In prison he first became intrigued by Judaism. “The prison was put into lockdown while I was in the library, reading fitness magazines,” recalls Ben Moshe. “I started pacing up and down the room seeing what everyone else was doing and I saw a guy reading text in a foreign language I didn’t recognise.”
He asked the Jewish inmate what he was reading. The inmate replied: “The Torah, the Hebrew Bible.” From there on, the rest of Ben Moshe’s sentence was spent reading and discovering Judaism.
Upon his release from prison, Ben Moshe went directly to a synagogue, where he told the rabbi he wanted to convert. “My only connection to Judaism as a child was my mother’s friend, [the late] Nesse Godin, a Holocaust survivor, who had spoken at my school a few times.”
Ben Moshe completed an Orthodox conversion but finds himself straddling multiple identities. In London en route to the championships: “In Golders Green, I feel Jewish. Walking around Camden Market, black guys will smile and fist-bump me. When I’m competing in Jiu-Jitsu for my country, I feel Israeli. I have a lot of viewpoints due to my multiple identities; it helps me to not jump to conclusions.”
Ultimately though, “I see myself as me. The most important thing about your identity is how your identity affects how you interact with the world.”
Living with a criminal record is not easy. “I managed to talk myself into a job as a personal trainer, where I was incredibly successful. I found a specialisation in injury rehab and prevention, and my coworkers told me to start my own business.”
During that time, Ben Moshe also designed a physical fitness test for the Baltimore SWAT team (armed police), which is still being used to this day.
But when he tried to enrol in medical school, he was rejected due to his criminal record. Despite now being a straight-A student, and business owner who also had worked closely with the police, Ben Moshe waited months before even receiving a reply.
On a recent Birthright trip to Israel he’d fallen in love with the land. “I figured that being rejected from graduate school was Hashem’s way of telling me to make aliyah.” Ben Moshe scheduled a two-month pilot trip, where he studied in Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. On that visit, Ben Moshe began dating a young Jewish woman and after their engagement, decided to make his move to Israel permanent.
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Despite his Orthodox conversion and marriage in Israel, his criminal record hindered the aliyah process.
A five-year legal battle for citizenship ensued, culminating in Ben Moshe going on a hunger strike for eight days outside the Ministry of Interior in Jerusalem. Ben Moshe remembers the experience as incredibly moving. “I sat fasting outside the ministry for eight days, only leaving to daven at the Kotel. Imagine experiencing your own Yom Kippur eight days in a row!”
He finally received Israeli citizenship in 2023 and now lives happily in Be’er Sheva with his wife and three children. He has a business helping Jews “lose weight and get strong – so they can live until 120”.
On his fitness journey, Ben Moshe discovered a love of Jiu-Jitsu. Very quickly, he started winning national tournaments in Israel. “I had the option of entering the 36 to 40 age category for the SJIIF World Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2025,” said the 38-year-old. “I chose to compete in the 18+ category. And I believe I can win.
“Nothing matters in this world more than our affection for others. I’m competing for my community - I want to give something back to the Jewish people who have been so warm and welcoming. I can walk into any Jiu-Jitsu gym or shul in the world and be treated with so much love and warmth.”
On returning to Israel he attended the funeral of his wife’s cousin Tamir Nimrodi, 18, one of the only two hostages whose fate was unknown for two years. His body was finally returned to Israel from Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal last week.
Ben Moshe quoted the goals Tamir had written down before he was kidnapped: to help as many people as possible; to create a close social circle and not to hurt anyone.
“Writing your goals down is one of the most powerful tools we have to create a better future,” said Ben Moshe. “And if a tragedy happens, knowing what is important to you can serve as strength and inspiration to those close to you.”
