Sarah Avraham (; born 1993/1994) is an Indian-born Israeli

Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

kickboxer. She

converted to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( or ) is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. "Thus, by convertin ...

and moved to Israel after the

2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as 26/11 attacks, were a series of coordinated Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist o ...

. Avraham was the 2012 Israeli women's champion in Thai boxing, in the weight class. She is also the 2014 World Muaythai Federation pro-am women's world champion in the 57–63.5 kg (125–140 lbs) class.

Early life

Avraham was born in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, India, to a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

father who is a physician, Aaron Avraham (formerly Hagirdas Pradesh) and a Christian mother who was a nurse. Her family was close friends with Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, who were killed in the November

, by terrorists who attacked the Mumbai Chabad House where the couple served as emissaries. Avraham was 14 years old at the time.

Immigration to Israel

A year after the attack, she and her family

and moved to Israel. They settled in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

Kiryat Arba Kiryat Arba or Qiryat Arba () is an urban Israeli settlement on the outskirts of Hebron, in the southern Israeli-occupied West Bank. Founded in 1968, in it had a population of . The international community considers Israeli settlements in the ...

, south of Jerusalem, on the outskirts of

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

, where she now lives. She is now a religious

Orthodox Jew Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tran ...

, and studies at an ulpana in Kiryat Arba. Avraham also volunteers as a firefighter, and has taken part in scores of firefighting operations. Avraham is considering studying medicine, or she may eventually become a full-time firewoman.

Thai boxing career

While attending a Kiryat Arba school for religious girls, Avraham made the decision to participate in sports. Michael Pollack, a fitness trainer from nearby Hebron's Jewish neighborhood, melded

kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

into her sports training. Pollack put Thai boxing coach Eddie Yusopov and Avraham in contact with each other, and Yusopov became her trainer. Avraham trains in Muay Thai boxing five times a week, at the boxing center at Jerusalem's Teddy Stadium. As is the case with most Israeli athletes, she does not receive any funding. To pay for her training ( NIS 230 a month) and trips abroad for competitions, since she does not like to ask for money, she cleans houses and also works as a dog walker and waitress. In addition, Avraham hitchhikes to her practices in Jerusalem, as she does not have money to take the bus. Because she is religious, she brings

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

food with her when she travels to fights.

2012 Israeli Champion

In September 2012, Avraham won the Israeli national women’s Thai boxing championship in her weight class of 57–63 kilos (125–140 pounds), at the age of 18.

2014 World Champion

In early 2014, while still in high school Avraham won the Women's World Thai-Boxing Championship in

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, in her 57–63 kilos (125–140 pounds) weight class.

References

External links

"Ex-Hindu is Israel's Thai-boxing queen" (video)
''Times of Israel'', September 23, 2012
"Sara Avraham – כתבה בערוץ הראשון" (video; Hebrew and English)
May 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Avraham, Sarah Living people Indian emigrants to Israel Indian Orthodox Jews Indian former Hindus Israeli female kickboxers Israeli Muay Thai practitioners Israeli Orthodox Jews Martial artists from Mumbai People from Kiryat Arba Converts to Orthodox Judaism Israeli people of Indian descent Female Muay Thai practitioners Sportswomen from Maharashtra Year of birth missing (living people) People associated with the 2008 Mumbai attacks 21st-century Indian Jews Sportspeople from Mumbai Women in firefighting Converts from Hinduism