A way of carrying the load

Members of the OneFamily delegation after a run, preparing for the 2026 Chicago Marathon. (Photo credit: Meir Pavlosky)

When an old friend of Moshe Saville’s saw an article about Saville’s work, he called him with a proposal.  

Saville is the CEO of OneFamily, Israel’s national organization providing support to Israel’s victims of terror and war: bereaved family members as well as individuals whose health and stability have been shattered. Since its founding in 2001, OneFamily has supported over 16,000 families, including 4,000 additional families since October 7. Services include long-term emotional care, financial relief, legal support, trauma therapy, and more. 

Saville described the phone call from his friend: “He said, ‘Listen, Moshe. We are a group of 16 runners. We’re going to run in the Chicago Marathon, and we want to run for OneFamily. We want to raise money for OneFamily.’”  

Saville saw an opening, and it wasn’t about fundraising.  

“I know how running is good for the nefesh (soul),” he explained. “It’s not only physical.” Saville described OneFamily’s “Torah” of helping people by bringing them together: “When you put people who feel the same pain together, miracles happen there.” 

Without missing a beat, Saville said to his friend, “I must send bereaved families.” He asked him to try and find more slots in the marathon—and now the number of runners in the delegation has grown to 52. 

Limor Pearl, Head of Partnerships and Development at OneFamily, shared that even the members of the group who are not bereaved family members have each “adopted” a bereaved family and will run for them.  All of the runners are running in memory of someone who was killed either at the Nova Festival on October 7 or in the subsequent war. 

Gil Pazy is coming to Chicago with the OneFamily delegation to run in memory of his son, Captain Yogev Pazy, who was killed while fighting Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip in 2024.  

“Movement gives you something inside yourself,” Pazy said. Running, especially with others, has been a way for him to build discipline around activities that he found beyond challenging after Yogev’s death, including physical activity, eating well, and going to sleep on time.  

“We say that for our journey—masa—in life, you have to carry a [load]—masa,” Pazy shared. The two words are spelled differently in Hebrew but are pronounced the same. “Running, for me, is a way of carrying.”  

Running the Chicago Marathon is deeply meaningful for Pazy. From 2020 to 2021, before joining the IDF, Yogev Pazy was a Shinshin—a young Israeli emissary—to the Chicago Jewish community. Pazy worked at Solomon Schechter Day School, Shir Hadash Synagogue, as well as Camp Beber in Wisconsin, and he helped establish Shevet Sufa, Chicago’s first chapter of Tzofim (Israeli Scouts).  

Gil Pazy and the rest of the OneFamily delegation will be spending Shabbat together in Chicago. There will be Friday night services and dinner for the group, with additional participants from JUF and the broader Jewish community. Young Leadership Division’s President Maiky Iberkleid spearheads the Chi-Town Schvitzers, a Jewish running club, members of whom will be there as well.  

“We’re lucky that we get to do this,” said Mac Bauer, YLD’s Senior Campaign Associate. Bauer shared that there will also be a YLD watch party on the day of the marathon to cheer all the runners on.  

As for Pazy, he is not worried about his marathon time. He is focusing on his healthy routines, and on his memories of Yogev.