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| Cover story in Mishpacha Magazine |
Jonathan Rosenblum had the opportunity to meet and talk to him resulting in a detailed story of Oliver’s trek toward observance while otherwise staying committed to his talent and his team. A team that at first was highly disappointed by his refusal to run in a championship meet on Shabbos - but eventually came to respect him. He also got a lot of pushback from his own family though at first they encouraged and even accommodated him. For them not running in a state championship competition crossed a line. But they too ended up respecting his decision.
One may recall the inspiring story of this young man, reported at ESPN. Oliver is a championship caliber sprinter on his high school - JDS’s cross-country team. JDS is a nondenominational Jewish high school.
The story is inspirational in the sense that he came to be observant because he actually thought about what it means to be Jewish and found it in following Halacha. A decision that made him skip a championship run for his school with his teammates.
It was his intellectual curiosity and commitment to Emes that caused him to arrive at a decision that was incomprehensible to his teammates, his coach and even his parents. Parents that were actually very proud of their Jewish heritage and kept many of the traditions associated with it - although not actually being observant. This is why they sent him to a non denominational Jewish school where most of the teachers and students are not observant.
Oliver’s convictions led him to choose not to run on Shabbos even though he might have had a technical loophole to do it. He instinctively understood that although running is not forbidden on Shabbos - doing so in a highly competitive competition involved a lot of exertion and even pain, which is counter to the idea of the requirement of Oneg Shabbos – enjoying Shabbos. This is why Tircha Yiseira (excessive effort) is forbidden on Shabbos.
One may recall that although his team feared that Oliver’s absence would result in losing the opportunity for a state championship, in the end they won anyway. That Mishpacha story ended with the following as reported by Jonathan:
With his newfound confidence from passing the Shabbos test, he followed his coach’s advice and wrote a letter to Mr. Greg Dunston, the longtime meet director of the state championship race, in which he described what he had gone through leading up to the state championship race:
I could either race at states, which would fall during Shabbat, and violate all of my religious beliefs, or I could observe Shabbat, but potentially deny the opportunity to myself and my teammates of winning a state championship…
I felt extraordinarily depressed and anxious. Those days were the most stressful once I’ve experienced in my life…
[For] me, and future runners, it would mean the world to be able to both race and keep Shabbat.
Dunston, who had previously brushed aside similar requests from Coach Belinkie, was moved by Oliver’s request and decided to see whether he could accommodate it: “You could tell by his letter that he really wanted to compete and be with his teammates. And this was going to be the last time he would get to do it.”
In mid-June, Oliver and his teammates learned that the 2022 state championships would be held on Sunday. Not only did Oliver get his chance to compete, but last November, he celebrated together with his teammates, as JDS captured its second successive state championship for small private schools.
This is more than about what one determined young Jewish thinker decided to do with his life. It is about the fact that thinking about what it means to be a Jew will lead one to understand what that means. That it is not some sort of mushy identification with Jewish tradition as long as it doesn’t interfere in any way with one’s lifestyle choices. It is about deciding to act according to the ideals behind those traditions. Most of which originate as Halacha.
It is also the story of NCSY. Which had a major role in teaching him what Judaism is really all about. NOT by forcing him to do anything. But by showing him what it is like to be an observant Jew. If one is a thinker and idealist like Oliver, the decision to follow Halacha was the only way to honor his commitment to Judaism
Oliver’s story is indeed inspirational. It will hopefully inspire many other no observant young Jews to think about their own commitment to their heritage and to understand what that commitment is really all about. Being published at ESPN – as it originally was - will surely give his story a lot more exposure than it might have gotten had it only been published in the Jewish media.
But other than being reported at ESPN, Oliver’s story is not unique. NCSY’s history is filled with stories like that. Stories that have taken non observant teens and transformed them into observant Jews in a variety of Hashkafos across the entire spectrum of Orthdoxy. NCSYers have joined Chasidus, Chabad, the Yeshiva world; Centrism, and left wing Modern Orthodoxy. All of which have one thing in common. Observance of Halacha.
If anyone thinks this is just a pitch to support NCSY, well it is. Not necessarily in financial ways -although that is certainly needed and would surely be welcome by them, Their myriad programs across the globe require funding that the OU (of which NCSY is part of) cannot possibly pay for. But perhaps more importantly to disabuse some people of the notion that NCSY is somehow Treif since it's functions place male and female teenagers together in most of their programs. But stories like Oliver’s should not only make everyone of all stripes support them but should motivate young people that might have been skeptics about NCSY to now join them as advisors. If that would happen, it might become an even greater game changer than it is now.
Disclaimer: My son-in-law is Rabbi Micha Greenland, International Director of NCSY
