JTA
Otto Warmbier, American student released from North Korea, was active in Hillel
by Josefin Dolsten
June 16, 2017

Otto Warmbier, the University of Virginia student imprisoned by North Korea who remains in a coma since his release this week, was active at the campus Hillel and cared deeply about the Jewish community, its rabbi recalls… Rabbi Jake Rubin, the University of Virginia’s Hillel director, told JTA in an email that it was another overseas trip that sealed Warmbier’s connection to the Jewish community. A 2014 Birthright mission to Israel [open to Jewish adults aged 18-26], where Warmbier received a Hebrew name during a hike to Masada, left a strong impression on the young man. Following the trip, he became involved with the Jewish community on campus. READ MORE

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