A New York City Marathon Bar Mitzvah

By Shmarya Richler, Marathoner

On Marathon Sunday a Bar Mitzvah took place at the International Minyan tent at the New York City Marathon.

Ron Friedman, who is 77, put on tefillin for the first time.

The story actually started at the beginning of August. As I was finishing my run that day in my hometown of Montreal, I saw a runner wearing an NYC Marathon tee shirt. I approached him and said, “I have one of those too!” We talked and took selfies. Ron told me that he lives in Long Island and was helping his son move to Montreal. I then had the honor and privilege of running with him and had a nice conversation as we ran together.

We connected on Facebook and have been messaging back and forth ever since. On the Friday before Rosh Hashanah he messaged me saying that he would be in Montreal the following week to help his son settle into his condo. He asked if I wanted to meet for coffee on Sunday morning (Erev Rosh Hashanah). I answered that I had a better idea and suggested we go for a run together. That day was the Montreal Marathon so I said that we would run to some point along the route and cheer the runners. We met Sunday morning in front of his son’s place and had our run. During the course of the conversation, I asked him what he is doing about Shofar. He said his son was supposed to arrange something etc. I said that I would be happy to walk over on the first day of Yom Tov and blow shofar for them. So, on the first day Rosh Hashanah I had the privilege of blowing Shofar for Ron, his wife, and son.

Six weeks later on the Motzei Shaboss before the marathon I sent Ron a message and asked him to go to the International Minyan tent before the race to put on Tefillin. I sent him a map of the village showing him where the tent was located. Because he ran with a coach his start was at 8:20. At 7:00 AM the next morning I received this message from Ron. “All done! It was a great experience. They said it was my second bar mitzvah. Thank you for giving me this privilege and experience.” I messaged him “You made my race”. When I arrived at the tent at 9:30 they told me that it was his first time putting on tefillin in his life! Ron’s Bar Mitzvah was the highlight of my marathon that Sunday!

This is a perfect example of the Hashgachah Protis that brought this about. 10 seconds difference on that August day and I never would have met Ron.