¿Se puede ser boxeador y judío?

Y como sucede comunmente en la cultura judía - a diferencia de los católicos, que no debaten con sus sacerdotes, ni los sacerdotes con sus obispos, ni los obispos con el Papa - la pregunta causa debate, ya que se supone que un judío no tiene permitido dañarse a sí mismo, y menos a otros -claro, a menos que sea en defensa propia. Y es que un joven boxeador judío-ruso emigrado a Nueva York, estudia para ser rabino, y por ello ha hecho levantar varias cejas. Copio del New York Times:

James Estrin/The New York Times. Foreman, with Pedro Saiz, his assistant trainer, at Gleason’s Gym. He will defend his title Thursday night in Brooklyn.

James Estrin/The New York Times. Foreman, a light middleweight boxer, is studying under Rabbi DovBer Pinson in the hopes of becoming an Orthodox rabbi.

"Four days before his first North American Boxing Federation title defense, Yuri Foreman sat in the basement of a Brooklyn brownstone studying Shulchan Aruch, the code of Jewish law. By early afternoon, he would be at Gleason’s Gym to train for his approaching bout with Saul Román, a power puncher from Mexico with 24 knockouts in 28 fights.

This hectic schedule is familiar to Foreman, a 27-year-old rabbinical student and an undefeated professional light middleweight boxer who wears the Star of David on his boxing trunks and a black skullcap when he is studying or praying.

He answered rapid-fire questions from his teacher, Rabbi DovBer Pinson, an author and lecturer. The mental exercise, Foreman said, was tougher than any boxing routine.

“It’s a sharpen-your-mind workout,” he said. “When I go to the gym, I’m training my physical self. With the rabbi, I’m training my spiritual muscles.”