Dmitriy Salita visits with fans following a 2008 assembly at Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston.
Photo by Ron Kaplan
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September 2, 2009
When students return to Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston this fall, they’ll be greeted by a new, albeit unofficial, “professor.”
Dmitriy Salita, the Orthodox junior welterweight boxer with a record of 30 wins, one tie, and no defeats, has created a program for the school that will teach the fundamentals of the sport as a way to engage the students — boys only at this point — in a new area of physical fitness.
In an interview with NJ Jewish News, Salita cited the growing problem with obesity in young people as one of the reasons behind the program, which was set up by Rabbi Richard Kirsch, guidance counselor and athletic director at RKYHS.
Although Salita will design the program and make occasional visits to Kushner to check in on the students’ progress, he will not be an actual instructor. Instead, he will serve as a guide to the school’s phys ed teachers. The students will not participate in actual boxing, Salita said.
“Having Dmitriy come to Kushner is a dream come true,” Kirsch told NJJN.
Kirsch took a group of students to one of Salita’s fights in 2004 and ever since the school “adopted” the soft-spoken boxer.
“It turned out to be one of the greatest experiences for me as a Jewish educator, as well as for my students,” Kirsch said. “At the time, they were not so much into Talmud and Jewish learning in general, but this one experience transformed their lives. For them to see a religious boxer, who was and still is so proud of his heritage, get into that ring and be so great at what he does was mesmerizing. They are still talking about it.”
Kirsch said Salita “will teach the kids what it means to be a mensch, a Torah-observant Jew, and also what it means to keep your body strong and healthy, all in one.”
Salita has visited the school over the years to discuss how a Jew can make his or her way in the world and still hold on to their heritage. The kids are lucky “to have Dmitriy in the school so they can have a person of his caliber demonstrate to the students first-hand what it means to be a Jew…and what it means to perform a kiddush Hashem [sanctifying God’s name].”
Salita and Kirsch said they hoped the idea would catch on at other yeshivas. “We are responsible for raising the next Jewish generation,” said Kirsch. “In the meantime, I’m proud to say that we now have a world class boxer/mensch/role model [and] I hope this relationship will last for many years to come.”
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