While the words "Jewish Boxer" may not roll off the tongue naturally for everyone, Dmitriy Salita, professional boxer, otherwise known as the Star of David has been challenging and changing that stereotype since the beginning of his boxing career. An undeniable talent in the ring, outside of it, the 28 year old is articulate, thoughtful, and well... deep.

Dmitriy Salita was a kid from the Ukraine who knew he was Jewish, but couldn't really tell you what that meant. The family that escaped from the Soviet Union when whispers of potential pogroms arose, ended up halfway across the world in a land called Brooklyn. At the age of 13 the young Salita found himself training at the Starrett City Boxing Club with a man who would later become his mentor, Jimmy O. Time went by. Salita climbed the ranks in the boxing world, and somewhere along the way discovered the true heartbeat of Judaism. Now he is known, not only as for being a great boxer, but for being an observant Orthodox Jewish boxer, who does not box on the Sabbath and finds spiritual meaning even in his defeats.

VirtualJerusalem sat down with Salita just days before his big fight for the IBA World Welterweight Title to get to know the man who wears the gloves and hear this observant Jew's thoughts on serving God, the spiritual side of boxing, and how his life has changed since becoming a husband and father.


We know that you started boxing at a very early age, but when was it when you really decided that this was something that you wanted to do professionally?

Pretty much from a very young age, from when I was around 13 years old. Even from the beginning I was very focused. I tried to get myself to the highest level of boxing. It's funny, but from the very beginning I thought that was my way to make it - through boxing. All my thoughts and energy went into that from when I was very young.

Your family noticed your dedication, but when you finally went up to them and told them you were serious about it, that you wanted to do it professionally, what was the reaction?

I always knew it was something I wanted to do, but with my family it happened gradually. I was doing amateur tournaments and people were talking about me, writing about me. and it was heading in that direction... and then my mother got sick, and the focus of my family was on that. Boxing kept me balanced, it kept me in the best mental shape that it could under the circumstance.

Before I turned pro, my father very seriously asked me if it was something I wanted to do, and it was. All the money I've made in my life was from boxing. When I was very young and I came here from the Ukraine, I had two jobs, I used to shovel snow from the storms, and I used to pack bags in a grocery store... so boxing has been my only real income and from there it developed into other things. From an early age I knew it was something I wanted to do, and my family, while they were very concerned, realized that it was my passion and my focus.

Going back to the time when your mother was sick. I understand that was along the same time when you grew more interested in the religious aspect of Judaism. Was that a slow process? Or did something happen that led to a domino effect?

It was a definitely slow process. My family came here from the former Soviet Union and Russian Jews are very proud Jews - and very sure of their Judaism but they're not practicing because it's not something they grew up with.

When i came to America, it was the first time I saw religious people walking on the street ever and in big numbers! On Saturday, it shuts down, you know? I wanted to know more about myself and more about where I came from.

When I first started to get involved in Judaism , some of the experiences that I had weren't so positive because the people that I was dealing with didn't know how to communicate with Russian Jews that know about religion but they don't know about Judaism necessarily.

Salita and Jimmy O'

So the experiences I had didn't motivate me to come back to learn more. Those organizations did not know how to deal with people like me and from my way of life. So I was 14, and when I was visiting my mother I met this religious man who took my information to the Chabad house, to a Chabad rabbi, and after a few phone calls and us meeting, they very much appealed to me because they knew how to work with someone who came from my background. My Judaism grew very slowly.

I grew up in a boxing club, and one of my mentors is my trainer, Jimmy O. Jimmy O is an old black man who grew up during segregation, so ever since I was young, I saw Jimmy preaching black pride in a healthy way and in a proper way. In me that strengthened my identity as a Jewish person, and I knew that when I'd get my success and have my 15 minutes of fame that I wanted to use it, and whatever positive energy that I had to support Jewish causes, and to talk and to promote Judaism because I thought it was very important and under-reported. So 16 years later, now I'm involved in an organization called EZRA USA, we have a youth center here in Brooklyn, NY, specifically for Russian Jews, and it serves the purpose of something I dealt with myself, which is to appeal to young Russian Jews and make them understand about Jewish life and Jewish culture,. in a way that works.

What are some ways in which you do that?

There's the Friday night dinner which is where a lot of young people get together for the Shabbos dinner, and it's in a fun interactive way. Part of the dinner is that a rabbi, or someone talks about the Parsha, gives a light [study for] 10-15 minutes. There's also a movie night where young people get together and hang out and watch movies about Jewish culture and things like that. It's a way for them to see that this organization talks to them. We have different events for holidays as well. For example, a recent event they did was on Chanukah - they made gifts for Israeli kids with cancer. We do different things to get people involved and to educate them about Judaism in a way that will appeal to them. EZRA USA is connected to Russian birthright which sends kids to Israel for the first time. The youth center is their post trip location. (Visit their website at: ezraus.org)


Have you encountered anti-Semitism in the boxing world, whether from other boxers or promoters or even audiences?

Anti-Semitism is not something that's new, and just because I box, it doesn't mean that I've become immune to it. I've definitely experienced anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism can be someone saying something derogatory about Jews in a open forum - that's one thing, but sometimes people do things on a different level which is anti-Semitic in a way that it's a double standard from more of an intellectual level... I've encountered it on different levels.

That must make your job harder.

Well yeah but that's what it is, it's part of life sometimes. America's the best country in the world because America discourages any kind of anti-anything. Regardless of what kind of discrimination it is. That's why to be in this country, and to have gotten the opportunities that I've gotten, and not fighting on the Sabbath and still to be able to do what I do - all that happened because American is such a great country.

In regards to not boxing on Shabbat, we heard that initially when you started, people told you it would never work, that you couldn't do both.

Jewish people told me this.
Jewish people that are not observant, people I knew. They were thinking, you're a smart kid, go to school, don't waste your time and energy. it's not going to work out for you.

In retrospect, since it did work, what would you say to other young religious Jews starting out in equally unlikely industries?

I just read a great quote. It was a Chinese proverb that said: "People who say it can't be done, should not disturb the ones doing it." That's true. Listen, people sometimes say things, they just make comments that they don't give much thought to. I can talk about myself, I feel my blessing and my success came from my observance. My observance of Shabbos, it was difficult, but that's the order of the world! Over time it took creativity and perseverance, but I was able to reach great heights because of it, and with it and I feel much better about myself, and I feel that my blessing comes from not doing something on Saturday at 12, you know what I mean?

The blessing of Jewish people comes from observing Judaism, and Shabbos is one of the major parts of Judaism because it's a declaration that God runs the world. We can rest and dedicate this day to Judaism and still do our thing. And I say this, but I also want to say that because you don't work on Shabbos, you still have to work hard the other six days a week. A rabbi told me once, it was one of the greatest things I've heard, "God loves nothing more than hard work." I feel like it's important to work hard on those 6 days and to dedicate yourself to whatever you're doing and rest on the 7th day

What is your ultimate goal as a boxer?

As a boxer my goal is to win a world title. I'm fighting for it, for a version of a world title on Thursday night. Mike Anchondo just pulled out a few days ago.. I'm fighting James Wayka .

What happens in this situation? Does that affect your training strategy?"

Yeah, I train very hard and worked the last two months, and [when this happened] there was a possibility the show might be called off altogether. Thank God it all worked out. James is an experienced guy, so I have to change strategy a little bit. I'm in good shape, I train hard, and technically its going to be a little different because he's built differently. but when you're an amateur, you enter tournaments and there's around 60 people in your weight class so you can prepare and then you adjust as the fight goes on, so you kind of use that experience.

Is there such a thing as spiritual preparation for a fight?

Definitely.

To me boxing is very spiritual sport. Because you get in the ring and all the pressure is on you and the other guy is out to hurt you. The only thing that can help you is God and it's almost like going into battle. There's a strong sense of spiritual sensitivity because it's so important and so intense. Some of the most spiritual times in my life have been approaching fights or during fights.

What was your most memorable moment in the ring, good or bad?

I had a long career. I guess one of the most memorable moments in the ring was the first time I decided I wasn't going to fight on Shabbos at the US Nationals when I was an amateur. It was never done before and I was facing a complication because in amateur boxing you fight every day until you make it to the finals. and so I won all my fights, made it to the finals, and I didn't know if I was going to compete, and I was fighting a very tough guy on top of that. USA boxing changed it for me. that's how it all started and I won. So that was most memorable because it was most difficult and I guess most rewarding... this was very early, back in 2000. Just before that, I got a blessing from the Rebbe in a letter, and the blessing that I got was that 'you will be successful at what you do. but you don't do your job on Shabbos.' Until then I was still boxing on Shabbos, that's when it kind of all came together.

In Judaism, a big part of our belief system is EMUNAH, the belief that God is behind everything that happens to us, good or bad. Does that affect how you look at your wins and losses? Do you see spiritual lessons behind say, a significant loss?

Salita: Yes, I see it behind everything. There's spiritual levels and everything is connected, so if it's a setback, or a win, or there's difficulties - just like every business you have to evaluate the situation from every perspective. It only does you good to get better and increase in good things, and for me, I see how I can tighten up, how I can improve myself in whatever ways I feel I need improvement.

What boxers do you admire?

I admire Jack Johnson, Barney Ross , Benny Leonard, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Oscar De La Hoya... I think all those guys stood out in and out of the game because aside from being very good athletes they were also people who did great things outside of the boxing world as well.

Do people compare you to Yuri Foreman?

People sometimes do, although we both box, we have a different game and very different stories, so just because we're both from the Soviet Union, yeah, there are similarities, but our stories are different.

How is it juggling your professional life with your personal one now that you're a husband and a father?

Salita and his wife Alona

It's difficult, because I'm in a different mental place now than I was when I didn't have a wife and baby. Boxing is not forever, and for the time that I'm fighting, and when I'm training for a fight, I have to mentally separate myself a little bit. it's a difficult thing but luckily my wife is very supportive and is helping to be helpful...when I'm getting into shape. it's all thanks to my wife.

Going back to what you said about using your position as a tool to promote Judaism positively - what's it like doing that when you're one of the few Jews in this sport?

Different people serve God and serve the world with different means, and boxing is something that happens to be my tool at this stage in my life. It was very tough at the beginning. I stopped fighting on Shabbos when I was 18 years old, and I didn't go to the World Cup actually... because I won the US championships, and then I was supposed to go but I wasn't taken because I decided not to fight on Saturday. In the beginning when I first turned pro there was a big splash about it, and it was talked about, and some people liked it and some people didn't like it. Some Jewish people thought it was too much...

I feel now, ten years later that socially the world has progressed and things are much easier now, [something like that] that can happen now, in boxing, in sports. One of my inspirations was and is Tamir Goodman who is the first professional athlete who chose not to play on the Sabbath and I was reading about him when I was still coming up.

I feel that Judaism is under-represented in pop culture, and I think it's important - important for everybody - to proudly and respectfully spread the message of Judaism in the world, especially the people in the public eye.

Dmitriy Salita fights James Wayka for the IBA World Welterweight Title this Thursday, December 16th.