Registered in TICA as an Experimental New Breed (XKA), December 11, 2025
Some animals carry more than appearance.
They carry memory — a trace of where their kind began.
Arbuz is one of those rare cats. His eyes cannot be confused with the eyes of domestic or oriental breeds. There is something ancient in them, something warm and desert-born, as if he brought with him a shadow of the wild cats that once lived on the borders of rock and hot wind.
Eyes like these are not created.
They are inherited — from Felis lybica, the Middle Eastern wildcat that gave rise to the first domestic cats of the region. In Arbuz this look is not dramatic, not exaggerated, not “posed.” It is natural. It comes from the bloodline. And experts noticed it immediately.
When specialists of international standing —
Angelina Koltsova (WCF), Anna Kolesnichenko (ARBC), and Alexander Melnikov (FAU) —
independently pointed out the same features, it became clear: this is not personal impression.
This is a breed marker. The kind of sign on which a type is built.
Haifa and Laila carry the feminine line of the KANAANI — elegant, refined, almost airy.
Arbuz carries something else: strength, depth, expression, a desert-born gaze, a clear mask, a powerful head, and that quiet presence that has always distinguished the Middle Eastern wild genotype from all others.
Every breed — especially one returning after a long absence — needs a “first face,” a cat whose features set the direction for future generations.
Arbuz is such a cat.
He is the point from which a true breed history can begin.
And now it is officially recorded.
On December 11, 2025, TICA registered the KANAANI as an Experimental New Breed (XKA).
This is more than an administrative act.
It is the moment when the breed entered the international registry of one of the most respected feline associations in the world.
For me, this is a story being written before our eyes.
For the global feline community, it is a rare return of a nearly lost breed.
For Israel, it is the revival of something born on its soil.
For America, it is an honor to help restore a living heritage.
And for the KANAANI itself, this may be the beginning of a cultural legacy —
a chance for the breed to become, as we sometimes say, a “Kanaani diplomat,”
a small ambassador of nature, peace, and connection between peoples.
Arbuz is the first name in this new chapter.
And this is only the beginning.
Rabbi Moshe (Mikhail) Salita is a Brooklyn-based rabbi, legal scholar, and emerging animal chaplain whose work unites Jewish spirituality, international law, and compassion for all living beings.
He holds a Master’s in International Law (with honors) from the National University “Odesa Law Academy,” where he is currently a PhD student researching the restitution of unlawfully confiscated Jewish communal property in Soviet Ukraine. He also earned a Master’s in Library and Information Science from Pratt Institute (New York) and a Master’s in Education and Special Education from Touro University, with graduate certificates in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Bilingual Education.
Rabbi Salita is an ordained rabbi of the Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute (JSLI), a Doctor of Ministry student in Jewish Spirituality at the Graduate Theological Foundation, and an Animal Chaplain-in-Training with the Compassion Consortium in New York. His mission is to weave together justice, mercy, and creation care into one sacred path of Tikkun Olam — healing the moral and spiritual wounds of the world.
He serves as Executive Director of the Salita Foundation, originally founded by his brother, Dmitriy Salita — former WBF World Champion boxer, and inductee of both the New York Boxing Hall of Fame and the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Today, Rabbi Salita leads the Foundation toward a broader vision — uniting humanitarian ethics, environmental awareness, and cultural restitution.
Through the Foundation, he has launched the “Eco-Kosher Initiative,” a global program encouraging support for businesses and individuals who respect the environment, animals, and their communities. For him, “eco-kosher” is not limited to food — it is a moral philosophy of living in balance with creation, where sustainability and holiness walk hand in hand.
He is also devoted to preserving and gaining international recognition for the rare Israeli cat breed Kanaani — a living symbol of harmony between Jewish heritage and the natural world.
A descendant of Sruel ben Aharon Lekhtman, a Ruzhiner Hasid and brick-factory owner in Kitai-Gorod, Kamianets-Podilskyi — once a spiritual heart of the Ruzhin Hasidic movement in Tsarist-era Ukraine — Rabbi Salita continues his ancestor’s legacy of faith, integrity, and bridge-building. Sruel Lekhtman served as a close friend and estate manager for Pan Dembitsky, a Polish landowner remembered with respect in both Jewish and Ukrainian memory. Their friendship, crossing lines of faith and culture, remains a profound symbol of coexistence — especially meaningful for Ukraine today.
Although Rabbi Salita received Reform rabbinic education in the spirit of Jewish Universalism, he maintains a deep spiritual connection with Chabad, whose living Hasidic tradition unites intellect, compassion, and joy.
Following the example of the prophets — from Adam, the first caretaker of creation, to King Solomon, who understood the language of animals, and to Rav Papa, the sage who spoke kindly of cats — Rabbi Salita teaches that true holiness is revealed through compassion for all living beings. His life’s work is to show that caring for animals and serving God are one and the same sacred breath.
