On March 7, 22-year-old Jake Berkowitz set out from Anchorage, Alaska, on the 2009 Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race, with 16 dogs and a steely resolve. Twelve days later, he triumphantly crossed the finish line in Nome.
Coming in 31st out of 67 competitors, Berkowitz shattered his 65th placing from his first race last year. He was also the only participant to complete the grueling 1,150-mile course with all his dogs. “I’ve been told this is only the fourth time [that’s happened] in the history of the race,” Berkowitz said with a sense of pride. “It was pretty incredible.”
What’s truly incredible is that a nice Jewish boy has chosen to run dogs for a living. “My son the dog musher” isn’t exactly something you hear round the Sabbath dinner table. And Berkowitz is only the 10th Jew to run the Anchorage to Nome Iditarod since the race’s inception in 1973.
Berkowitz hails far from the wilds of Alaska that he now calls home. Born and raised in the Crocus Hill area of St. Paul, Minn., he attended Talmud Torah of St. Paul Jewish day school and was an active member of his local synagogue as well as a youth group leader.
Last year, Talmud Torah’s third and fourth grade classes followed Berkowitz’s progress in the race, while faculty pondered whether a dog musher could be seen as a Jewish role model.
Principal Sara Lynn Newberger believes her students can learn a lot from Berkowitz. “A musher, like a coach, trains and prepares dogs for a race, and then they go out and do it,” she said. “Which is what we do at this school, right? We prepare [children] for their journey, and then they get to figure out what their journey is.”
Berkowitz continued his own Jewish journey after he left Talmud Torah. Following a synagogue youth trip to Israel the year before his bar mitzvah, he participated in Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim’s 16-week study program in Jerusalem during his junior year in high school. After graduating high school, he returned to Israel on the yearlong Nativ program of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s United Synagogue Youth department, studying at Hebrew University and volunteering as a medic with Magen David Adom in Beersheba.
Upon his return to the States, Berkowitz initially decided to train in Colorado as an emergency medical technician, but the lure of the great outdoors was too strong. Recalling his summers in junior high and high school, when he took whitewater canoeing expeditions before becoming a canoeing guide, Berkowitz said he started looking for a winter job and found one at Nature’s Kennels in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
“I began guiding dog-sled trips for them, and then last year they asked me to run the Iditarod for them,” he said. At that point, Berkowitz was hooked, and there was no turning back.
After he crossed the Iditarod finish line last year, Berkowitz was offered several jobs in Alaska, so he moved there permanently. These days, he spends his winters working and training along the Glenn Highway, 113 miles northeast of Anchorage, and his summers working in Skagway, some 830 miles from Anchorage, on the Alaska Panhandle. Neither place lays claim to a Jewish community, but so far, Berkowitz has found ways to stay connected to his Jewish roots. When he chose to fast on Yom Kippur while working at Nature’s Kennels last year, two of his non-Jewish kennel co-workers fasted alongside him. They even prepared a special meal to break the fast, and they posted the entire experience on the kennel’s blog.
Berkowitz can also contact Rabbi Yosef Greenberg of Chabad of Anchorage if he’s looking for ways to be more involved with organized Jewish life. Greenberg is currently developing the Alaska Jewish Historical Museum, which, when completed, will include an exhibit honoring Jewish Iditarod dog mushers. By default, he’s the local rabbinic authority on Judaism’s approach to dog sledding, as questions have always been raised about whether it’s morally ethical to put dogs through such an arduous journey.
“The way I understand it, sled dogs are trained,” Greenberg said. “They are raised for this purpose. They love the outdoors, and that’s a way for them to utilize their specific energy and abilities.” Greenberg also notes the Jewish mitzvah of feeding your own animals before you feed yourself, and mushers always put their dogs’ needs ahead of their own. As such, Greenberg said, “There might be something positive and Jewish about it.”
Berkowitz can certainly attest to the fact that the dogs are born to race. “They’d die if they didn’t race,” he said. “They really love it.” He has a simple philosophy when it comes to dog racing: “They’re doing us a favor by pulling us, and we’re doing them a favor by letting them run.”
Berkowitz is already back to training his dogs. This summer, he’ll return to Skagway, where he’ll provide dog-sled tours for visitors who come off the cruise ships there. And he’s thinking ahead to next year’s race. “The dogs are entering their prime now,” he said. “They’re going to be a very scary team to race next year, and I expect them to finish in the top 10.”
Kelly Hartog is a freelance journalist in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in The Jerusalem Post, JTA and the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
Ahron Shapiro contributed reporting to this article.
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Shame on Jake Berkowitz and Rabbi Yosef Greenberg for supporting the Iditarod. The race has a long, well-documented history of dog deaths, illnesses and injuries.
Six dogs died in the 2009 Iditarod. Two dogs were on the team of Dr. Lou Packer. Dr. Packer told the Anchorage Daily News he believes the two dogs froze to death in the brutally cold winds. For the dogs, the Iditarod is a bottomless pit of suffering. What happens to the dogs during the race includes death, paralysis, frostbite (where it hurts the most!), bleeding ulcers, bloody diarrhea, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases, broken bones, torn muscles and tendons and sprains. At least 142 dogs have died in the race. No one knows how many dogs die after this tortuous ordeal or during training. For more facts about the Iditarod, visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website, http://www.helpsleddogs.org .
On average, 53 percent of the dogs who start the race do not make it across the finish line. According to a report published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, of those who do finish, 81 percent have lung damage. A report published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine said that 61 percent of the dogs who complete the Iditarod have ulcers versus zero percent pre-race.
Iditarod dog kennels are puppy mills. Mushers breed large numbers of dogs and routinely kill unwanted ones, including puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for any reason, including those who have outlived their usefulness, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged, drowned or clubbed to death. "Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses......" wrote former Iditarod dog handler Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper.
Dog beatings and whippings are common. During the 2007 Iditarod, eyewitnesses reported that musher Ramy Brooks kicked, punched and beat his dogs with a ski pole and a chain. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing Manual, "Nagging a dog team is cruel and ineffective...A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is effective." "It is a common training device in use among dog mushers..."
Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens.. Or dragging them to their death."
During the race, veterinarians do not give the dogs physical exams at every checkpoint. Mushers speed through many checkpoints, so the dogs get the briefest visual checks, if that. Instead of pulling sick dogs from the race, veterinarians frequently give them massive doses of antibiotics to keep them running.
Most Iditarod dogs are forced to live at the end of a chain when they aren't hauling people around. It has been reported that dogs who don't make the main team are never taken off-chain. Chained dogs have been attacked by wolves, bears and other animals. Old and arthritic dogs suffer terrible pain in the blistering cold.
The dogs get no benefit from racing in the Iditarod. In sharp contrast, mushers get prize money, advertising contracts, book deals, top dollar for their sled dogs and media attention.
Margery Glickman Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org
Oh Margery, must you continue to spew outdated information in your attempt to satanize the Iditarod? Your rants are going unheeded. If you truly were worried about the dogs, you would insist the ITC make it harder for mushers to qualify for the race...cause the attacks you present are getting you anywhere. The race itself is not abusive to sled dogs. They love to run and will run 1000 miles for the sheer joy of it. The problem is certain mushers have no business being on the trail, but if they run their qualifiers, they are allowed. Most mushers take amazing care of their dogs. To end a race because 1 or two don't belong there is wrong.
Why don't you visit Alaska and the race Margery? We keep inviting you and you refuse to come. You talk with authority on a subject with which you have no personal experience.
Shame on Margery Glickman and the Sled Dog Action Coalition for demonizing everyone connected with the Iditarod and for presenting a one-sided case about it. The Iditarod is not the way the Coalition presents it and thanks to Berkowitz for his participation. His spirit is inspirational and his attitude is great! I hope he finishes in the top ten next year.
It is appearent, after reading the artical, that there are more people out there that do not know the extreme hardships of the Alaskan weather besides me. I have lived in extreme cold weather areas, although nothing like Alaska. The only way a person can really appreciate the weather conditions in Alaska is to go there and live there for the winter months. I do commend Jake Berkowitz for going from Anchorage to Nome leaving the starting with all dogs and ending with all dogs on his team. He should be awarded something for this feat.
What a boychick, Jake! You've done so well by your dogs, continue the mitzvah!
And you, Mrs. Glickman, FEY! Always ready at your keyboard to spread such tsuris in the world when so many truly abused and needy animals could use your help. You're a one-trick-pony, Margery, and you've ridden that pony into the ground. However, it's not too late to re-focus and find a way to really make a difference in the lives of animals.
Way to go Jake Berkowitz!
Ms. Glickman, after all these years of commenting and writing harsh things about the Iditarod and the dogs, why haven't you ever accepted any of the invitations to visit and see for the FIRST time what it's all about. Maybe after experiencing the happiness of these dogs at what they love to do, you might even have some FUN.
NO ONE should be commenting negatively on a topic they know little about from their own personal experience. A lot of what you say is hearsay from other people. Are you up to the challenge, Ms. Glickman, of visiting Alaska and the Iditarod, or is it simply too easy to rely on hearsay from others?
Glad to join this group
My husband Irving and I are both delighted by Jake's participation and his finish. As for Ms. G....she is loud and persistent, but I think most people of good sense know she spews nonsense, though her rants are inventive. Ms. G has never bothered to check out this race for herself. I have. Get a life, Ms. G.
Jake is a super guy, and I am very proud of him for running again this year. Go Jake!
One need only to look at the picture accompanying this article. Can you see the trust and the bliss in that dog's expression? Although Jake is chatting with the interviewer, he's holding a paw and stroking the head of that very happy sled dog. That is what mushing is about, the emotional connection of man and dog, the uniting of spirit and purpose, honoring the most ancient partnership of this world.
Good on you, Jake! for following your dreams and love for adventure. Getting all 16 dogs under the burled arch in Nome, that's a real accomplishment. Good on you, Rabbi Greenberg for seeing the virtues in caring for these noble creatures.
Shame on you, M. Glickman continuing to spread your bald-faced lies. If you would spend your efforts and energy helping homeless and abandoned animals, then we might see some real results. Try the shelters in you own hometown, they probably need help.
Mush Y'all,
One need only to look at the picture accompanying this article. Can you see the trust and the bliss in that dog's expression? Although Jake is chatting with the interviewer, he's holding a paw and stroking the head of that very happy sled dog. That is what mushing is about, the emotional connection of man and dog, the uniting of spirit and purpose, honoring the most ancient partnership of this world.
Good on you, Jake! for following your dreams and love for adventure. Getting all 16 dogs under the burled arch in Nome, that's a real accomplishment. Good on you, Rabbi Greenberg for seeing the virtues in caring for these noble creatures.
Shame on you, M. Glickman continuing to spread your bald-faced lies. If you would spend your efforts and energy helping homeless and abandoned animals, then we might see some real results. Try the shelters in you own hometown, they probably need help.
Mush Y'all,
Jake, you are such an inspiration! I watched you take off at the Willow start of the race. What an awesome feat for you to come in with all 16 happy dogs in your team!
M. Glickman, you are not even with reality - get a life!
Go Jake!!
Jake is a remarkable young man for bringing in all 16 happy healthy dogs under such brutal weather conditions experienced this year. I hope we see hinm for many more years to come. Nice going!
As for Margery Glickman's comments, perhaps she should spend more time in saving the 21,339 dogs that PETA killed - and obviously not by accident: http://www.consumerfreedom.com/pressRelease_detail.cfm/release/258
Shame on Rabbi Yosef and Jake!!!
This has to stop!! They are killing these dogs. They were being born to pull the sleds. They need warmth, loving and happiness, not working dogs. I am very much against this cruel sport and we animal lovers are working on to ban the dog sled races. I feel so sorry for these dogs: they are suffering and are not happy what you owners abuse them to win the races. So selfish and self pride as winners, not even think of the dogs well beings. Can you see their feelings? GOD-DOG= Man's best friend: LOVE and CARE NOT to kill them for cruel sports!!
Thank you, Margery, for posting the truth about the Iditarod. Frankly, I'm embarrassed that a fellow Jew would ignore tsa'ar ba'alei chayim. These animals are exploited and suffer horribly. We, as a species, and especially as Jews have an obligation to care for all creation. I implore everyone to watch the film A Sacred Duty. You can read a synopsis and watch the film in its entirety at http://www.asacredduty.com/
I had the pleasure of travelling with Jake and his awesome team of dogs during sections of the 2009 Iditarod. Jake has a natural ability to connect with animals and this was displayed for all 12 days with wagging tails and watchful eyes. I can say this because I have witnessed it, the happiest animals on the planet are the dogs who have Jake as their pack leader. Congrats to Jake and his 16 team members!
Jake is a super wonderful guy, and a wonderfully compassionate person who takes excellent care of the animals in his charge. I am proud to know him. He did well,the dogs did well and came in happy with wagging tails. Rina Deych.....Jake is not ignoring tsa'ar ba'alei chayim. His dogs are not exploited and they are not suffering. Come up....see for yourself....then decide.....come to our open house and talk with the mushers...pet the dogs and love on them......in my house....and you will see that no one is forcing these dogs to do anything....
I can understand and appreciate that the Alaska Jewish Historical Museum will include an exhibit honoring Dr. “Mother Ruth” Gruber, who was a representative to the Territory of Alaska during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, whose reports played a major role in shaping American policies in Alaska. She, also, secretly escorted a group of 1,000 Jewish refugees from Italy to America.
I cannot understand, and I am totally against honoring Jake Berkowitz and other Jewish Iditarod dog mushers. Anyone who subjects dogs to the risk of death or injury is certainly not worthy of being honored. SIX dogs died this year! This race is a dog killer almost every year. This race is cruel and inhumane to the sled dogs, and should be stopped. There are laws in 38 states against "over-driving" and "over-working" animals, and this is exactly what the Iditarod is.
Sure, the dogs love to run, but not such a grueling 1150-mile RACE, which is an unreasonable distance for the dogs. It is more than the distance from Maine to Florida. This is a RACE, so the dogs are running as fast as they can, over mountain ranges, ice, snow, in harsh conditions (below freezing, wind chill, etc.). It’s known as the toughest race on earth. As far back as records go a total of 142 have died, including this year's six. These dogs are the best-conditioned dogs in the world, due to their training year-round, but only about half the dogs make it to the finish line. This should tell you how severe this race is for them. These magnificent dogs are essentially treated like machines,--little engines that drive the sled and musher.
It's all about the money and glory for the mushers. Consider the prize money (hundreds of thousand dollars divided between the top 30 mushers) and the money it brings in to Alaska, at the detriment of the dogs. How many dogs have to die before this brutal race is stopped? In the 1925 historical run, which the Iditarod is promoted to supposedly commemorate (the Anchorage to Nome diphtheria serum run) a train carried the medication from Anchorage to Nenana. From there the dogs ran the remaining 674 miles in relays to Nome. There were 20 serum mushers with dog teams and no dog ran over 92 miles.
Do your research, people. It appears that Margery Glickman has done hers, because the information on the Sled Dog Action Coalition is factual and can be verified. Stop bashing Glickman, because you don't know what she has done for others in need,--children, animals, elderly, etc.
I can understand and appreciate that the Alaska Jewish Historical Museum will include an exhibit honoring Dr. “Mother Ruth” Gruber, who was a representative to the Territory of Alaska during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, whose reports played a major role in shaping American policies in Alaska. She, also, secretly escorted a group of 1,000 Jewish refugees from Italy to America.
I cannot understand, and I am totally against honoring Jake Berkowitz and other Jewish Iditarod dog mushers. Anyone who subjects dogs to the risk of death or injury is certainly not worthy of being honored. SIX dogs died this year! This race is a dog killer almost every year. This race is cruel and inhumane to the sled dogs, and should be stopped. There are laws in 38 states against "over-driving" and "over-working" animals, and this is exactly what the Iditarod is.
Sure, the dogs love to run, but not such a grueling 1150-mile RACE, which is an unreasonable distance for the dogs. It is more than the distance from Maine to Florida. This is a RACE, so the dogs are running as fast as they can, over mountain ranges, ice, snow, in harsh conditions (below freezing, wind chill, etc.). It’s known as the toughest race on earth. As far back as records go a total of 142 have died, including this year's six. These dogs are the best-conditioned dogs in the world, due to their training year-round, but only about half the dogs make it to the finish line. This should tell you how severe this race is for them. These magnificent dogs are essentially treated like machines,--little engines that drive the sled and musher.
It's all about the money and glory for the mushers. Consider the prize money (hundreds of thousand dollars divided between the top 30 mushers) and the money it brings in to Alaska, at the detriment of the dogs. How many dogs have to die before this brutal race is stopped? In the 1925 historical run, which the Iditarod is promoted to supposedly commemorate (the Anchorage to Nome diphtheria serum run) a train carried the medication from Anchorage to Nenana. From there the dogs ran the remaining 674 miles in relays to Nome. There were 20 serum mushers with dog teams and no dog ran over 92 miles.
Do your research, people. It appears that Margery Glickman has done hers, because the information on the Sled Dog Action Coalition is factual and can be verified. Stop bashing Glickman, because you don't know what she has done for others in need,--children, animals, elderly, etc.
Take a chill pill, Margery et. al., and peddle your shopworn guilt elsewhere. I'm proud of Jake.
Anyone who actually visits a sled dog kennel will quickly realize that only dogs that demonstrate that they absolutely LOVE being on a sled dog team and have the physical attributes to do so comfortably are recruited for that purpose.
No dog that appears unhappy or uninterested in pulling a sled is "forced" to do it. You can't force a dog to run in a team, even if you wanted to. You would get absolutely nowhere. Every dog on that team has to be excited to be there, and the reason why it works is because they really are.
Dogs that run sleds are the ones who demonstrate that they are miserable doing anything else.
It should be mentioned that the weight distribution on a dog sled is such that the amount of weight each dog is "pulling" is negligible. There is no sense of burden on the animal. They simply trot along, quite carefree and relaxed. It gives them a chance to work off the excess energy, which builds up very rapidly when they are rested for too long.
Iditarod sled dogs are some of the happiest dogs you'll ever meet.
"A NICE JEWISH BOY Runs the Iditarod..."
How about "Nice American Jewish Princess..." runs for Congress?
Ms Hartog -- how about looking at your sexist, demeaning bullshit attitude about Jewish MEN? I, and I'd bet, Mr Berkowitz, am an actual adult, strong and free MAN...not a BOY.
Yuch!!
I am a dog musher from Anchorage Alaska, and I would like to clear up a few of the facts Margery Glickman stated in her comment.
First of all, the percentage of dogs that die in the Iditarod is not nearly as much as the percentage of household pets that die everyday due to starvation, being hit by cars, neglect, etc. Out of the 52 million pet dogs in the United States, 6.2 million die every year due to the above mentioned causes. Thats 12 percent. Out of the 1088 dogs that started the 2009 Iditarod, 6 died. Thats only 0.6 percent.
The injuries that occur in the Iditarod are no different or worse than the injuries in any other major race. In the 2008 Boston marathon, paramedics treated over 900 runners in their medical tents. The injuries included: 3 heart attacks, dehydration, hyponatremia, hypothermia, sprained muscles, tendonitis, contusions, stress fractures, and much more. Any sporting event will show the same statistics – many injuries occur.
In 2009, 505 dogs (out of 1088) didn’t finish the race. That’s 46%. Just because 46% of the dogs don’t finish the race, doesn’t mean that all 46% dropped out due to injury or other causes. Out of the 505 dogs that didn’t finish the race, 256 were on teams that dropped out of the race all together. A large majority of the dogs are taken out of the race because the musher is stopping for their best interest. If a dog team is not strong enough to complete the race, a musher will drop out for the sake of the dogs. The dog musher’s primary concern is the health and safety of their dog team.
Average lifespan of a pet dog is about 12 years. Average lifespan of a sled dog is 14 years. This is proof that sled dogs are very well cared for throughout their life, and receive the best treatment possible. This is what allows them to have such a long lifespan.
You mentioned the use of a whip. Not many mushers use whips, but for those who do, the whip never comes in physical contact with a dog. The use of the whip is to create a noise which the dogs are trained to respond to, just like if a musher were to yell a command at the dog. The dogs are not afraid of the noise – the cracking noise the whip makes can be compared to the whistle a person uses to train hunting dogs.
A musher is not allowed to pass through a checkpoint until the dogs are checked over by the veterinarians. All of the vets along the race course are so skilled and well-trained that they can spot injuries by watching the way a dog acts. There are multiple vets at each checkpoint, so when a dog team pulls in, it doesn’t take more than a few minutes for the vets to completely check over the entire team.
Most mushers chain their dogs using a 10 to 12 foot chain, which gives the dogs a 112 square foot area to run in. The average dorm room size (for 2 people) is 228 square feet. Thats 114 square feet per person. A 112 square foot area provides plenty of room for a dog to run around in. Dog yards are also chained in to prevent animals such as wolves and bears from getting in.
Colonel Tom Classen was quoted in the comment, however, I have no idea why his opinion is qualified on the subject of dog mushing. Sure, he is a long time Alaskan resident, but he has no history with dog mushing or any sled dogs at all. He is an air force Colonel, not a veterinarian.
Mushers do not race the Iditarod for “fortune.” The cost to raise, train, and care for a competitive 16-dog Iditarod team for just ONE year is between 150 and 200 THOUSAND dollars. The winning prize in 2009 was $69 thousand. Mushing is a very expensive sport, and no dog musher makes a profit off of it.
Please don’t judge dog mushing until you can actually see sled dogs at work and see how much they love to do what they do. The “Sled Dog Action Coalition” that Margery Glickman mentioned is based out of Miami, Florida. I’m not sure how anyone from Miami can have any real knowledge about dog mushing.