Running on tefillin and tehillim

When runners pass through Hillcrest at about the 60km mark during this year’s Comrades Marathon, they can stop to lay tefillin and do other mitzvahs.

The initiative started about 29 years ago, when Rabbi Shlomo Wainer of Chabad of the North Coast in Umhlanga sat on the side of the road in the Mitzvah Tank so that his friend could stop and lay tefillin during the race. “While waiting for my friend to run past, another two runners came and asked to put on tefillin,” recalls Wainer. “That became the beginning of what we do today.”

Wainer says laying tefillin during the race “spiritualises the Comrades. It gives it another purpose. It’s about having opportunities to do mitzvahs. The runners have a chance to make brachot. The ladies say tehillim.”

This year, the Comrades falls on Rosh Chodesh Elul (the beginning of the month of Elul) for the first time. “We will say kaddish, make sure we have a minyan, and learn a Mishnah in the Haftorah,” says Wainer. “I have food for them to eat and other refreshments. It’s a point for their supporters to come and meet them. At times, we have had 40 or 50 people there in the past.”

Many runners have shed a tear while laying tefillin during the race, says six-time Comrades medallist Selwyn Kahlberg. “It’s a big deal for the runners, and cannot be missed.”

The spiritual opportunities aren’t limited to the day of the race. “We make a whole weekend out of it,” says Wainer. “This year, we have a Shabbos dinner.” Nine-time Comrades winner Bruce Fordyce will be the guest speaker. “We have more than 100 people coming. At shul, we’ll welcome the novices to the Comrades family.”