My mitzvah marathon: my way
The senior rabbi of Masorti Judaism describes his upcoming big run - and the charities he's running it for
I’m looking forward with excitement, and anxiety, to running the London Marathon this Sunday. I’m undertaking the race for The Israel Guide Dog Centre UK and for Tree Aid, two causes I love, and I’m doing it my way.
That isn’t as wilful as it sounds. The virtual marathon, as it was then called, began, I believe, as a response to Covid, when it was unthinkable to bring thousands of people to run together. Instead, participants had to run on the correct date and cover the required distance of just over 26 miles as measured by the official app or an equivalent, but they could choose their own route.
When it became safe to re-open the official track, the virtual marathon was not abolished. With the tens of thousands of places on the central London route filled, why stop thousands of others running for charity too? Only, the name was changed. ‘Virtual’ made it sound as if so-called runners were sitting in front of their computers propelling a dot across a map on a screen. So it was renamed The London Marathon MyWay, which is definitely an improvement.
My own way will be largely tree-lined, but for sad and obvious reasons I’m sharing no details. I have no ambitions to beat my personal best, but when a congregant asked me on which date I would finish and followed up with a question as to whether it would be in the same year, I did push back.
I’m running for Israel’s guide and trauma dog training centre. Yes, it is because I love dogs. But it’s more than that. I’ve heard many blind people speak of how their dog has not just been their seeing eyes but has given them back their independence, their opportunity to live a fuller life.
But, as Noach Braun who founded the centre in Bet Oved made clear to me, even more urgently needed in these frightening times are PTSD and companion dogs. Animals don’t need words, an Israeli friend who has gone through months of trauma explained. There are no awkward questions, you don’t have to say anything at all. They feel from the heart and communicate their love to the heart. It seems like no accident that celev, dog, can also be read as ce’lev, meaning ‘like the heart.’ Dogs so often are the heart of their household. Noach sent me a gorgeous video of puppies; each one will bring comfort and affection to an entire family.
I’m also running for Tree Aid. My father, whose yahrzeit came this week, adored his garden trees. My mother loved the natural world. To me, trees are like the wisest teachers; patient and sage, they quieten the ceaseless voices in our heads and calm our consciousness. I like to pray among them, to join the minyan of their meditations. Tree Aid supports women’s group in Africa, enabling them to plant Shea Trees, and similar, which bring an income and help their children get to school. Tree Aid is also part of the immense project of creating a corridor of forests across the entire breadth of Africa, to prevent the drift of the Sahara.
I know I shall have low moments while I’m running. I’ll have to combat the inner voices which say, ‘You can’t do it. You’re not up to it.’ When that happens, I’ll try to think of the puppies, and the trees, and the people who’re supporting me, and, hopefully, keep on going.
Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg’s substack can be read here.
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