Dmitriy Salita addresses students at Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston about the challenges of being an observant Jew while pursuing a career as a boxer.
Photos by Ron Kaplan
March 20, 2008
While Dmitriy Salita, the hottest Jewish boxer since Barney Ross, munched on a lunch of a burger and fries in a small office at Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston, his longtime friend and “guardian angel,” Myron Sugarman, asked school officials, “What do you want to get out of this?”
Their answer: Show the students that it is possible to pursue their dreams without compromising their Jewish values.
“Good,” said Sugarman, banging his hand on the table in agreement. “That’s exactly what this should be.”
Salita, who boxes in the junior welterweight division, is an Orthodox Jew. He follows the laws of kashrut, davens every day, and refuses to
fight on Shabbat. His decisions may have slowed his progress and influenced his income as he had to forego more lucrative Friday night matches, but he will not budge on his principles. He shared his success and challenges with the Kushner high-schoolers and students from the seventh and eighth grades in an assembly on March 13.
After Sugarman, a Montclair resident and boxing aficionado, began the program with a brief history of Jews in the sport, the kids watched a short documentary about the Odessa-born boxer known as the “Star of David.”
After the assembly, Salita greets his fans, young and older.
Salita came on stage to the strains of “Eye of the Tiger” to discuss how he came to the Orthodox lifestyle and what it has meant to him in and out of the ring. He urged his young audience to pick a goal, work hard, and not give up if expectations are not immediately fulfilled. “Be strong, and be proud,” he told them.
After his presentation, Salita took some questions from the audience in which he countered the argument that halachic law demands Jews not willingly put themselves in danger. “I’m a trained athlete,” he said. “And besides, you can get hurt just trying to cross the street.” He also said he would not face a Jewish opponent in the ring.
“It’s a great honor to be able to speak to kids and tell my story,” Salita, 26, told NJ Jewish News before the program. He remembered what it meant to him to have celebrities speak at his public school in Brooklyn and said he believes his proximity in age to his audience gives him an advantage in delivering his message. “I remember what kids want to hear and need to hear because I was in that position, so I hope that I can relate the message.”
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