Yom Tov can feel like a test of endurance. How to run the best race possible

Hundreds of thousands of people have participated in physically grueling obstacle courses “just for fun.” These people pay money for the privilege of being pushed beyond their human limits forced to use every last ounce of physical and mental strength to run the course. Most are pleased to also be part of a worthwhile cause — one organization for example raises millions of dollars for a charity that helps injured soldiers — but that’s not why they are signing up for the ten-mile obstacle course (they could easily write a check from the comfort of home). What they’re looking for is the challenge itself. Some people enjoy being pushed to their limits!

All they really have to do is become a Jewish homemaker. Between the annual marathons of Tishrei and Pesach they’ll find no shortage of mind-stretching body-pushing limit-testing challenges.

On the Last Stretch

Take Succos for example. Following on the heels of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur this eight day festival involves cooking setting entertaining cleaning (cooking setting entertaining cleaning — repeat 22 times) while taking care of the children (who are off from school) and dealing with the usual demands of the household as well as finding extra time for davening and tending to the spiritual aspects of the holiday. This will be true for a woman even if she is pregnant under the weather struggling with an intense life challenge or otherwise not in top form. By the time Simchas Torah arrives the Jewish homemaker is limping to the finish line having extended herself far beyond her limitations for an entire month.

Muscle Building

Those who sign up for obstacle courses usually train intensely before the day of the big run. They put their mind in gear practicing maintaining focus and control so as not to become unravelled when the going gets tough; they can’t afford the luxury of falling apart under pressure. Similarly they increase their strength in small increments lifting heavier and heavier weights running longer and longer stretches hoping to build their capacity for endurance. They enter smaller training competitions in order to practice performing against time and under conditions of real pressure.

Hashem has organized the training sessions for the Jewish homemaker marathon as well. The weekly Shabbos run complete with children home on a Friday afternoon cleaning cooking and entertaining tasks and Erev Shabbos beat-the-clock competition provides an excellent practice for the Yom Tov season. As the big race of Succos gets closer there are more intense practice sessions: a two-day Yom Tov a ten-day break a fasting challenge and finally the eight-day marathon. The homemaker has been well-prepared; she should complete the race with flying colors!

Reaping the Benefits

The obstacle course and army boot-camp training have a lot in common but also a significant difference: one is completely voluntary and the other is not always so. Those who are conscripted do not always appreciate what the volunteers might see in the experience. Both will be pushed to their limits but the volunteers are more likely to come out feeling victorious strong energized and proud. They know what they have accomplished and they feel they’re better people because of it. Often they are spurred to even higher challenges eager to continue to optimize their personal evolution. They go literally from strength to strength.

But the conscripted soldier can also “volunteer” for special service within the army and thereby reap the enormous benefits of choosing growth. There are many opportunities for pushing oneself in any endeavor rather than simply doing what has to be done. A Jewish homemaker can trudge through the holidays waiting for them to end or she can become a volunteer — someone who freely signs up for and eagerly pursues the challenge.

Once she wants to take on the challenge of Succos the entire experience changes. Now she strategies: How can I do this faster easier better? How can I multitask more efficiently? How can I delegate and relegate? How do I keep my equilibrium in the midst of chaos and confusion? How can I enjoy this more? How can I make it more meaningful? This woman takes notes marking what worked and what didn’t jotting down ideas to try next time. She records areas that need improvement: Her attitude thought process menu planning organizing task execution … Her record-keeping will help her when Pesach comes along and then again for the next Succos marathon.

She races against herself thrilled to see her progress every year knowing that each “marathon” is bringing out more and more of her latent strengths and competencies in every realm. A marathon is never easy — but it is ever so rewarding!