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| Oliver Ferber - A Champion in more ways than one (ESPN) |
No, I’m not talking about Oliver’s athletic abilities. Not that I wouldn’t like to be a better athlete. I would. But that isn’t what inspires me. It is the level of commitment by a 16 year old athlete to the values of his faith. A level of commitment that far too often alludes even the most committed observant Jews among us.
Oliver Ferber opted to do what he believed was right in the eyes of God – and give up the glory of winning a state championship. Something he has surely dreamed about. Making his decision more difficult is that he had to disappoint his teammates, his coach, and even his mother. Even though there are loopholes in Halacha that might have technically permitted him to run. Here is the story from - of all places, ESPN:
Oliver Ferber stood still. In front of him, everyone was moving: His classmates, his running partners, his teammates -- they were all striding and sprinting and pushing themselves through the biggest race of the year on this Saturday morning in November 2021. On any other day, Oliver thought, I'd be among them -- maybe even in front of them. On this day, though, he only watched.
Oliver wasn't injured. He had chosen to stand on the sidelines of Maryland's cross country state championship meet. He had chosen to be wearing khakis and a green sweater instead of the track singlet. He had chosen to be on the outside peering in, staring as his team raced down the final stretch toward the finish line because it was, in his heart, what he thought he had to do.
He still felt the ache of being alone.
It wasn't about the running, really. It wasn't about sports at all. It was about faith and conviction and belief. It was about the weight that comes with confronting one of the hardest questions a person can face: What do you do when everyone you trust is telling you to do one thing, but you're pretty sure you're supposed to do the exact opposite?
There are many facets to this story. All of which increase the Kiddush HaShem. As noted, running isn’t particularly forbidden on Shabbos. I cannot even begin to count how many times I found myself running to Shul on Shabbos morning so that I wouldn’t be late. But running competitively on Shabbos can be problematic. Oliver knew that intuitively.
Adding more to the Kiddush HaShem is that the Jewish day school he attended is pluralistic and does not push observance. Also, his family is not observant. They are culturally Jewish but observe only a few traditional practices. Shabbos is not one of them .
To put it the way his father did: "Shabbat
was not anything different than the other days."
Adding even more to the Kiddush HaShem was the internal struggle Oliver had about whether to join his team on that Shabbos or not. On the one hand there were legitimate loopholes he might have been able to use to run on Shabbos. As was advised by his coach and other religious figures. It was an agonizing decision for him to give up the possibility of winning a state championship. Not only by giving up his own aspirations but by disappointing his teammates. Who all were unhappy with his decision not to run and let him know it. But his sense of right and wrong made him choose what he believed was the right thing to do. He did not run,
So what was it about this young man that inspired him to live a more Godly life – and give up the glory of being a champion? A decision that had earned him the ire of his teammates and the disappointment of his coach and his own mother? I can’t answer that question. But I do believe that there were positive influences in his life that gave him a maturity at age 16 well beyond his years.
First and foremost was that his family supported him:
While Oliver's loved ones might have been a little confused by his change in religious rigor, they largely accommodated him: His mother prepared Friday meals ahead of time, then used special warmers to heat the food because cooking is prohibited on the Sabbath. His friends made weekend plans with him before sundown because he would turn off his phone once Shabbat began…
Once, Oliver and his dad were at the airport on a Friday waiting for a flight to Providence, Rhode Island, so Oliver could visit Brown University. The flight was supposed to land a little after 4 p.m., in plenty of time for the Ferbers to take a taxi to their hotel before sunset at 6 p.m., when Shabbat would begin.
But the flight was delayed. Estimated arrival went to 4:45 p.m. Then 5:10 p.m. Then 5:30 p.m. Scott looked at Oliver and knew. They picked up their suitcases and went home.
Adding even more to the Kiddush HaShem is that his new found religious fervor gave him a sense of ethics all too often missing even among the best of us. As in the following incident:
(Oliver and his cousin, David) attended a Washington Nationals game and were considering moving down to better seats in the later innings. "Oliver, you want to seat jump?" David asked, and Oliver replied, "Well, I need to think about the halachic arguments for if this is an ethical thing to do."
The article only hints at what is perhaps the biggest influence on Oliver:
During the early days of the pandemic, Oliver found himself gravitating more and more toward his Judaism. He began praying more. He began connecting with other Jews who were more observant through youth groups. He began taking a stricter approach to the holiness of Shabbat.
That youth group was NCSY*. I cannot begin to describe the value of this great organization. They have done this kind of thing repeatedly and successfully for many decades. I have witnessed it.
With the unprecedented degree of intermarriage going on among non Orthodox Jews, this organization stands out as a beacon of hope that a fully assimilated and secularized Jewish population does not have to disappear without a fight.
Although their efforts are superhuman, they obviously cannot possibly reach the over 75% of the non Orthodox Jewish public that does not care enough about their Judaism to perpetuate it generationally. But whomever they do inspire towards a more observant lifestyle – saves an entire world of future Jews. But I digress.
Every once in a while, good deeds do get rewarded. In Oliver Ferber’s case, that happened twice. First - in an upset, his team won the state championship even without him. And then Oliver was able to compete next year and win.
That was because of yet another achievement by this young athlete. After many attempts by the school coach to change the date of the race from Shabbos to Sunday and failing, Oliver actually managed to get that job done with a letter to Greg Dunston, the longtime meet director of the state championship race. A sympathetic Dunston actually changed the date of the next championship race to Sunday.
One more thing. That this story was published in a highly popular secular sports medium like ESPN. sefves todpread that Kiddush Hashem well beyond the normal range of the Jewish media.
That and the fact that a secular official respected the commitment to his religious values of a young Jewish athlete enough to change the traditional day of the race from Shabbos to Sunday underscores what I have always said about the vast majority of the American people. They are a people that does not have an antisemitic bone in their body. I do not believe Dunston is an outlier. I believe he exemplifies the majority of American people.
Isn’t it nice to hear a positive story about a religious Jew for a change?
*Disclaimer. My son-in-law is Rabbi Micah Greenland, International Director of NCSY
