Is Japanese Ironman Robot Evolta Jewish?

We thought at first that we had evidence that no, Japanese Ironman robot Evolta is not a Jew. News stories report that the 20 inch robot will compete in the Hawaii Ironman in October.

And we know that the Ironman race in Kona Hawaii is going to take place on Yom Kippur this year, October 8. We talmudically concluded that Evolta is probably not a Jew.

Note that Jewish ironman athletes are upset by this timing of the Kona race. But in fact, there are not a lot of (religious) Jews who qualify for the difficult event.

We personally completed one real leg of the ironman event. Last January (2011) when we were in Kona, we swam out into the ocean from the Kona pier and back on the 2.4 mile open water ironman swimming course. We swam with other swimmers who come regularly to work out at the site. We did not try "yet" to complete the other two legs, the 112 mile bike route or the 26 mile marathon run. See the map.

It turns out that Evolta will complete the ironman course over a span of several days in October, but not on Yom Kippur. Accordingly, we cannot use this information to judge whether the robot is Jewish.



Evolta is a cute little fellow. Actually it appears that he is a team of three robots, each one designed for another part of the ironman event, as the picture shows. The Daily Mail explains, citing the inventor:

Of the three bodies, which include one mounted on a tiny bicycle and another in a round hoop with a supporting rear wheel, the 51-cm (20 inch) high swimming robot -- mounted on a curved, fin-like blade with its arms stretched out -- presented special challenges.

'I had to think of the ways to make it waterproof and protect it from rust, as much as possible,' Takahashi said.

We point out that many or most Jews will be in another grueling ironman event on Yom Kippur, October 8, this year. The "pentathlon" of the five synagogue services recited by Jews while fasting in a 24 hour span challenges even the best conditioned spiritual athlete.