Jewish Women and Physical Culture Training at Various Jewish Ys in Early Twentieth-Century American Culture

Abstract

Jewish women learned about physical culture and sporting practices at Young Men’s- and Young Women’s Hebrew Associations, Jewish Ys, in early twentieth-century American culture. As immigrant Jewish women, and then as American Jewish women, the pursuit of physical health became a part of the mission of teaching American and Jewish values at the Jewish Ys. The types of physical culture training for Jewish women varied at different Jewish Ys due to the gender contours of physical culture and sport typically remaining a male prerogative in American life and American Jewish life. Why did various Jewish Ys promote physical culture training as part of their programmes for women? At times Jewish women faced inequities in seeking access to gymnasiums and swimming pools for physical culture training to promote sound health and social values. The Jewish Ys strived to promote the religious and physical welfare of Jews in communities in the United States. Yet, Jewish women’s physical culture training needed to fit with gender expectations about physical activity and sport for women in American Jewish communities and larger American communities in the early decades of the twentieth century. The historical study in this chapter contributes to women’s and gender history, sport history, American Jewish history, and religious studies and sport studies.