Orthodox Jewish mother of five erases records, stereotypes heading into Miami Marathon
Israeli marathon runner Beatie Deutsch is breaking records just four years after taking up the sport. But that isn’t what makes her so remarkable. It’s the stereotypes and cultural barriers she shatters every time she crosses a finish line in a long skirt, long sleeves and a head scarf.
The 30-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jewish mother of five, who was raised in New Jersey and moved to Israel in 2008, broke the course record for Israeli women at the 2018 Jerusalem Marathon, and has since won the Tiberias Marathon, the Israeli half marathon and marathon national championship. Her personal best marathon time of 2:32 is just shy of the Olympic qualifying standard.
Last May, she won a half marathon in Latvia, becoming the first known Orthodox Jewish woman to win an international race. This Sunday, she is running in the LIfe Time Miami Marathon, her first race in the United States. She is competing in the half marathon, and will be rooted on by Jewish fans in South Florida and all over the world, many of whom follow her on Facebook and Instagram (@marathonmother).
“Speedy Beatie,” as she has been nicknamed, is inspiring Orthodox Jewish women to take up running, women like Brocha Lipkind, a 45-year-old mother of five from North Miami Beach, who is participating in the Miami Marathon with a 54-member team called “Run4Yitzi.”
The group is raising funds for ALS-stricken Rabbi Yitzi Hurwitz of Los Angeles, 47, who cannot move, talk or eat on his own but writes a weekly blog using eye movements to direct his computer.
“I think the stereotypical view people have of a religious Jewish woman is a woman with a million kids hanging on her, not working, not caring about herself and her individuality and we don’t always represent so well because maybe sometimes we look haggard,” Lipkind said. “Beatie is out there changing the face of what religious mothers and women look like. Even more so, she’s changing the face of what people think Jewish people are all about. She is out there surrounded by runners from all over, even Palestinian runners. She’s representing a culture of love and kindness, support for everybody.”
Deutsch grew up in Passaic, New Jersey., and though she was always tiny — she is barely over 5 feet now — she was athletic and coordinated. She didn’t watch sports because her deeply religious family didn’t own a television, but she was a talented gymnast. She stopped training at age 12 for modesty reasons because the coaches were men. She took taekwondo lessons and played basketball every Sunday with other girls at her school. She never considered running until four years ago, when she finished last in family races on the beach and vowed to get back in shape.
Her husband, Michael, an avid cyclist, fully supported her new hobby and even bought her a runner’s watch. She never imagined running marathons would result in becoming an international role model.
“Sports has such an important power to break down barriers,” she said by phone from Jerusalem. “Through the running community in Israel, I have come in contact with so many people, not just Jewish but also non-Jewish. In Israel, there are a lot of stereotypes about religious Jews and people have misconceptions about what we are able to do and how oppressed we are. I have been able to break down some of those barriers.”
Living in a “Haredi” community of strictly Orthodox Jews, Deutsch said “being different is not always accepted,” but she is slowly changing attitudes. She is proving that she can be a doting mother to five children under the age of 10, a devoted wife and a professional athlete.
“Mine is definitely an unconventional path to take, but I saw marathon running as an opportunity to show that you can be 100 percent totally committed to your faith and your relationship with God but still pursue athletics at the highest level,” she said.
It helped, she said, to get the blessing of her rabbi, who has become one of her biggest fans. He sends her prayers before each race and even researched which energy drinks are kosher.
“I was really encouraged by my rabbi and mentor, who told me that we all have specific gifts, talents and strengths we are blessed with, some are more dramatic than others but everyone’s unique and part our mission is this world is to figure that out and see how we can use it to make a positive impact on the world,” Deutsch said.
She is running to raise money for Beit Daniella, a charity for children with mental illness. Many of the other Orthodox runners in the Miami Marathon are also running for charities.
More than 600 of the 20,871 athletes in the 2019 race came from Orthodox Jewish Charity partners, and many more Jewish runners competed independently. Jewish groups teaming up this year include Team Lifeline (Chai Lifeline), Team Friendship Circle, JCS Alliance Team Blue Card, and Team Courage (Kids of Courage).
This is the first year the Miami Marathon is offering Kosher-certified meals for athletes at the finish line.
Mendel Groner is the Atlanta-based director of Friendship Circle, an international charity run by the Chabad Hasidic Jewish movement that pairs teen volunteers with children who have special needs. A group of 200 runners will be at the Miami Marathon raising awareness and money for the group. Groner is among Deutsch’s many fans.
“To see a religious Jewish woman winning a marathon hit close to home,” he said. “In an ideal world, it would be less of a phenomenon than it is now. But people still say, `Oh, you can’t be religious and do that job.’ You can be religious in any situation. Obviously, you have to follow the guidelines of Jewish law, but there is no divide between living life and being religious...life is an outgrowth of spiritual life. They’re all in sync. They’re not a contradiction. They support each other.”
He echoed the message of Deutsch’s rabbi.
“In Judaism we believe that God gave us all different talents and it’s our job to use those talents the best way possible to make the world a better place,” Groner said. “If you’re an artist, you need to develop that talent. If you’re good at business, develop that. If you’re a runner, like Beatie, develop those talents. That’s the only way for a person to reach their full potential and accomplish the mission they were sent to this world to do.”
Eli Langer, who works with Kids of Courage, a group that plans medically supervised trips for seriously ill young people, said Deutsch is an inspiration to the children. His group will be running in Miami.
“I did a double-take when I saw news about Beatie Deutsch winning a marathon because something like this has not been seen in the Orthodox Jewish world,” Langer said. “It is a great lesson for our kids, who are limited in what they can do. It shows them courage can come in all different shapes and sizes, and that a religious Jewish woman can be a top athlete.”
Deutsch started running as a hobby, but drew media attention when she started posting fast times and when she completed the 2017 Tel Aviv Marathon while seven months pregnant. At the time, she was working full time for a Jewish outreach organization, encouraging young Jews around the world to get more involved and visit Israel.
After consulting with her rabbi, she decided to run full time and fulfill her religious mission that way. She says she had a physical and emotional transformation when she started running, and urges other women to do the same because she feels it has made her a better mother and wife.
Following the Miami Marathon, Deutsch will do a U.S. speaking tour with stops in Boca Raton, University of Central Florida (which has a very large Jewish student population), New York and New Jersey.
“Today, self-care is so popular, but even five years ago, I had never heard of it,” Deutsch said. “I wasn’t an Instagram person. When you live in a very religious community, you’re more insular. I realize now how much I needed exercise.”
Lipkind follows Deutsch on Instagram. She said she would love to meet her on Sunday, to give her a hug and thank her for pushing her to become a runner when she never thought that possible.
“Her tag is `MarathonMother’ so I started following her and when I saw she won that marathon, I was freaking out, jumping up and down,” Lipkind said. “What an inspiration. This woman has children, lives a religious life and she’s able to do this. I also have five kids. I also work full time. She runs for something bigger than her. She’s representing women and mothers and religious mothers and Jewish people and all people, really.”
Like Deutsch, Lipkind said she was a bit apprehensive about running in long sleeves, long skirt, leggings and a head covering.
“In the beginning, I felt a little uncomfortable, but everyone is out there dressed in a way that makes them comfortable,” Lipkind said. “Some people are covered up and some are completely not covered up. It makes no difference. We are all runners like Beatie, and that’s a beautiful thing.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 10:33 AM.