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The ancient history of the Jewish people testifies of many a reference to forced exiles imposed on the Jews resulting in a centuries-long journey of wandering and persecution that culminated in the Nazi Holocaust of the 20 century. It is argued by theorists of the body that this history of non-resistance on the part of the Jews affected the physiognomy of the Jewish male in such a tremendous manner that physically transformed the stature of the Jew into one that is frail, short-sized and pale. It was not until the late 19 century that the Jewish thinker Max Nordau (co-founder of the World Zionist Organization and close friend to Theodor Herzl) introduced the image of the “muscle Jew” at the Second Zionist Congress held in 1898 as an idealistic aspiration necessary to the realization of the Zionist scheme. “Muscular Judaism” then evolved into a body of studies and theories that examined the role of history and collective memory in the physical “regeneration” of the male Jewish body into one that is militarily fit to fight for self reaffirmation. This paper purposefully introduces the background of this body of theories and literature and frames it within the field of evolutionary aesthetics for a better demonstration of the journey accompanying the metamorphosis of the male Jewish body for Zionist and political ends. The present study also examines the related implications of this physical change on the birth of the concept of the “New Hebrew Man” and on the violent behavior of Israeli military recruits in the years preceding and following the creation of Israel in 1948.

Evolutionary Aesthetics and the Hebrew Male Body: Study of the Zionist metamorphosis of the Jewish masculine body and the birth of the “muscle Jew”