Otto Warmbier Recalled By Hillel Rabbi As ‘One Of The Most Intellectually Curious People’
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
American student Otto Warmbier was imprisoned in North Korea for over a year. Image by youtube
(JTA) – Otto Warmbier, the American college student who was detained in North Korea for over a year and died shortly after returning home in a coma, was remembered by friends and loved ones at a public memorial officiated by his college Hillel rabbi.
Rabbi Jake Rubin, executive director of the Brody Jewish Center at the University of Virginia, called Warmbier “one of the most intellectually curious people I’ve ever met” during the service held Thursday at Wyoming High School near Cincinnati, The Associated Press reported.
Warmbier, whose mother is Jewish, became active in the Hillel after a Birthright trip to Israel, during which he received a Hebrew name.
A spokesman for the family said this week that they chose not to disclose his Judaism during negotiations for his release so as not to antagonize North Korea.
Some 2,000 people attended the public service at the high school and more mourners lined the street.
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican from the Cincinnati area, told reporters outside that North Korea must be held accountable for Warmbier’s detention and death.
“This college kid never should have been detained in the first place,” said Portman, who met secretly with North Korean officials to press for Warmbier’s release.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chiefSupport our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
