Virtual race honors life of Rabbi Adam Feldman
A 100-mile virtual race launches this month to honor the memory of Rabbi Adam Feldman, spiritual leader of The Jewish Center (TJC) in Princeton, who died Dec. 24, 2019, at age 55.
TJC member Billy Grenis, with Feldman’s family, wife Sara Bucholtz and their children Talia, Dena, and Ilan, created a path that travels through important places in the rabbi’s life, starting in Jerusalem, teleporting to New Jersey, and ending at Citizens Bank Park, home of Feldman’s beloved Phillies.
“We’re going to write explanations about why we chose these spots along the route and include some photos that go along with them,” Bucholtz told NJJN.
The route can be completed by walking, running, or cycling, and the progress will be tracked on an app, named Tucan, developed by Grenis, who said that Feldman “was always there at important times” for him and his family.
“Rabbi Feldman came to one of my high school football games and at the end had me sign a football for Ilan,” Grenis recalled. He also said the rabbi brought his mother a pair of pink boxing gloves after she had been diagnosed with cancer.
The virtual journey will begin in mid-August and will end on Feldman’s Hebrew birthday — and erev Rosh HaShanah — the 29th of Elul (which falls this year on Sept. 18).
Included in the sites along the route is Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where Feldman spent time after high school and during his junior year of college, and Robinson’s Arch, near the Western Wall, where Jewish Center b’nei mitzvah are celebrated.
Grenis plans to run his 100 miles. Those less athletically inclined are able to form teams.
Bucholtz said she sees the effort as a way of “making goals and tracking your progress,” not as an athletic competition.
“The four in my house are going to be a group,” she said. “I think together we can hit 100 miles.”
Registration costs $18. Tucan will donate all proceeds to The Jewish Center. For more information, visit thejewishcenter.org.
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