Vayimaen - New York City Marathon | Rabbi Fischel Schachter

Short Summary

Main recommendation: when faced with difficult tests or temptations, believe that Hashem knows exactly where you are and that you are capable of handling them, and take even a small step in that direction, which the speaker calls the highest level of teshuva. The speaker illustrates this with a comedic story about running through the New York City Marathon while walking to visit an uncle in a Manhattan hospital, and a parable about a man who used a crocodile-pool challenge to outswim danger.

Key Points

• The speaker's marathon story is the setting: a police officer barred him from crossing First Avenue during the race, and he had to run along with the runners and change lanes to reach the other side.
• The story is used to show that a person can face a daunting situation without being prepared for it and still get through it.
• The speaker argues that because Hashem knows where we are, the challenges we face (nisyonos) are within our ability to handle.
• He cites the Zohar, which says teshuva does not help for certain aveiros, especially those involving kedushas yesod, and contrasts this with the Shelah, which says a higher level of teshuva does work.
• Citing the Satmar Rebbe in Divrei Yoel, he says that in a world of unbelievable tests, the highest teshuva is a move toward accepting that Hashem placed us here and that we can do it.
• The crocodile parable illustrates that a person can succeed at something they never thought possible when forced into it; the speaker contrasts this by noting that unlike the man who was pushed into the pool, Hashem did not 'push' us into this world but placed us here knowing we can handle it.

Details Worth Noting

• Concrete instructions: The speaker's actionable advice is to, when facing a test, say to Hashem that you know you were placed here and that you can do it, then make a move in that direction. The transcript gives no further steps, dosages, or checklists.
• The race detail: the officer told him he could not cross during the start, the lead runners were passing, and the race would take a couple of hours; he was told to run along with them and change lanes.
• He was not in shape for the race, wore a bekishe and hat, and crossed the street on a diagonal after about five blocks, then walked back upstairs to his uncle's room.
• His uncle laughed hard after watching from the hallway, and the speaker's son said he had not laughed in weeks.
• The crocodile story's punchline: the winner used the reward of 50,000 bucks to hire people to beat up the man who pushed him in.

Bottom Line

Facing hard tests calls for acknowledging that Hashem knows our situation and that we can meet it, and even a small move toward that belief counts as high-level teshuva.