NJ Jewish News on-line | Rabbi puts the ‘run' in Jeshurun

A race well run — following the New York City half-marathon, Doug Marocco, left, chair of Run for Autism, greets, from left, Rabbis Michael Friedman, Scott Weiner, and Benjamin David. Photo courtesy Deedee Friedman

Rabbi Michael Friedman had just returned from his weekly run with Rabbis Scott Weiner and Benjamin David in preparation for the New York City half-marathon, which was held Aug. 5. The trio became fast friends during their years together at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Manhattan. Scheduling around the demands of their congregations, running on Thursdays is their way to reconnect each week.

"It's a great way to get together with your buddies," Friedman told NJ Jewish News in a telephone interview prior to the race. "We talk about Jewish stuff, we talk about family life, we talk about what's going on in the world."

David, an assistant rabbi at Temple Sinai in Roslyn Heights, NY, and Weiner, religious leader of the Hebrew Tabernacle Congregation of Washington Heights, New York City, decided to blend their love for running with tzedaka and tikun olam — healing the world — and in 2005 created Running Rabbis. Friedman joined them the following year, the same time he became assistant rabbi at Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in Short Hills.

"For centuries, Jewish leaders have emphasized the importance of tzedakah. We are not to be complacent, but actively give of ourselves for the sake of those who lack. Our ancestors knew well that this requires no shortage of effort and imagination. This endeavor is all about effort and imagination."

"We aim to bring Judaism outside the walls of the synagogue," Friedman told NJJN. "Running is something we like to do, and we hope to spread awareness for these different causes," which have included Team for Kids and NY Yankees manager Joe Torre's Safe at Home Foundation.

For the Aug. 5 event, the rabbis chose to raise funds through Run for Autism, which supports Organization for Autism Research, as their "charity-du-race."

"This is a cause that spoke to us," Friedman said. "We always work with kids with autism…. It's becoming much more prevalent in our world. One in 150 kids in the U.S. is born with autism spectrum disorder. No one knows what causes it, whether it's an environmental or genetic cause. Hopefully, some of the money we raise will take us a couple steps closer to trying to figure out what causes autism and helping families deal with the disorder."

David and Weiner are experienced runners; each has completed several half- and full marathons. But this is a new experience for Friedman.

"I've always been an athlete," he said. "I've run to stay in shape for other sports that I love to do: hiking, skiing, rock climbing. But it's only recently that I've begun running seriously as a pursuit in itself."

Friedman, 30, hoped for decent conditions for his first half-marathon. "They start it really early in the morning, 7 a.m. We're hoping it's not going to be too humid but it is August in New York."

The race began on a warm but thankfully not humid day — just as Friedman had requested — in Central Park and wound its way downtown to finish at Battery Park. Friedman's time was a respectable one hour and 47 minutes (David finished at 1:46, Weiner at 1:48). The next day, he was "just a little sore, but mentally I feel great." Any physical discomfort, he said, was overshadowed by the group's ultimate goal.

"Absolutely. We would want to run anyway, but the fact that we're doing it for a cause just adds to the motivation. It makes it even more special to do it on behalf of the OAR."

Friedman will not be running in the New York City Marathon on Nov. 4. "We're not sure what the next race will be," he said, "but we'll find something and that'll be great."

As of press time, the Running Rabbis had received pledges amounting to almost $3,600 for OAR.