away from his competition at Sunday's Cape
Cod Marathon is Falmouth, Mass.
Photo courtesy of Victoria Ornstein
“I thought to myself, 'I could do this,' and I told it to everyone next to me,” Chein said. “They laughed at me.”
Nobody was laughing Sunday when Chein successfully completed the 29th annual Cape Cod Marathon in Falmouth, Mass., finishing the 26.2-mile course in four hours and 17 minutes to come in 556th out of 970 runners who made it to the end. He had never run in a marathon before and hadn't engaged in any sports since the age of 13.
MARATHON: Rabbi on the run
away from his competition at Sunday’s Cape
Cod Marathon is Falmouth, Mass.
Photo courtesy of Victoria Ornstein
While walking with his wife Chanie near Central Park last year, Peretz Chein, the 30-year-old rabbi of the Chabad House at Brandeis, watched runners of all ages complete the 2005 New York City Marathon. It was then, in a moment of inspiration, that he decided to attempt something you don’t often expect from a rabbi.
“I thought to myself, ‘I could do this,’ and I told it to everyone next to me,” Chein said. “They laughed at me.”
Nobody was laughing Sunday when Chein successfully completed the 29th annual Cape Cod Marathon in Falmouth, Mass., finishing the 26.2-mile course in four hours and 17 minutes to come in 556th out of 970 runners who made it to the end. He had never run in a marathon before and hadn’t engaged in any sports since the age of 13.
Chein’s motivation for this endeavor was more spiritual than athletic. At Chabad’s Shabbat dinner one week after his trip to New York in 2005, Chein spoke to Brandeis students about the importance of doing things in life that are so beyond them that they never even considered trying, with the goal of inspiring students to do good deeds in Judaism they never thought were possible. Teaching by example, Chein promised the crowd that he would run the full 26.2 miles of a marathon within the next year.
“What I try to do with my life is to inspire people to do new things, particularly within Judaism,” Chein said. “I wanted to prove to myself that what I try to inspire within others is possible, while motivating them to do the same.”
He also said he believes in the power of sports as a motivational tool.
“Sports requires more than physical ability,” Chein said. “To me, it is predominantly about motivation, focus and spiritual ability. Therefore, sports can be a tremendous vehicle to inspire.”
But even after Chein’s bold guarantee, he felt underestimated.
“At the time, it just seemed like nice speech to the students,” Chein said.
“When Peretz told me he was running, I suggested that he do a half-marathon,” said Victoria Ornstein ’06, a Brandeis Chabad board member.
But on Sunday, Chein exceeded all expectations, including his own, by finishing the marathon as quickly as he did. His wife and several students who attended even missed him at more than half of the scheduled checkpoints during the race. “He was running so fast and ahead of schedule,” Ornstein said. “We couldn’t keep up with him.”
“I didn’t expect to run at such a quick pace,” Chein said.
Chein faced extremely windy conditions during the race, as well as a long stretch of rolling hills on the second half of the course, which he was informed of just days before the event. Although he started feeling wear and tear toward the latter portion of the marathon, Chein still managed to finish in impressive time.
“I was confident that I would finish throughout the race, and my adrenaline was really pumping,” Chein said. “The first 15 miles were a breeze, but it got really tough around the 18th mile.”
In order to train for the marathon, Chein ran predominantly in Waltham and on the treadmill. He said it wasn’t easy for him at first.
“After I made my promise, I got on the treadmill for 10 minutes until my lungs and legs told me, ‘Peretz, get off,’” he said. “I was wondering what I had gotten myself into.”
But despite his initial struggles, Chein knew he could not go back on his word.
“I realized that I had a responsibility to deliver on my promise,” he said.
A week and a half before Sunday, Chein ran for 21 miles, assuring himself he was capable of completing the race.
If Chein’s idea was to provide inspiration through this feat, he certainly accomplished his objective. “I always looked up to him, and this really taught me about focus and determination,” Chanie said.
“To see a grown man with two children and a wife run a full marathon and do so well is incredibly inspiring,” Ornstein said. “We were all blown away by his perseverance.”
just a walker
YEAH! That totally rocks! Good for you, R’ Chein!
mom
awesome!
very inspiring!
nice
this is quite unbelevable, yasher koach, and its good for brias hagoof!
leah larson
hi cheins!! that’s so cool, yasher koach!
MSG
Still wondering why you hadn’t played since the age of 13, but i guess you still have it in you KID.
Rock on!
Mendel on Montgomery
More of us should follow this example. How about a Crown Heights Running Club?
55
great job! and nice kiddush lubavitch
Cool
Chabad in the News again! Go Chein!
sarah and ilan fuchs
peretz, we’re so proud of you!!! you’ve always been such an inspiration to those around you. keep running…!
zalmy
way to go!!!
cousin merele
PERETZ WOW!!!!!!!!!!! maybe we could get the whole extended family to move a little….na, forget it. but this really shows that if you set your mind to something, your feet will follow. KOL HAKAVOD. you taght me a great lesson. but, no, i am not going to run the NY marathon…..
D.L. and Meir Ashkenazi
Awesome job Peretz!! Wow!
moshe
mendel on montg…
i like ure idea…do s.t about it.. its a gr8 idea…ud be surprised how many ppl may join..i would…
me
I was very inspired by this article! It’s a great moshel!
Hirshel Tzig
Is this was a Shliach of the Rebbe should be "inspired" to do?
Will Peretz write this in his next דו"ח to the Rebbe? Would he tell this to the Rebbe were he to pass by at dollars?
What’s happening to Shluchim?!!!!
Upset at Hirshel- Peret-z fan
excuse you hershel tzig- what have you done lately- inspired anyone to do something above and beyond. what peretz did was show everyone out there- that if you have u rmind set you can do you can grow- he showed his college students- exactly what a chossid of the rebbe is- someone who goes above and beyond the letter of the law!!!!
HIRSHEL HOW ARE YOU BRINGING MOSHIACH TODAY?? ARE YOU A SHLIACH- DO YOU INSPIRE OTHERS? ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS AND THEN POST A RESPONSE!!!
another fan
i agree totally with the person thats upset with hirshel..
what rabbi chein did it’s simply amazing!!!!!!
Hirshel Tzig
All that is good and well, and it’s simply because of his stature that he shouldn’t be doing things like this, let alone publicize it. What’s next? he’ll announce that he did 1000 push-ups?
Because he’s a shliach and brings Moshiach, that’s why we expect more!
Chezzy
Hirshel Tzig,
Whats up with you man? A shliach runs in a marathon and you get all bent out of shape? First of all, the TORAH says V’nishmartem meod l’nafshosaichem! In short, it is a MITZVAH to be healthy! Secondly, it is a kiddush hashem! Finally, it’s an excellent way to bring Moshiach. you have no idea, maybe students/people were and still are inspired by his actions. After all, he can tell them, I ran a marathon, you can put on tfilin etc.
Moshiach will come by our deeds, not by screaming yechi!
Motivation
That is the story of success. You face a lot of setbacks and with perseverance, you pull through. You keep going. Just keep going. And when it just seems hopeless, and you still keep going, you succeed.
Bam Bam
Hirshel Tzig,
Chill Out!!
The Torah demands that yidden be healthy!
What he did is a kiddush hashem.
Finally, you have no idea how many people were inspired to do mitzvos because he ran the marathon. Deeds like this will bring moshiach, being critical of others will not!
Hersherl-s Bitterness
Hershel cut out your baloney about what a "Shliach frrrrrrrom de rrrreeeebe is supposed to do. Im sure he is giving a lot of nachas and is bringing more yiddden back than you and your bitterness. We Libavitchers use any kosher or pareve means to bring people closer to yiddishkeit which includes THE INTERNET oy yoy yoy and other stuff. So go to manhattan and get busy putting teffillin on some people.
YS
Hirshel
It’s good to see that someone with Chasidishe values still exists
Energizer Bunny
Hirshel
I think your comment have some truth to them; however, sometimes one has to look at who is performing this action before you critisize. A shliach for a college campus may have to take certain approaches in Hafatzah that may be un-acceptable for shliach involved in the pulpit.
I don’t think the shilach in SF on a Harley, or Fishel Jacobs in Kfar Chabad performing karate shows as part of his hafatzah, was ever considered unacceptable.
I have known Peretz for many years and I can assure you he did not perform this act to lower himself down to the level of his Mushpoim, but this is an attempt to elevate the level of the people that he is involved with.
Shmuli
Today, Shluchim got to do the crziest things. To atract every single Jew to a Torah way of life.
Hirshel, I totally respect your opinion, however, those days are over. Today we need to do anything and everything to inspire others.
same with the harly, as someone mentioned, and the same with Matisyahu…
I’m a shliach.. I wish I had the enthusiasm and courage to do something like this. This is something I would write to the Rebbe about.
Lech Lecha meartzecha… get out of your current way of life!! shluchim and all lubavitchers today must go above and beyond…
kol hakavod, to you, Peretz.
P.s. you seemed pretty energetic when you were my counselor, in Montreal. You were inspring then too, I see you havent changed much, kol hakavod.
Hirshel Tzig
Uh!
at least we can agree to disagree. But some people here need to relax.
wake up and smell the coffee
To Hershel. stop being such a freakin pessimist. And I agree that some people need to chill out. Like you. Maybe you should take up jogging, biking or another form of exercise. It has been known to do wonders.
If you are on the lazier side how about reading a book or listening to soothing music.
I hope you get my drift.
Just chill out. And let other people live. Just because you may not have goals or because you have never done something that is worthy of writing about, doesn’t mean others can’t.
Don’t worry; it is ok to be jealous. I wish I was able to join the marathon. And I am man enough to say it. I won’t hide behind “what would the Rebbe…..”
Good day. And good luck
in defence of Hirshel
Hey, hes’got a point. even though not every body here grew up in lubavitcher mosdos and are familiar with the more elevated forms of hiskashrus,it still is a fact that there are those of us who keep a higher standard, and bring others to torah and not farkert. and there are many Mashpiem and shluchim for whom s’past nished to engage in community sporting events. as a standard of shlichus, many of them where a kapote in the weekday.
but it is a standard that does not need to be followed by every individual lubavicher and shliach. for most of us who have not yet attained the levels of Reb Mendel or others older chasidim it is perfectly fine to ride with a fellow on his bike as it is to play basket ball with children. but nevertheless, he does have a point. there are those with the higher standard.
so he may be overdoing it, reflecting a public opinion of bitter people, such as the detroit lubavitchers, which has more do do with pathopsychology then chasidishkeit.
by the way, re the mention of the shliach on the harley, i was on that harley. just to let you know that the shliach did absolutely not lower himself to the level of a biker chas visholom, althogh bearded he did not put on a leather jacket or tattoos or anything like that. he was wearing his hat and jacket and was simpley catching a ride when a car wasent available.
in defence of Hirshel
and by the way, if you guys arent SHayech to get it he was kidding around. he is not crying about the depths of klipe which our shluchim are in. he is just reminding us to remember who we are! as was said in shul on rosh hashana, M’darf Visen Vu Mishteit Un Far Vemen M’shteit.
but it was just a reminder. YOU all need to take a chill.
You Wish You Were Peretz
All those who are against Peretz are probably jealous of him. Get off your fat bottoms and start running.