Sports Events
and Athletes Featured in Israeli and Topical
Judaica
Philately
(5/1/2008)
Evan Kassimir
Introduction
During this spring semester I
enrolled in a class where our professor, Dr.
Blumenthal, instructed my classmates and me to extensively research a topic
within The Sol Singer Collection of Philatelic Judaic.
The Sol Singer Collection is a Judaic
philatelic collection that was donated to Emory University. The Collection has
been separated into three series and has been extensively categorized due to
the efforts of the staff of Emory Library,
Dr. David Blumenthal, and Levi Stewart. The goal of our class was to further
classify the collection. I chose to study the category of Jewish sporting
events and athletes. I focused mainly on the stamps within the collection, as
well as outside recourses. Through my research and the efforts of my outside
sources, I was able to compile a comprehensive list of Judaic sports stamps that
were found in the Emory Collection, as well as a list on stamps that could not
be found in the Collection. After compiling my stampcharts, I noticed several
puzzling anomalies that I felt sufficient research would be able to explain.
ÒThe Emory
Stampchart of Israeli and Topical Judaica Postage StampsÓ
This
stampchart was composed in a format designed by Dr. David Blumenthal and
Geoffrey Horowitz, classifying the collection of stamps both within and outside
of the Sol Singer Collection. The following eighteen rubrics were observed, all
of which were contained on an Excel spreadsheet:
Basic
Country of Issue
Date of Issue
Scott Catalogue number (or other
catalogue number)
IPS (Israeli Philatelic Service)
number (for Israeli stamps only)
Content
Title (usually from one of the catalogues)
Description (usually from one of
the catalogues)
Additional Information (usually
provided by us)
Internet Links (provided by us)
Categories (the
purpose of this is to provide searchable categories)
Category A
Category B
Category C
MARBL Categories (provided by the
Library cataloguers)
Philatelic
Format
Denomination
Color
Locators
Volume (in the Singer Collection)
Sequence (within each volume of the
Singer Collection)
Non-Emory Source (for stamps added
to the stamp chart not in the Singer Collection)
ÒThe Emory Stampchart of Israeli and Topical Judaica Postage
StampsÓ is available online.
Additionally, Professor Blumenthal created
a subsequent stampchart designed to eliminate repeated entries. This
compilation contains only one format per catalogue entry. It is called ÒA
General Stampchart of Israeli and Judaica Topical Postage StampsÓ and is also
available for online viewing in various forms.
After choosing my topic, ÒJudaic Events and Athletes,Ó I was instructed by Dr. Blumenthal to sort my collection according the guidelines of these categories. I began to sort through this collection and the entries composed by the MARBL staff (Emory University Librarians). After many hours of research, I had successfully separated the stamps relevant to my category. I discovered that The Sol Singer Collection held 110 stamps based on Jewish events and athletes. While sorting through these stamps was an accomplishment, I was far from finished with my task. I began to seek outside sources that could lead me to stamps that could not be found in the Sol Singer Collection. The Library Staff and Emory University introduced me to a book by Isaac Borodinsky called Judaica In Philately[1]. This book combined with the efforts of Claude Wainstain, a keen reader of Gary GoodmanÕs monthly newsletter, The Judaic Newsletter[2], allowed me to compile a comprehensive list of 166 stamps, of sporting events and athletes, which could not be found in the Sol Singer Collection. This generated "The Stampchart for Jewish Events and Athletes on Israeli and Topical Judaica Postage Stamps," arranged by country and date.
From this
point, I attempted to organize my collection into three categories (A, B and
C). Category A was labeled as ÒSports,Ó Category B as ÒType of Sport/Event,Ó
and males and females separated Category C. The goal of this was to help
viewers to locate relevant information regarding Jewish events and athletes
featured within my collection.
ÒThe Stampchart
for Jewish Events and Athletes on
Israeli and Jewish
Topical Postage StampsÓ
I
have compiled, what I believe to be, a nearly completed spreadsheet on all
Judaic sports stamps. I have split my spreadsheet into two different sheets:
stamps owned by Emory University and stamps that are missing from the
University collection. In the Emory University collection there are
110-recorded stamps that depict sports activities or athletes and 166 stamps
not found in the Emory Collection.
According to the data I have
compiled, the following conclusions seem reasonable:
¥ Israel has issued the most stamps
based on Judaic sports and events. There are roughly, 73 issued Israeli sports
stamps compared to roughly 191 issued sports stamps from around the world.[3]
¥ Many of the stamps that are
issued by Israel do not depict certain athletes, but rather events such as the
Munich Olympics and the Maccabiah Games.
¥ While there were several famous
Jewish female athletes, either men or certain events were mostly depicted on
the stamps issued by all the countries.
¥ Judaica topical sports stamps
issued by nations other than Israel tend to depict sports heroes such as Mark
Spitz rather than events such as the death of the 11 athletes in Munich.
¥ October 1st 1950, was
the earliest date of issue for any Judaic sports stamp; it was an Israeli stamp
that depicted the 3rd Maccabiah games. Through my research I have
discovered that Israel issues one stamp a year based on the Maccabiah games,
the Munich Olympics and other sporting events. This is the reason why Israel
has the most stamps dedicated to the topic of sports athletes, events, and
heroes.
¥ Several countries also issued
stamps on Judaic sporting events such as the Maccabiah Games (i.e. Brazil,
France, Romania and Uruguay). The Maccabiah Games are an international Jewish
athletic competition similar to the Olympics, which are held in Israel every four
years. The Maccabiah Games are one of the five largest sporting events in the
entire world. I was extremely puzzled why a country such a Brazil would issue a
stamp based on the Maccabiah Games. After much research, I discovered that
because the games have been so widely known for the past several decades,
several countries have developed Maccabiah Òspin-offÓ games. France, the United
States, Great Britain and Brazil all have their own separate Maccabiah Games.
These events are open to all Jewish people.
¥ Several nations such as Guyana
and Sierra Leone published stamps that were based upon the 1972 Munich Olympics
during which 11 Israeli men were taken captive and killed because of the
ongoing political situation between the Palestinians and the Israelis at that
time. Why would a nation that was not affected by the situation publish a stamp
that was based on Judaic sentiment? I discovered that small nations such as
Guyana develop a good amount of their income on the creation and issuing of
stamps. These nations have problems with unskilled workers and large amounts of
national debt. Because of these facts, these nations issue stamps to develop
some income, not because they are sympathetic to the Israelis.
We welcome comments on our
stampcharts. We welcome articles written on philatelic Judaica that utilize our
stampcharts. Correspondence should be directed to Professor David R.
Blumenthal, Tam Institute of Jewish Studies, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
30322, USA, or at his email address.
[1] Borodinsky,
Isaac. Judaica in Philately. 3rd ed. 3
vols. 2003.
[2] To subscribe, please contact Gary Goodman.
[3] All are included in the Stampchart, including those in the Emory Collection and those outside it.