Running with a Purpose

As most of you who read this blog know, I am Jewish. As a Jew I subscribe to the belief that we are all placed on this planet for a reason. No, you don't always know what that reason is and you should not expect to know. I do know that I was raised to help others who are less fortunate than me. As I studied the basic tenets of Judaism, I learned about the concept of tikkun olam. The basic definition of tikkun olam is "repair the world". The concept of repairing the world has come to mean so many things and has been interpreted in many different ways by Jewish people. I tend to define it as a requirement to strive to help those who can't help themselves.

The basic story from Lurianic Kabbalah is:

God contracted the divine self to make room for creation. Divine light became contained in special vessels, or kelim, some of which shattered and scattered. While most of the light returned to its divine source, some light attached itself to the broken shards. These shards constitute evil and are the basis for the material world; their trapped sparks of light give them power.

The first man, Adam, was intended to restore the divine sparks through mystical exercises, but his sin interfered. As a result, good and evil remained thoroughly mixed in the created world, and human souls (previously contained within Adam's) also became imprisoned within the shards.

The "repair," that is needed, therefore, is two-fold: the gathering of light and of souls, to be achieved by human beings through the contemplative performance of religious acts. The goal of such repair, which can only be effected by humans, is to separate what is holy from the created world, thus depriving the physical world of its very existence—and causing all things return to a world before disaster within the Godhead and before human sin, thus ending history.

What does this have to do with running? It is simple really. I have found that the running community is a very giving and altruistic group of people. When you sign up for a race have you ever noticed how many of them are raising money for some local charity. If you go on the internet you will find thousands of races who take their name or mission from the charities they are raising money to support. I know so many runners like myself who find motivation and inspiration by running a race to help support a greater cause. Isn't this one of the ways that we as runners can help with tikkun olam?

If you go back and read my race report from my running of the Boston Marathon last year you will see how I felt about running for a charity. I can say without any reservation that I was able to train effectively and set a PR because of the fact that I was running for a higher purpose. You may disagree. But, I know that there was something else out there that helped me on that given day that I can't explain. I can only say that it was my most satisfying running experience in all of my years of running.

All of this brings me to a new running organization that was created to help others. It is Jrunners. They were " recently founded in Brooklyn by three 30-ish Brooklynites, Steven Friedman, Matt Katz and Saul Rosenblum, family men and professionals who love to run. What they love even more is running for good causes—so when a neighbor contracted ALS, a severe degenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, they put together a non-profit organization to bring Jewish runners together to raise money for charity. Their tag line is “We Run for Those Who Can’t!” and their first race is for the benefit of that ALS family." As far as I know, this is the first Jewish running club created just to raise money for others. It is the perfect example of taking your passion to a higher level and performing an act of gemilut hasadim (acts of kindness). Plus the race they have set up looks like something I would love to try some time.

I am planning to run for a charity again in the future. Until then, I am going to support my friends and family who run to help repair our world. If you are a runner, I hope you will choose to run for a higher purpose. If you aren't a runner, take the time to support those runners who are running for a cause that is dear to your heart. We as runners should continue to work together to improve society through our running for those causes that move us.

Here are my training totals:

July 4 – 11.00 miles (1:39:41, 8:45 pace)
July 5 – 6.20 miles (53:33, 8:38 pace)
July 6 – 3.50 miles (29:50, 8:31 pace) – Speed work, Mile repeats
July 8 – 6.10 miles (48:55, 8:01 pace) – Tempo Run
July 9 – 6.20 miles (54:54, 8:51 pace)
July 10 – 10.20 miles (1:33:03, 9:07 pace)

Total Miles: 43.20 miles
2010 YTD Miles: 884.50 miles