From the world wide web.....
It happened at Armenia’s prestigious Demirchyan
Sports Complex. Ten thousand people crowded the stands on November 25th
for the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Youth World Boxing Championship -
thousands remained outside for lack of space
Young contestants from 70 nations flew in for the event.
Israel sent a small delegation of some eight boxers, each the national champion
in his weight class.
Akiva Finkelstein (18) from Bet El, is Israel’s light
welterweight (up to 140 lbs) champion. Born to Baruch a real estate agent, and Michal – a
midwife at a Jerusalem hospital, Akiva viewed the boxing schedule upon arrival
and saw that his first fight was set for Saturday night.
Being a religious Jew, Akiva and his father had faced many
difficult halachic (Jewish legal) dilemmas at previous tournaments. Kosher food
was always an issue. Other boxers delved into lavish steak dinners, while the
Finkelsteins sufficed with fresh vegetables and canned kosher foods.
The standard procedure at boxing tournaments is to weigh
in on the first day to assure that each contestant is within his designated
weight class. But soon after arrival in Armenia, Akiva saw that the rules were
slightly different. He immediately emailed his father stating that a new
halachic problem had arisen: the boxers had to weigh in on the same morning of
any scheduled fight. For Akiva, this meant getting on the electric scale on
Shabbos.
Baruch joined his son in Armenia on Wednesday. He began
negotiating with those in charge to try and have Akiva weighed in on Friday
afternoon, before the onset of the Sabbath. The
authorities wouldn't bend.
Baruch patiently explained the problem to a high official
in the Int’l Boxing Association. After spending all the money to participate in
the event and in view of the extenuating circumstances, Baruch told his son that
if someone picks him up and places him on the scale while Akiva remains
completely passive (in Jewish Law, this is called grama), that he could
then weigh in on Saturday morning. The high official agreed to this arrangement,
awkward as it was.
Come Saturday morning, Akiva’s turn to get on the scale
arrived. The high official who agreed to the special arrangement was there. But
when the big boss of the event saw what was going on, he intervened to stop it.
“The boy has to step on to the scale,” the man in charge said.
The high official who wanted to accommodate told Baruch,
“It’s my boss. I can’t overrule him.”
The otherwise simple procedure of weighing in fighters came
to a halt, a verbal exchange began, and the room became quiet. Baruch argued his
son’s case – the case of Judaism. Other board members expressed their opinion:
“If it’s a religious issue and in the final analysis the Israeli contestant
would fulfill our guidelines of being weighed on the same morning of the fight,
so what do we care? Let’s comply with his request and place him on the
scale.”
The boss heard them, was leaning towards agreeing, but then
posed a question to Baruch. “These Jewish laws are centuries old, right? Then
how did they know about electricity back then? It hadn't been invented yet! What
kind of a religion is this?”
Baruch wasn’t about to engage in a one-on-one study session
with the big boss from Wales, England about the intricacies of electricity usage
on the Sabbath in Jewish Law.
The boss made up his mind: “This is utterly and completely
absurd. I’ve never heard of anything like this in all my boxing years. And
besides, what if this sets a precedent, and then maybe there will be a heavy guy
who we can’t pick up. Forget this whole thing.” Turning to Baruch, he made his
final call: “Your son either gets on the scale, or we disqualify him from his
match tonight. He'll be out of the championship.”
The Israeli coach turned to the Finkelsteins and said, “How can you back out of
this? Had we known, we would have brought someone else from Israel to represent
us in this weight class. You can’t just disqualify yourself over stepping on the
stupid scale. No way!”
Akiva began boxing when he was ten. From the outset, his
coaches recognized his potential and said that if he works hard, he would
represent Israel in the world championship when he turned 18. For eight years,
Akiva had worked every single day for this moment.
His father even flew him to New York every summer to
practice at Gleason’s World Famous Boxing Gym in Brooklyn. This is where
Muhammed Ali trained along with many world boxing champions.
In addition to being a prize student in his Torah and
secular studies, Akiva was completely focused on the 2012 World Championship for
most of his childhood. It was his main aspiration.
And here the long-awaited moment had arrived and was in
jeopardy over what appeared to all onlookers to be a trivial religious
issue.
Baruch didn’t want to decide for his son. Akiva had
sacrificed 8 years of his free time for this moment, and Baruch wasn’t going to
be the one to take it away from him.
The room was completely quiet. The boss from Wales had
given his final ultimatum. Baruch and all eyes were turned to 18-year-old
Akiva.
Akiva tilted his head down and said, “I’m not getting on
the scale. I can’t do it.”
The Int’l Boxing Association board promptly disqualified
him. The Israeli coach was furious.
On Shabbat, Baruch and Akiva went to the only synagogue in
the city where no one had prepared the Torah reading. Akiva accepted the
challenge and read from the Torah.
The father and son got the earliest plane out and returned
to Bet El, where Akiva went back to his Yeshiva.
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What was your reaction? If it was "Wow!! What a hero! What a Kiddush Hashem!" I agree.
If it was "How loathsome for a ben-yeshiva, a frum boy, to be a boxer", I also agree. The sword - and the fist - belong to Esav. Yaakov is in the tents using his voice to daven and learn. הקול קול יעקב והידים ידי עשו. The hand is supposed to be used to give and not to hit, as the Lubavitcher Rebbe beautifully explains in this weeks parsha based on which Chazal say that if one strikes his fellow man it is like striking Hashem himself. Strong words.
But wait...
An unlikely story: There was once a yeshiva boy named
Refael Halperin [he recently passed away] who was close to the Chazon Ish. He had been a big masmid in learning but he lost it. He loved wrestling and he was good at it. Very good. He decided to go professional and the Chazon Ish permitted it!!! He became a Champ!
I am not sure whether or not he was frum during this period but I know for sure that for the rest of his long life he was. He died a completely Charedi man. He wrote sefarim and was a very successful businessman.
The moral: Sometimes a child needs something and although ideally we would prefer that he want the Rambam and the Rashba - he needs to be allowed to fulfill his yearnings.
Akiva Finkelstein - you are a hero. You sacrificed 8 years of training so as not to be mechalel shabbos and your "reward" was a lot of ridicule.
In shomayim, where it counts, you are THE MAN!!
חילך לאורייתא!
