Hal Miller-Jacobs

I remember Dick Israel

It was a cold Shabbat morning in February. Dick was staying at our home in Lexington to attend a local Bat Mitzvah.  Before Shul we were going for a jog.
Dick was dressed in shorts, a tank top, cap and a scarf.
I asked, "Aren't you going to be cold?"
"No", he replied, "it's all in the scarf and this one is wool - very warm!"

During our run Dick spoke of his jogging over the years.  He was a shoe tester for Converse.  Periodically they would send him new shoes. He would wear them and submit a report on the positive and negative characteristics of the shoe. He was the world's only shoe-testing Rabbi.

He recounted how in one stretch of time, he ran every day for 13 years without missing a day - that included Yom Kippur and Shabbat (jogging is not considered melacha [work]).
In disbelief I asked,
"Dick in 13 years you must have been sick, had the flu or something like that; how did you run then?"
"Simple", he replied, "I just waited till Sherry left the house!"

With the fondest of memories for a great Mensh,
Hal Miller-Jacobs