The human spirit is stronger than the body. This was proven to me on a recent spring day during the Tel Aviv Marathon. I came to cheer on my wife Betsy, who had joined some 18,000 other runners, and was taking on the half-marathon - 21.1 kilometers. Over the course of two hours, as I waited for her, I chatted with other spectators, wandered around the various booths selling sports accessories, and relaxed on a bench on the Tel Aviv boardwalk, reading the weekend newspaper and trying not to let the news dampen my mood. Generally, people in Israel who want to maintain their good spirits should stay away from newspapers.
As the time approached for Betsy to reach the final stretch, I slowly made my way to the finish line. Finally, I spotted her among the thousands of other runners.
She was full of energy and spirit, and it seemed to me that she could have turned around and run the whole race again. But instead, we went to meet another couple - friends who live in Tel Aviv - for brunch. And then we saw her.
She was seated in a special wheelchair, adapted for running. She wasn't the only person in a wheelchair who participated in the marathon. More and more people with physical disabilities in Israel are joining in sports events. But then she propelled her wheelchair in our direction and we saw that there was nothing below her torso, she had no legs. She was approaching a raised median strip that separated between the two lanes of a major thouroughfare that she was clearly intending to cross. We were about fifty meters away from her. There were people around her, any one of whom she could have asked for assistance. "Watch", I whispered to my wife, as I realized what this young woman was about to do. Pulling herself up out of her chair, and using her hands, she propelled herself up onto the raised dividing strip (see the picture below). Then this incredible sportswoman pulled her wheelchair up beside her and sat down in it. It seemed pretty clear that she did not need any assistance, but still, my wife approached a group of police and asked them to check with her and see if she needed anything. But before the police officer even reached her, she'd already made her way to the other side of the road, and using the same system, continued on her way.
That anonymous woman made a strong impression on me. I don't know who she is, what her name is, where she's from or what she does. I managed to take a picture of her from the back, thinking that I had to tell my children about her. During Shabbat, I related our encounter with this remarkable woman.
Our bodies concern us all the time. Particularly when something doesn't function as it should - if its pain, a wound, a cough or just a pulled muscle - we are constantly reminded of this infraction on our physical wellbeing. In the blessing "Who Created", we express gratitude for our intact bodily functions, in all their miraculous complexity, lest we take their existence for granted.
The fascinating encounter from afar with that anonymous sportswoman is deeply etched into my consciousness. It affirmed for me the strength and determination of the spirit to overcome physical challenges, as a triumphant expression of personal freedom. And these expressions of freedom, beyond the sphere of the body, must also be appreciated. Because even though they seem to us so obvious, can we imagine not having the the freedom to choose our leaders, the freedom to travel, the freedom to work, the freedom to establish a family, just to name a few?
In a conversation with my friend Betsy Stern, who lives in the United States, we ran through a not so short list of reasons for concern. Looming high on that list was Israel's enemies who, as in most of the history of the Jewish people, look like they are preparing to finish us off. At the end of the conversation, I proposed to Betsy that we should also look at the full half of the cup: in all the years of Jewish history, throughout all the generations, our situation has never been better than it is this pre- Passover Holiday. Perhaps tomorrow will be worse. But it is also important to acknowledge and appreciate today.
With the Passover holiday, holiday of freedom, approaching, we can wish for each other that we strive and succeed to express our freedom - physical and spiritual - for ourselves, our communities, and our nation.
Happy Holiday!
