Jeremy Borovitz: The Accidental Eyewitness
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A New Jersey-bred rabbi’s son and Peace Corps member, Borovitz, 32, has long been drawn to Jewish Europe — it was the subject of his first conversation with Rebecca Blady, who became his wife, a rabbi as well, and his comrade in creating an irreverent, innovative outreach program called Base Berlin.
Organizing largely through social media, the couple generally hosts parties and programs in their large apartment in the city’s Kreuzberg neighborhood. For Yom Kippur, they decided to take 20 young people — and their own toddler — to a small, mostly empty shul in the town of Halle. The same shul targeted by anti-Semitic shooters, who were blocked from entering because of a security door, and instead killed two passersby.
Borovitz and Blady recounted their experience on Facebook, on television, and in an interview with the Forward. His description of how the group continued to daven even through police questioning and transfer from the crime scene to the hospital was seen as a testament of Jewish resilience.
Jeremy Borovitz
What do you have for breakfast: Coffee!
What’s the last thing you listened to on your phone? “The West Wing Weekly” podcast (I have a long-standing dream of learning Talmud with Josh Malina)
Earliest Jewish memory Crawling under the pews at my father’s synagogue
Hero Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai
2019 Memory Moving to Berlin in May. It was the culmination of a multi-year dream, a continuation of the first conversation I ever had with my wife, Rabbi Rebecca Blady. When we hosted a Havdallah that very first week, and we looked around at the smiling faces of our new community, we felt like we were home.
Favorite thing about being Jewish Shabbat. Best part of my week is shutting off my phone, watching my wife light candles, and then blessing our daughter.
Weekend ritual Sunday morning French Toast with leftover Challah
Follow Borovitz on Twitter @jeremyborovitz
MORE:
Read the Forward’s interview with Borovitz after the attack:
Read Borovitz’s 2013 Forward opinion piece about Ukraine.
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