When Marathon Runners First Started: An Apropos Purim Story Of This Moment

 Nadene Goldfoot                                

                                                                            

                    Runners from one ancient Greek town to another 

                                    

Setting out from Athens, Phidippides made for Sparta journeying by way of Eleusis, Megara, and Corinth. Greek couriers of his day are believed to have been able to cover over a hundred kilometres a day, but Phidippides is said to have run the 250 kilometres to Sparta in only two days; much of it over uneven and rocky terrain.

Unfortunately, when he reached Sparta, the city was in the middle of a religious festival that forbade mobilization for war during its celebrations. When at last the Spartans set off for Athens several days later, the battle had already been fought.

• The Legend: The famous tale, popularized centuries after the event, tells of Pheidippides (or sometimes Eukles) running directly from the Marathon battlefield to Athens (about 25-26 miles) to announce the victory, after which he died.
  
  
  
• The Battle of Marathon (490 BCE) took place on the coastal plain of Marathon in eastern Greece, approximately 40 km (25 miles) northeast of Athens. The site is situated near Marathon Bay, where the Persian fleet landed, and the Athenian army camped. The battlefield features the Athenian burial mound (Soros), located about 4 km south of the modern town of Marathon.
  
  
  

• The Historical Account: According to the historian Herodotus (writing closer to the time), Pheidippides was actually a professional courier sent before the battle from Athens to Sparta to request aid, covering over 150 miles (240 km) in two days.
• The Battle (490 BCE): The Greeks, led by Athens and Plataea, defeated the first Persian invasion force led by Darius I. 
• There were 3 Kings named  Darius of Persia.  Darius I reigned (522-486 BCE) and had inherited the throne of Cyrus.  At the beginning of his reign, he permitted Zerubbabel and the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem to resume reconstruction of the Temple.  
  
        King Darius I.  Cyrus II was his father as he inherited the throne from him.  He died in 529 BCE as King of Persia.  He had many conquests of which he overran the Babylonian empire, including Judah.  He pursued an enlightened policy towards his subject peoples and in 538, granted permission to the exiles of Judah in Babylon to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple.  (Ezra 1:1-44;  II Chon.36:22-3).  The Jewish exiles regarded Cyrus as a Divine agent.  
• Our history tells us that Cyrus II's wife (Queen) was Hadassah, or Queen Esther (Hebrew)  of our Purim Story, found in the Bible (Esther 2:7). We know Esther as being the Queen of King Ahasuerus, and through her intervention with him, and with the aid of her kinsman, Mordecai, succeeded in averting the annihilation of the Persian Jewish community planned by the king's adviser, Haman.  
•  Right now this story is also acting as a unifying agent between the Iranians of the Revolution and Israel as both love Kings Cyrus and Darius, part of their history as well.
•   Reading about this Marathon history involving them is so apropos at this moment when we all are sitting and waiting to see what President Trump will do with his fleet off shore;  will he attack as promised or will he listen  to his aides and call it off?  Yesterday he gave Iran's Ayatollah 48 hours to go along with his expectations that also include Israel's as well.   

• Darius I attacked the Greek city-states primarily to punish Athens and Eretria for supporting the Ionian Revolt (499–493 BC), where they assisted in burning the Persian city of Sardis. Darius also sought to expand his empire into Europe and secure his western frontier by suppressing the mainland Greek states that threatened regional stability.          

             Burton Holmes' photograph titled "1896: Three athletes in training for the marathon at the Olympic Games in Athens". Charilaos Vasilakos in the middle.                 

Charilaos Vasilakos (Greek: Χαρίλαος Βασιλάκος, November 1875 – 1 December 1964)^[ was a Greek athlete and the first man to win a marathon race. He also won a silver medal for a second place finish in marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. As a young man he studied law at the University of Athens and worked in the Athens court of first instance. He was a member of the Panellinios sports club and a dedicated long-distance runner.

           1896  Spyridon "Spyros" Louis, 1st Olympic marathon winner

When the modern Olympics began in 1896, the initiators and organizers were looking for a great popularizing event, recalling the ancient glory of Greece. The idea of a marathon race came from Michel Bréal, who wanted the event to feature in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. This idea was heavily supported by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, as well as by the Greeks. 

The Greeks staged a selection race for the Olympic marathon on 10 March 1896 that was won by Charilaos Vasilakos in 3 hours and 18 minutes (with the future winner of the introductory Olympic Games marathon coming in fifth). 

The winner of the first Olympic Marathon, on 10 April 1896 (a male-only race), was Spyridon „Spyros“ Louis, a Greek water-carrier, in 2 hours 58 minutes and 50 seconds.

Modern Legacy: The marathon race was invented for the 1896 Athens Olympics to commemorate this ancient heroic feat. The distance was standardized to 26.2 miles (42.195 km) in 1908. 

A full marathon is 26.2 miles (

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), and a half marathon is exactly half that distance, at 13.1 miles (

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). These standard road racing distances are precisely measured, with the marathon distance formalized at the 1908 Olympics. 

Modern Marathon                             

The women’s marathon was introduced at the 1984 Summer Olympics (Los Angeles, USA) and was won by Joan Benoit of the United States with a time of 2 hours 24 minutes and 52 seconds.  In 1984, the Olympic marathon finally welcomed women—and 26-year-old Joan Benoit Samuelson from the USA seized the opportunity. Remarkably, just 17 days earlier, she had undergone arthroscopic knee surgery.

Her husband is Scott Samuelson , winner of the 2015 Hiett Prize in the Humanities.

Joan crossed the finish line in 2:24:52—just a minute shy of the world record—and stunned the world. This wasn’t just a gold medal; it was the very first Olympic marathon for women, claimed with grit, grace, and guts.

Since the modern games were founded, it has become a tradition for the men’s Olympic marathon to be the last event of the athletics calendar, with a finish inside the Olympic stadium, often within hours of, or even incorporated into, the closing ceremonies. The marathon of the 2004 Summer Olympics revived the traditional route from Marathon to Athens, ending at Panathinaiko Stadium, the venue for the 1896 Summer Olympics.                

                         Height:  5'4",  115 lbs
                       

                                Samuel Kamu Wanjiru 

Samuel Kamau Wanjirū (10 November 1986 – 15 May 2011)died at 24 years old,  was a Kenyan long-distance runner who won the 2008 Beijing Olympics Marathon in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32; becoming the first Kenyan to win the Olympic gold in the marathon. He became the youngest gold medallist in the marathon since 1932.

He set the current (as of 2020) 10,000m World Junior Record in 2005 and set the half marathon world record 3 times. In 2009, he won both the London Marathon and Chicago Marathon, running the fastest marathons ever recorded in the United Kingdom and United States, respectively. He retained his Chicago title in 2010 in a season fraught with injury.

In 2011, he died after a fall from a balcony at his home in Nyahururu following a domestic dispute..

The Olympic men’s record is 2:06:32, set at the 2008 Summer Olympics by Samuel Kamau Wanjiru of Kenya (average speed about 20.01 kilometres per hour or 12.43 miles per hour). The Olympic women’s record is 2:23:07, set at the 2012 Summer Olympics by Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia. The men’s London 2012 Summer Olympic marathon winner was Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda (2:08:01). Per capita, the Kalenjin tribe of Rift Valley Province in Kenya have produced a highly disproportionate share of marathon and track-and-field winners.

Resource:

https://www.google.com/search?q=ancient+story+of+marathon+in+Greece&sca_esv=6be9334bf995a265&sxsrf=ANbL-n5GThARphv0vyL3EvRhRkD0mYqxzQ%3A1771944648312&source=hp&ei=yLqdabjqD4uc0PEPuqTeyA0&iflsig

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marathon#:~:text=Table_content:%20header:%20%7C%20Battle%20of%20Marathon%20%7C,Marathon:%20Commanders%20and%20leaders%20%7C%20:%20%7C

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Persian_invasion_of_Greece#:~:text=The%20first%20Persian%20invasion%20of,10%2C000%20light%20infantry

The Life of Moses Before the Exodus

 Nadene Goldfoot                      

                             Moses Found In The Bulrushes

The story of Moses is primarily told in the "Old Testament" or Five Books of Moses, our Torah, starting in Exodus chapter 2 and spanning through Deuteronomy. His life begins with his birth and adoption (Exodus 2:1-10), continues with his calling at the burning bush (Exodus 3), the plagues on Egypt (Exodus 7-12), the Red Sea crossing (Exodus 14), and ends with his death in Deuteronomy. The Ten Commandments were given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai and subsequently delivered to the Israelites, with the primary account found in Exodus 20:1–17. A second, slightly different recitation of the commandments occurs in Deuteronomy 5:4–21.

Jochebed was Moses' mother and his father was Amram, both from the tribe of Levi, who lived as Hebrew slaves in Egypt. Amram was the son of Kohath, and Jochebed was his aunt (father's sister). They were also the parents of Miriam and Aaron.

     Egyptian slaves making bricks

    Just before Moses was born, the midwives were told by Pharaoh that when  they were delivering babies, and you see it on the birthstool, if a boy, kill him.  Shifrah and Puah, midwives, disobeyed and their excuse they used was Hebrew women ae unlike he Egyptian  women, for they areexperts;  before the midwife comes to them, they have given birth already.

It didn't take long that the Pharaoh commanded all his people to throwall newborn boy babies into the river.

Moses' nursing mother was constantly worried about Moses being found by the searching soldiers, and of course transferred that fear into the milkduring nursing.  He cried a lot in-between nursing, no doubt.  

Fearful of the growing Hebrew population, the Egyptian Pharaoh ordered that all male Hebrew infants be drowned in the Nile. 

Jochebed, hid him for three months. She used the waterproofed basket made of wicker smeared with clay and pitch to protect him, then placed Moses in the basket and put it in the Nile River in the bulrushes growing on the side.  

It was traumatic for Jochebed to stop nursing Moses and send him off in the basket as well as being traumatic for Moses. 

 The baby was now in a new environment and smell of the basket, the sun and wind and no mother to sing him to sleep when he cried for her.  From this experience, Moses would develop a stuttering when speaking. Stuttering is caused by a combination of genetic, neurological, and developmental factors rather than just emotional distress. It often stems from inherited, complex genetic factors—making it more likely to run in families—and differences in brain structure/function that affect speech production. Other factors include: 

• Genetics: A high likelihood of inheritance exists, especially if a first-degree relative stutters. Brain Differences: Research shows that people who stutter may have reduced blood flow in the Broca’s area (involved in speech production) and differences in areas that manage speech muscles.

Jochabed kept an eye on the basket.  She saw the maidens of the Pharaoh's daughter all bathing in the river and then pick him up out of the basket and coo over him, giving him to the Princess.  Jochabed sent Mirium to watch over him.  

 He was discovered and adopted by Pharaoh's daughter.  They had seen that he was a Hebrew boy but did not tell the Pharaoh.  Mirium offered to get a Hebrew wet nurse for him.  The Princess agreed so Jochabed took Moses and kept him till he grew up. Then Jochabed returned him to the Princess who named him Moses-meaning:  I drew him from the water. 

  

     Moses as a young man when he accidently killed an overseer, who was beating to death a Hebrew slave,  causing him to run off to Midian.  According to Exodus 2:11-12, Moses killed an Egyptian overseer who was beating a Hebrew slave, marking a turning point in his life. After witnessing the abuse, Moses checked to ensure no one was watching, killed the Egyptian, and hid his body in the sand. The act was prompted by righteous indignation for his people, but it forced him to flee to Midian for 40 years to escape Pharaoh's wrath.    

When Moses was  about 20 working as a shepherd for Jethro, his father in law who was he priest of Midian,  guided the sheep far into the wilderness, and he arrived at the mountain of God, toward Horeb.  An angel appeared to him in a blaze of fire from a bush.  He looked at the burning bush but the bush was not being consumed.  Moses turned away and looked at this great sight wondering why the bush was not burned.

He heard a voice calling him. "Moses, Moses," and he replied, "Here I am!" He was told not to come closer but to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. The voice told him who was speaking:  God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.  Moses hid his face, not wanting to see G-d.

Moses' wife was Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, a priest of Midian. They had two sons: Gershom and Eliezer. Zipporah is noted for saving Moses by circumcising their son, and she briefly left him to return to her family before later reuniting with him in the desert. 

After our people left Egypt, Moses’ sons (Gershom and Eliezer), along with their mother (Zipporah) and grandfather (Jethro), rejoined their father in the desert. This is the last overt mention of Moses’ sons in the Torah.

In fact, when the time came to choose a successor for Moses, our Sages relate that Moses requested one of his sons be appointed. G‑d responded, “Your sons sat and did not occupy themselves with Torah. Joshua, who served you, is fitting to serve Israel.”

And while Moses’ physical progeny did not live up to his example, Aaron’s sons—who succeeded their father as priests—did carry on the noble traditions of their father and uncle. G‑d considered Moses’ nephews as his children, for he was the one who taught them Torah. This is reflected in Numbers (3:1), which begins “These are the descendants of Moses and Aaron…” but only lists Aaron’s four sons.

Moses and Aaron where Aaron takes over the talking as Moses does he walking stick trick turning it into a snake.  

Thus G‑d reassured Moses, explaining that even Joshua would need to confer with Aaron’s son, the High Priest, to know G‑d’s will.3Rabbi Menachem Posner

God continued telling Moses that he had seen when happened to the Hebrew people in Egypt and will rescue them and bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivvite and the Jebusite.  I shall dispatch you to  Pharaoh and you shall take My people, the Children of Israel,  out of Egypt.  

Moses argues with G-d in the Pharaoh would not do as Moses asks.  This is a different Pharaoh from the one he grew up with.  Moses was shown that his staff could become a snake and wow the Egyptians.  He also showed him another trick, his hand could become white, and if this didn't work, he could take water from the River that would become blood when on dry land.  What Moses is to do is ask to take the people out of Egypt for 3 days.  Moses pleads with his stuttering speech saying he was heavy of mouth and heavy of speech.  G-d reminded him that he was talking to G0d who created all and knew this and he would be with his mouth and will teach him what to do.  With his staff in his hands, you shall perform the signs.

Aaron spoke for him.  

Moses was to let the Hebrews make camp  before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Gaal-zephon, and camp opposite it, by the sea.  Pharoah would think they were imprisoned in the land, with the Wilderness locking them in.  The heart of Pharaoh would be strong and would pursue to Hebrews, and pursue them; one way to see who is G-d.  The king of Egypt was told that the people had fled and he and his servants asked why they had sent away Israel from serving them?  They all wanted their slaves back.  

Egypt pursued them and overtook them, ---all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen and army---He approached them and the Children of Israel cried out.  Moses said not to fear.  A pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and went behind them.  Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. the Children of Israel came within the sea on dry land;  and the water was a wall for them, we know the rest.  

Moses lived till 120 years old.  

 Giving people Ten Commandments

Resource:

The Tanach, Art Scroll series, The Stone Edition

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Maddening Sunday Morning With CNN News

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               

I started off the morning listing to a discussion about Trump's Tariff program and how he should have done what he did with them.  It turned into a debate between two of those at the table which developed into a shouting match.  The others got a big kick out of it.  One thing, we as the viewer,  can't understand one word said in a shouting match, so I had nothing to laugh at.  I'd say that this half hour was a comedy of errors.                                   

Fareed Zakaria is someone I look forward to listening to.  Usually I'm in disagreement with him but not this time.  He was discussing the Armada of ships waiting, waiting and what was Trump deciding to do with them.Politics.  Trump warns Iran an ‘armada’ is heading its way and to agree a nuclear deal, or else.                    

             Iranians Rebelling in a Revolution

He went through a list of reasons why others told Trump not to attack.  His guest verified these facts telling more and who and why Trump shouldn't attack;  too  much wasted money, Arab countries that didn't want it to take place like Saudi Arabia and UAE, and then Fareed, still unsatisfied, brought in by the discussion a far away person with a long long surname, I take to be an Iranian newsperson, who gave more particulars on the discussion. 

TEHRAN, IRAN - JANUARY 8: Fires are lit as protesters rally on January 8, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. Demonstrations have been ongoing since December, triggered by soaring inflation and the collapse of the rial, and have expanded into broader demands for political change. (Photo by Anonymous/Getty Images)

 NOT ONE PERSON MENTIONED THE IRANIAN DISSONANTS WHO ARE IN THE REVOLUTION AND HAVE DIED ALREADY FOR THE CAUSE WHICH TO MY KNOWLEDGE HAVE BEEN COUNTED NOW FAR MORE THEN THE ORIGINAL 40,000, RISING TO 80,000 AND POSSIBLY BY NOW 120,000 DEATHS.                                    

Has Fareed forgotten that Trump helped to start all this by claiming that IF THE AYATOLLAH'S GOVERNMENT STARTING KILLING THEM, HE WOULD COME TO HELP?  Trump has been encouraging unrest in Iran and recently said, "HELP IS ON ITS WAY," as the death toll reportedly surpassed 2,000.  Now it could be 120,000.  

Then the ships sat in the water like now, only they did nothing but sit.  Thus more and more were killed.  The killers even went into hospitals and killed those there who had been in the streets demonstrating by being a part of the crowd and were injured. 

    These demonstrators are for Jerusalem Day in Samaria

I remember when Israel was recently faced with demonstrators in the streets.  They demonstrated.  Period.  

The Ayatollah of Iran had their Revolutionary Guards-a deadly group, shoot the demonstrators to kill.  They did it, but I hear that since then, it has bothered them to kill their own family members in the streets and have decided to go over to the demonstrators side.  Those still demonstrating see this time as I do, a window of opportunity with the Crown Prince directing them from the USA successfully, knowing they will probably be killed but for a good reason;  to free their beloved country from this madness.                       

Mahyar Tousi is a political YouTuber running the UK’s most watched online news show. Born in Iran, he came to this country as a child following his mother’s escape from the Iranian regime that resulted in her becoming a political refugee in Britain. I watch it too, on youtube.  

    Revolution's flag showing the old flag with lion in the middle.  

I know that from this that I have viewed on tousi.tv; watching what our major stations dare not enter to film, will continue and more will be killed.  The USA will never know the pain they are under nor have been under for the past 40 plus years in the first place and what they are enduring now.  Of all the impulsive acts lately of Trump;  buying Greenland, taking  over Venezuela, buying Canada, buying Denmark, HELPING THE IRANIAN YOUTH WHO ARE REBELLING AND HAVING A REVOLUTION IN THEIR COUNTRY TO TAKE IT BACK FROM THE AYATOLLAH'S WAYS was the only sane idea he has had and hasn't fulfilled.                                   

                      Harry S. Truman in 1946

Trump,  when it was decided to back Israel to become a state in 1948, President Truman went against his staff of nay-sayers, telling him all sorts of reasons why he shouldn't, but he did!  He knew only his partner in his haberdashery store was a Jewish man, and they had a great rapport.  That is the greatest gift that Truman could give to the USA as far as I and others are concerned.  Because of Truman, Israel was born. 

          Americans getting news;  opinions come from cell phones 

There are probably 80% of the people of the USA that think differently and wish it hadn't happened, but they do not understand.  I say that things happen for a reason, and someday, they or their descendants will understand.  It was for a good reason;  saving lives.  I could take on several articles full of reasons why and the the good this brought out that benefited the USA, oh in so many ways.  Maybe it will be like that, too for Iran.  Good things will happen in the world if Iran has a Democratic government.                          

I had to turn off the TV at 7:30am, so if they suddenly thought of the people, I missed it.  I hope they ended on a good note.