Posted on 04/09/23
| News Source: 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?
ABOUT TWO MONTHS earlier, Oliver, then 16 and a junior, went on a training run with a few of his teammates from the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland. As they eased into their pace, Oliver told the others they might have to run the state championship race without him. When they asked why, he was clear: "Shabbat," he said.
Shabbat is the Hebrew word for the Sabbath, the holiest day of the week for Jews. It lasts from sundown Friday to nightfall on Saturday, and it is supposed to be a day of sanctity and simplicity and rest.