Brooklyn, NY – Boxing Champ Preps for Second Career — As Rabbi

    14

    Brooklyn, NY – It’s a little after noon when Yuri Foreman steps through the door of Gleason’s Gym.

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    If prizefighting had a Mecca, this would be it. The oldest boxing gym in the U.S., Gleason’s has been a home to 132 world champions.

    Foreman, 29, the unbeaten “Lion of Zion,” became the latest to join the list after twice knocking down heavily favored Daniel Santos to win the World Boxing Association junior middleweight title last November in Las Vegas. That made him the first Israeli fighter to win a world title.

    Yet after climbing to the top of a sport he has long attacked with zeal, his accomplishment has to share the spotlight with his other pursuit- studying to be a rabbi.

    He spends each morning immersed in Torah, learning how to interpret the will of God, and each afternoon in the middle of a gym learning how to break the will of his next opponent.

    The two worlds, boxing and religion, do not necessarily contradict one another, Jewish scholars said. Many of the greatest Jewish leaders were warriors, so they say it’s not hypocritical to pound somebody’s flesh while also trying to redeem his soul.

    “Judaism is very much stressed in the here and the now. That is, it’s a celebration of life, not withdrawal,” said Rabbi DovBer Pinson, Foreman’s rabbinical instructor. “The stereotype of Jews in America is Woody Allen. I think that’s a very good stereotype to break.”

    Foreman never set out to be a Jewish icon. In fact, he never set out to be Jewish, having grown up in a secular family in Belarus and Israel before finding religion-and a pro boxing career – in Brooklyn.

    The journey began in Gomel, Belarus, once home to a vibrant Jewish community. That community was nearly wiped out twice, first by czarist pogroms, then by the Nazis.

    By the time Foreman was born in 1980, his family had become so secular that his parents thought their ceremonial kiddush cups, passed down from their ancestors, were fancy shot glasses for drinking vodka.

    When Foreman was 5, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station about 100 miles away covered Gomel in radiation, forcing the family to evacuate to Estonia. They returned months later.

    A few years later, after Foreman was picked on by bullies at a swimming pool, his mother marched him to a boxing gym.

    “The trainer promised her it would never happen again,” Foreman recalled. “And he kept his promise.”

    But if Foreman learned to fight in Belarus, he learned to box in Haifa, the Israeli port city where his family moved just months before the disintegration of the Soviet Union. He trained there with Michael Kozlowski, a former Soviet national team coach.

    Foreman became Israel’s most decorated boxer, a three-time national amateur champion.

    After Kozlowski moved to New York, Foreman joined him there and turned pro in 2002.

    He decided on his own to become a rabbi, a goal Pinson said he should reach in the next two years. Before then, he’ll have to defend his boxing title against former welterweight champ Miguel Cotto.

    The Puerto Rican endured savage beatings in three of his last four fights, but that isn’t likely to happen against Foreman, who has just eight knockouts in 28 fights – and just one since 2004.

    Pinson, acknowledging he knows little about boxing, expressed wonder at his student’s ability to win at boxing without badly hurting anyone.

    “A person like Yuri, that’s a beautiful thing,” Pinson said. “He’s a world champion and he has a high profile. He’s a good example of how to live as a Jew.”


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group


    14 Comments
    Most Voted
    Newest Oldest
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Is he having a fight in Yankee stadium & when??

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    I have a question for the “Boxing Rabbi”, if someone fights with me & I break his nose am I ok according to Halacha?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Jewish ppl were warriers when it came to save lives, not to earn championships in vegas. There is no doubt that this does contredict judaism and this lubab rabbi should be ashamed of himself. He is the same caliber as Madana’s Kabalah Rabbi. Foi

    assur
    assur
    14 years ago

    it is forbidden to hurt someone even if that person allows it as the gemara says in perek hachovel. these two things obviously contradict each other. and when this prize boxer is zoche to get to perek hachovel, hopefully he’ll abandon his career.

    Reb Chaim HaQoton
    Reb Chaim HaQoton
    14 years ago

    This story reminds me of the story of Rav Rafael Halperin ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Halperin ), who the chazon ish told to leave wrestling…

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Imagine how much respect this rabbi’s congregants will have for him. And there will be NO talking during his drasha, or else…

    knr nvr
    knr nvr
    14 years ago

    he started his career before he was frum, he now consults with rabonim every step of the way. remmeber this is a jewish russian kid that found judaism through boxing. and p.s. he’s getting smicha not seeking a pulpit.

    Dovid Hamelech was not a boxer!
    Dovid Hamelech was not a boxer!
    14 years ago

    “The two worlds, boxing and religion, do not necessarily contradict one another, Jewish scholars said. Many of the greatest Jewish leaders were warriors, so they say it’s not hypocritical to pound somebody’s flesh while also trying to redeem his soul.”

    Like comment #3, I strongly protest the distortion of Torah. And what ‘Jewish scholars’ are they talking about? I only see one, the Lubavitcher R. Pinson mentioned.

    The quote above tries to make it sound like Dovid Hamelech olov hasholom was a boxer

    Rachmono litzlon!

    Chaim
    Chaim
    14 years ago

    Go Yuri! I’ll see you at June 5th in Yankee Stadium.