God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.
God of Israel.
I stand before You
as a man bound to his people.
From You comes truth—
steady and enduring.
This truth walks through time
and lives in every generation.
Your word is alive.
It waits its hour
and opens when the hour arrives,
as it was set from the beginning.
What You have spoken to Israel
will be fulfilled,
by faithfulness
and by time.
The prophets spoke
what was placed upon them.
They carried a word
given from above.
You bound our generations
in shared responsibility
across centuries.
As Abraham stands with Isaac,
and Isaac with Jacob,
as Sarah stands with Rivka,
Rachel, and Leah,
so we stand
with those who came before us.
Each life has weight.
Each soul has purpose.
Each path
carries meaning
within Your design.
In exile,
You gave our people a righteous man—
the Maggid of Dubno,
a teacher of parable
and quiet speech
that finds its way to the heart.
He taught
that it is not enough
to know Torah
or to master prayer.
One must speak with You
as with a trusted friend.
By Your will
this inner discipline of the soul
did not end with him.
It continued.
And it found expression
in his descendant—
Ze’ev Jabotinsky.
Not by robe or title,
but by inner measure.
By responsibility
accepted in full.
You bound Moses and David—
departure and destiny.
You bound Exodus and sovereignty,
the path and responsibility,
the road
and the one who walks upon it.
You taught the sages of Israel
that in the Mashiach
the sparks of Moses
and the house of David
will be gathered—
movement and fulfillment,
command and crown.
Thus You guide history
through connection and continuity,
binding beginning to continuation,
joining generations
in one purpose.
Therefore it is no accident
that the Maggid of Dubno
and Ze’ev Jabotinsky
stand in one unfolding story.
One shaped the word.
The other carried the task.
One spoke to the conscience of Israel.
The other accepted
the weight of its fate.
If words were spoken,
if deeds were done,
if a path was begun,
then Your blessing
rested there.
For even a leaf
falls in its hour
by the will of Heaven.
We remember our ancestors
and we look forward.
A day will come
when the work is gathered,
when truth stands revealed,
when all generations are seen as one.
Then it will be known:
nothing was wasted,
no soul forgotten,
no effort in vain.
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.
