should state something about sports in general. I believe there’s a difference between team sports as well as a number of other categories, perhaps fencing which involves a great degree of skill and dexterity, and then other events such as the classic shotput, discus and javelin throwing, as well as, I maintain, timed competitions such as swimming and sprints.

Discus

Competitions that aim to measure the human body and compare its proximity to perfection with that of another is aping specifically what was the ideological motivation behind the original Greek Olympics, upon which today’s modern Olympics are based.

The ancient Greeks held that the human being was the most sublime physical form known, and they set up the olympics (named after Mount Olympus, home to their pagan gods – the mightiest beings) to find that human body that was one shave of one millisecond faster, stronger, better – than anyone else. It was a celebration of the human body. Indeed, the ancient olympics were performed in the nude.

Now, Judaism saw things differently.

For one, our mitzvah (commandment) of circumcision immediately implied that the physical human body itself required perfection, something about which traditional Judaism is steadfast today just as back then. It fuels our whole philosophy, just as the Greeks did theirs. Our job on Earth is to work on ourselves – our actions, speech and thoughts, to achieve as close to perfection as possible, knowing all the while that we’ll never reach it.

For us, we are always plowing up the mountain. For the Greeks, when you’re at the top – where else is there to go? What else is there to do?

The Greeks were disgusted with us. Many Hellenised Jews aligned themselves with Greek sentiment as well, sparking a civil war within ancient Israel. They believed the human form was already perfect and that it demanded no further work, as the Jewish philosophy espoused.

There was a war about this. It lasted around 30 years. We won the battle. It’s called Hannukah. But the war is still fought today.

So now, with such matters at stake, many point out the sick irony of naming our version of the games after the very people we are supposed to celebrate for having fought against it and all it symbolised. To their deaths, in many cases. So problem #1 is imitating the ancient Greeks by having our own olympics, and #2 having the gall to term it after those who fought for the right to maintain the Jewish way of inner and outer work.

Naked Athlete

In Dennis Prager’s words: the Greeks worshipped the holiness of beauty, whilst the Jews worship the beauty of holiness.

Recently, a Friday night Shabbat guest opined that anger has to be in some measure good, because it’s part of our nature. (I recognise that there is much more context to the discussion that I am not including). I said no. Not at all. That is a Greek mode of thinking, filtered through contemporary science. Just because something is natural, does not imply that it is a good. Pretend ‘anger’ has its place in Judaism, but anger itself is recognised as a ‘bad’ no matter how natural an emotion.

The Greek way led to purposelessness and haughtiness (and much more), and therefore extravagance and society’s moral bankruptcy, whereas (real) Judaism leads to meaningfulness, humility and a quiet and principled existence, allowing constant growth and real, bankable, lasting satisfaction of the self.

You may have caught that I don’t think most of us, if any, are actually keeping proper Judaism today. That said, I’m not sure we necessarily can piece back and find what original Judaism was, in all its splendor, without a lot of help. The Vatican’s vaults would be a start. But that shouldn’t stop anyone from trying: Judaism is so replete with avenues towards self improvement one would be mad to let it alone. But one thing is for sure, today, we celebrate the Maccabees not for what they fought for, but for what they represented to the diaspora - Strong, proud Jews standing up for themselves against tyranny. Strong, proud, heroic figures. Judaism never saw strong people as necessarily heroes, quick to point out even Samson’s failing. Rather: “Eizehu Gibor? HaKobesh et Yitzro” Who is a strong person? One who conquers his nature. His inclination, his desires, his physical drives. Heroes are by definition Greek. We prize those who work on themselves inside, not outside. Knowledge and learning put into practice. That’s why the people with the greatest propensity for excellence are those who learn and know a lot. This is why, when friends asked a rabbi for his autograph, and he hesitated, I reassured him: it’s OK, better that they hold you in such regard than a movie star.

Now, there is an argument to say that even team sports are infused with these Greek flavours, in that they seek to pit one team against another to see who’s the best, or perhaps which team has the best and most finely tuned mix of skills and physical attributes. There is a further argument that we don’t have the Greek viewpoint raging in the front, back or even five metres behind our minds when we spin around with that shotput or discus. That there is no longer anything Greek about the olympics.

The first argument I can hear, however the team effect amongst other things makes it less about being the best than about how you play the game, such that when a good game is played, it mirrors war more than it does a test of human abilities. Which is, of course, arguably better! But the point is that everyone appreciates a good game. Just see how prized in cricketing memory is that tied test match with the West Indies. Team sports especially teach one the sublime effect of integrating disparate parts with disparate wants towards a single goal. In my opinion, this training in harmony and the necessary respect one must cultivate for each and every teammate’s unique set and level of skills has a value that outshines the argument. The rebuttle would be that the Australian team travels and lives together and must support each other like family, etc etc. But I think the difference is clear.

The second suggestion, that we’ve moved past what the olympics once were I reject completely. What we do affects how we think, what we want, and who we are. And we can be affected by stimuli on a subconscious or subliminal level as well. The winner of the gold medal shotput tournament leaves with the subtle (or depending on the person not so subtle) knowledge that they are the best out of everyone that was there. It doesn’t matter one whit how fine one’s character to withstand and repel this message – the message is there, and it affects us.

The ones that don’t win the shotput have reinforced within the notion that they must work harder to achieve victory next time, and even the victor in order to maintain their edge, thus pouring hours and hours of talent and promise to waste on things frivolous and pointless beyond measure (no pun intended).

This is a huge topic. It involves a debate on the virtues of cultures foreign to Judaism, versus whether Judaism is self-supporting, self-contained and ‘perfect’ as such. This leads to a question of whether one can gain only additional wisdom about the world from the other nations or whether they can also teach us more about how to live inside of it and our relationship with G-d, than can Judaism alone. A discussion of all media would then be warranted – TV shows, books, movies, music, poetry, etc.

 Soon, G-d-willing, I will write up an example about just how subtly a constant exposure to stimuli foreign to Judaism can affect your thought patterns. And from it you’ll be able to see that the greatest defense available to a Jewish person – indeed any person – is their command of Torah knowledge. This knowledge equips you with the confidence to steer yourself through the confusion, exposing many things in life as what they are.

In the meantime, GO JAMES! (He’s competing in soccer).

put that tiny seedling in your huge brain pool

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Did you miss the Arnold Classic. See the Arnold Classic Highlights Show on WAXX.TV and let us know what you think about this great event