Tallis, Tefillin, and Gloves

Jerry Glick reporting: If his plans go as he intends for them to go, he will be, Rabbi Yuri Foreman, Junior-Middleweight Champion of the World. He is currently and simultaneously striving to achieve two far reaching goals; one physical and the other spiritual. He is unbeaten as a boxer and is on the cusp of becoming both a champion and a Rabbi.

THE FIGHTER
Undefeated Foreman, 27-0 (8), is ready to go on the 27th and knows what is needed against opponent Cornelius Bundrage, 29-4 (17), in their IBF twelve round title eliminator.

“I have to execute my game plan,” said a calm Foreman at the press conference held on Wednesday at BB Kings in Midtown Manhattan to meet the media and talk about the Top Rank show, Latin Fury 9, scheduled for June 27th at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. “This fight that I am training for so hard is everything to me.”

He knows little about his opponent but nevertheless he is confident of victory.

“He’s very strong,” said Yuri. “He’s shorter and stockier than me, he has pretty fast hands, and he is a counter puncher, who is awkward.”

Also on the show’s four main fights are Vanes Martirosyan vs Andrey Tsurkan, Jorge Arce vs Fernando Lumacad, and the main event, a World Junior-Featherweight Title fight between Champion Juan Manuel Lopez and Olivier Lontchi.

“I will be on the top of my game,” said Foreman. “I will be strong, and I will be aggressive.”

Foreman knows what he will have to bring to the table to win.

THE RABBI
Decades ago there were different ethnic groups of boxers in the neighborhoods of New York. There were Irish, Italian, Polish, Jewish, and others. If one group was better to be a part of fighters would fight under assumed names. If you were fighting an O’Reilly you just might have had a Weinstein in front of you. The fans cheered for their guy and almost everyone was represented, even Jews, but for some reason that has changed for the Jews. With a lack of Jewish fighters to root for, the Jewish fans don’t turnout today, you see flags from Puerto Rico, Poland, The Dominican Republic, Ireland and others, but not Israel. Yuri Foreman would like that to change. As an orthodox Jew he must abide by religious laws as much when he’s fighting as the commission’s rules. He is one example of someone who is dedicated to his religion and his sport and makes it work.

There are a few different rules that he must abide by as an orthodox Jew. He cannot fight during daylight on Shabbat, the Sabbath, which, in the Jewish faith is Saturday, from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday. This means that he cannot travel, or work, fight, or even weigh-in until it is after sundown Saturday. There are many laws including dietary laws, but there are too many to list here.

“For those who are keeping (observing) Shabbat, I do my separation prayer then I go straight to the ring and do my thing,” explained Foreman.
He is dedicated to his sport and is an example of something that young Jewish boys and girls should aspire to be. As a Jew myself, I have to acknowledge the lack of athleticism in Jewish life. This is not to say that there has never been fine Jewish athletes, of course there have been many, it is just not something that is given the importance that it has been given in other cultures.

There have been some pretty good Jewish boxing champions and contenders including Barney Ross, Lew Tendler, Benny Leonard, Abe Attell, Mike Rossman, Dana Rosenblatt, Maxie Rosenbloom, and many others, although the list pales against most other ethnic groups.

Current Jewish boxers such as Foreman, Dmitriy Salita, and Roman Greenberg, are a small population but they stand as fine examples young Jewish men who are strong in both mind and body. They are role models for the modern Jewish youngster. Too often Jewish children are pushed to care for the mind without concern about sports and being in proper physical shape.

“Growing up in Israel boxing was such an unpopular sport over there,” recalled Yuri. “ I am on a mission and if I succeed I’m going to be the first Rabbi and Israeli Champion in boxing who ever came out of Israel. I hope then that boxing would be raised from such an unpopular sport (in Israel and the Jewish community) and more people would train.”

“For some reason the Jewish population considers sports in some way low (in social status), but if you see Torah translators from a thousand years ago with names like Rombom, and Ronban, especially Rombom, he was a physician and he told his patients to do sports and physical exercise because a healthy soul should be in a healthy body

When any of these three, Foreman, Salita, or Greenberg fights, there is a different makeup to the audience. One sees a sea of Yarmulkas throughout the crowd. Without fighters such as these it is a rare thing to see at a venue, but when it is advertized that a popular Jewish fighter is fighting the crowd is full of his fans.

It is possible that more young Jewish men will be inspired by the current crop of fighters who are Jewish. Maybe a Champion who is a Rabbi could turn the trick. We’ll just have to wait.

Shalom.