For the second time in my life, I have agreed to do something without double checking all of the calendars. I will be running the Ragnar Michigan Relay this September on Yom Kippur. Doh! The last time I did something stupid like this was when I with two of my friends put our names in Mount Whitney trail-permit lottery. We were lucky enough to have our names picked. The unfortunate thing was that the 2 days we were allowed to hike to the summit fell on Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur. What unfortunate luck.
I couldn't decided what to do. I really wanted to hike to the top of Mt. Whitney (a bucket list item) but I had never missed being in temple on Yom Kippur which is probably the most important holiday of the Jewish year. If I did go on the hike, I wondered if I should I fast which is a traditional Yom Kippur observance. I kept going back and forth for about a week. Then I decided I should just go and speak with my Rabbi and see what he would say. Maybe he would make the decision for me.
I went to the temple and met with my Rabbi and explained the predicament I was in. I figured that I would get a lecture about the importance of the holiday and that I should be in temple on the holiest day of the year asking for forgiveness from G-d. Instead I had an extremely open and honest discussion around the meaning of the holiday and how hiking to the top the highest summit in the contiguous United States could actually bring me closer to Him. As the Rabbi said, "You'll be at 14,505 ft which is that much closer to Heaven." I never imagined that I would basically be given permission to go by my Rabbi.
As I look back on that conversation, I realized that what the Rabbi was telling me is that G-d does not require me to connect with Him only in the temple. Sure we Jews have ensconced ourselves in our traditions including attending services to protect us from contemplating Torah's true contemporary relevance. My wife and I enjoy going to services at our temple. But the truth is that we don't have to affiliate with a temple in order to live Jewish lives. G-d is all in things and ever present. So my hike on Yom Kippur actually placed me squarely into His creation. During those two days, I meditated and read from the High Holiday Siddur finding G-d through my observation of nature. As King David said in Psalms 8:4, God is can be found in nature: "When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, I am inspired to realize my insignificance in relationship to God, Who is overwhelming."
Here I was again faced with a dilemma - run with my relay team or stay home and go to temple. In the end there was really no choice. I was going to run. You see running is very spiritual for me. It is my time to feel alive and connected to the world around me. Connection with my physical senses allows me to learn more about myself and just what gifts G-d has given me. As a runner, I am more affected by what I see, hear, touch, smell, and taste than by what I have learned these past 55 years. Therefore G-d becomes more real and intense for me through my running. If you had asked me back when I came to Judaism if I believed in G-d, I would have said I don't know. But today, I would say yes without a doubt.
I know that I will still spiritually connect with G-d on Yom Kippur this year. As I run each of the legs of the relay, I will be thinking about the list of final judgment questions that we Jews contemplate on the Day of Atonement. I will review the transgressions I committed this year (including skipping Yom Kippur services) and find ways to change myself to do a better job of living my life with purpose, goodness, and worth and hopefully achieve a sense of peace within myself. And that is what the High Holidays are really about. I have learned that Judaism is not simply a shopping list of do’s and don’ts. I choose to live my Jewish life as a way to constantly improve my character to ultimately attain the inner peace of becoming my best and truest self.
June 19 – 5.50 miles (56:50, 10:20 pace) - Hill Repeats
June 20 – 6.30 miles (55:37, 8:50 pace) - Speed Work
June 22 – 8.40 miles (1:14:29, 8:52 pace) - Tempo Run
June 23 – 5.20 miles (45:53, 8:50 pace)
June 24 – 7.50 miles (1:10:10, 9:21 pace)
June 26 – 7.20 miles (1:03:49, 8:52 pace) - Mile Repeats
June 29 – 4.10 miles (40:32, 9:53 pace)
June 30 – 5.20 miles (46:50, 9:01 pace)
July 1 – 8.20 miles (1:16:39, 9:21 pace)
July 2 – 8.20 miles (01:17:25, 9:26 pace)
Total Miles: 65.8 miles
2017 Total Miles: 934.3 miles
No comments:
Post a Comment