"How did my romance with Hebrew begin? With the Bible! I've always wanted to read it in the original to understand it better," says Vitaliy Tsypko, a student at the UTime College's Ulpan Bet.
"I once thought that if I learned Hebrew, I would find something in the Tanakh that isn't in the Bible," Vitaliy explains. "When I came to Israel five years ago, I immediately enrolled in an ulpan and started learning Hebrew. Not because you can't live in Israel without Hebrew, but to fulfill my long-held dream of reading the Tanakh. The original source!"
At UTime College's Ulpan Aleph, Vitaliy was placed in a group with Irina Bogomolnaya, an experienced teacher.
"She taught us to read with vowels," Vitaliy recalls. "They're certainly convenient, but now I read fluently without them, intuitively. The vowels are more of a hindrance than a help."
When Vitaliy attended his first advanced class at Ulpan Bet, his new classmates couldn't have imagined that the shy newcomer was a former European boxing champion, ex-WBA Intercontinental champion, the subject of thousands of sports articles, and referred to as a "legend of Ukrainian boxing."
Soon his classmates learned that Vitaliy was passionate about videography and willing to explore every inch of the Judean Desert for its exotic Martian landscapes.
"I fell in love with these landscapes at first sight; the desert fascinates me," he says. "I was delivering vaccines to schools. Although this was during the COVID-19 epidemic, my job wasn't related to the virus: we were delivering vaccines for childhood diseases. Some drivers were covering the central part of the country, but for some reason, I was sent to the most remote and picturesque corners of Israel: the areas around Jericho, Hebron, and Shechem. Google Maps and Waze stop working in those places. You reach a point by GPS, and then it no longer works, so you have to navigate independently. And it was during the pandemic that my mother sent me a video camera from Dnipro for my birthday. Gradually, I learned to shoot (the learning process was painful – at first, nothing worked out). Once I mastered the technique, I had the idea to create videos dedicated to the most remote and inaccessible corners of Eretz-Israel."
"What captivated you about Israel?"
"I always dreamed of visiting Jerusalem," says Vitaliy Tsypko. "The first cities I saw here were Tel Aviv and Rishon LeZion. But I didn't find anything special in them: just ordinary Europe. Jerusalem is different – the Eternal City!"
Before leaving his native Dnipro, Vitaliy spent 10 years working as a coach. Initially in a sports school, then in private clubs.
"What did you feel when you became the European champion in 2005? Euphoria? Pride?"
"There was no euphoria. But there was a feeling that I had overcome an important stage. A sense of calm, maybe..."
"In April this year, a sports website published an article titled 'From Champion to School Guard. The Fate of One of Ukraine's Best Boxers of the 2000s.' It was a sad article, although you have a completely different character: you radiate light, generating calm and confidence in others."
"You are absolutely right; by nature, I am an optimist! A journalist friend called me. He suggested an interview, and I agreed," laughs Vitaliy. "Now everyone in Ukraine (except those who know me personally) thinks it's so hard for me in Israel. It's normal for people to think that."
"Are there places in Israel you haven't visited yet but really want to see?"
"Yes. Before October 7th, I planned to go north to Nimrod Fortress. I didn't make it... But I will definitely go there."
"Do you train future athletes in Israel?"
"Yes. But schools are on vacation now."
"Do you think there are talented athletes in Israel who could become champions like you?"
"I'm sure there are, but unfortunately, I haven't met them yet. I hope fate brings us together."
"Do you miss professional sports?"
"Not anymore. In Ukraine, I spent 10 years working as a coach. Here, I am already set on acquiring a new profession."
A graduate of the Dnipro Institute of Physical Culture, the son of well-known intellectuals in Dnipro (his mother is a physicist, his father is a surgeon), Vitaliy dreams of working in the healthcare system in Israel. He is exploring opportunities.
"But I haven't given up thoughts of coaching. If I get a chance to train promising kids – great. If not, I'll work in another field. I am an optimist."
And a bit of a philosopher. Vitaliy is currently reading Plato. He continues to learn Hebrew – reading the Tanakh in the original, knowing Psalms by heart. His students at the religious school in Bnei Brak, where he works as a guard, help him realize his long-standing dream.
"The kids are constantly talking to me," says Vitaliy. "Previously, if I got stuck on an unknown word, I would lose the thread of the conversation. Now I switch on instantly. I don't even have to mentally translate words into Russian – they are firmly lodged in my memory. Maybe even in my soul..."
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