moments | nice jewish girl

Matchmaker,
Matchmaker

Rabbi Dan Horwitz | Special to the Jewish News

NJG

(Nice Jewish Girl)

Reva Berman

Note: The Well, an
inclusive Jewish
community-building,
education and spirituality
outreach initiative,
features an interview
with a single “nice Jewish
boy” or “nice Jewish girl”
each month. The Well
has agreed to share its
Q & As with these
amazing
singles with the JN.

Read more at
meetyouatthewell.org.

54 October 6 • 2016

Q

How did you decide to
make your adult life in
Ann Arbor?
RB: It kind of just happened. I
went to the University of Michigan
for undergrad and for grad school
and loved the city. I applied for
jobs all around the country, but it
just so happened that I got offered
my ideal job at a company in Ann
Arbor and have been here ever
since. Ann Arbor is an amazing
city with so much culture, amaz-
ing restaurants and beautiful
parks. The city is constantly evolv-
ing, and I continuously find new
and fun things to do here.
Q: You spend your days as a
product content developer at
Johnson & Johnson. Does their
baby shampoo really not burn
when it gets in your eyes? And
what does a product content
developer do?
RB: Ha ha; it’s been some time
since I’ve personally used their
baby shampoo, but I believe it. My
background is in public health, so
as a product content developer,
I write the content of our digital
health products. A lot of that work
has been on our online health
coaching programs. We have
programs on topics like weight
management, diabetes, insomnia,
chronic pain, heart health, nutri-
tion, etc. While our programs
don’t give medical advice, they

help you build healthy habits and
make small changes in your life to
help you feel your best.
Q: Rumor has it you’re a well-
regarded blogger — how did
you get into that? What has been
most interesting/rewarding/
challenging about it?
RB: I first started blogging a
few years ago when I was in the
midst of job searching. I had
some free time and thought that
blogging would be a great way to
showcase my writing and health
communication skills and give me
something to talk about in inter-
views. My blog is about my expe-
riences living with Type 1 diabetes
(typeONEderful.com), but I try to
make my posts somewhat relat-
able to anyone. Some posts are
serious, some are funny, but I try
to be honest about my experi-
ences, the good and the bad.
It’s always a great feeling when
someone tells me they follow my
blog or when I get comments
from strangers who my words
have helped. I’ve had some unique
experiences come from my blog-
ging, such as being sent free dia-
betes products to test and being
asked by an author to consult on
a romance novel where the main
character has Type 1 diabetes.
Sometimes it’s hard to find the
motivation to post after writing
all day at work, but I definitely
enjoy it.
Q: It’s game night with
friends. What’s your go-to
game?
RB: Lately it’s been a game
called Telestrations. It’s essen-
tially a combination of the game
Telephone and Pictionary. The
best is playing in a big group and
ideally with some people who
aren’t great artists. It makes it
more fun when you really have
to guess what the other person
attempted to draw. I always end
up laughing so hard during this

game, seeing what the original
word was and where it ended up
after it has gone around the circle.
Q: What are your three favor-
ite leisure activities and why?
RB: I love being active, so in
the summer I enjoy bike riding,
kayaking or playing tennis. When
I’m looking for something a little
more relaxing, floating down the
Huron River with friends is always
fun. I definitely enjoy watching
TV and am in a book club with
a group of friends. And does eat-
ing count as a leisure activity? I
love food, especially brunch. It’s
kind of a hobby to find amazing
brunch places to try. I was even
in a “breakfast club” with friends
where once a month we’d try a dif-
ferent restaurant before work.
Q: Where would you most
like to travel to that you haven’t
visited?
RB: I’ve been fortunate that
I’ve visited a lot of amazing places
around the world. Top of my
list right now is to hike the Inca
Trail to Machu Picchu or to visit
Iceland; the natural scenic beauty
of the landscape just looks breath-
taking!
Q: How do you like to give
back to the community?
RB: Over the years I’ve found
ways to get involved in organiza-
tions I feel passionate about. I’m
currently on the Young Leaders
Committee of the JDRF (Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation)
and help plan fundraising and
outreach events as well as vol-
unteer at other JDRF events. I’ve
been volunteering with the orga-
nization Project SNAP for a few
years now, which helps empower,
educate and unite communities
through creating artwork focused
on a specific topic for mosaic
mural installations around the
country.
Q: What’s your favorite Jewish
holiday and why?

RB: Definitely Passover. I
appreciate how each year we read
from the same Hagaddah, the
same story, yet every year I take
something new away from the
seder. I also love being together
with my extended family. My
family always hosts Passover and,
over the years, have found creative
ways to make the seder fun and
unique. This past year, most of my
cousins and my sister were spread
out around the country so we cre-
ated a Google Hangout and set up
an iPad in the corner of the room
so my cousins and sister could
all still participate and everyone
could see each other. Technology
is pretty amazing.
Q: If you could add an 11th
commandment, what would it
be?
RB: Thou shall look up from
your cell phone occasionally. But
seriously, I feel like we are miss-
ing out on so many chances to
genuinely connect with others
and experience the world around
us because we’re too busy looking
down instead of out.
Q: What is the Jewish commu-
nity missing?
RB: More crossover between
Jewish communities. It would be
great to see more events or more
of an effort to help bring together
Jews from Detroit to Ann Arbor
to Lansing to small pockets in
other local cities. While events are
open to anyone, considerations
like transportation or rotating
locations could really help open
up the Jewish community to feel
more inclusive no matter where
you live.
Q: How about a fun fact?
RB: I’ve bungee jumped in New
Zealand. It was amazing!

*

Rabbi Dan Horwitz is founding director of
The Well. Want to meet Reva? Email him at
dan@meetyouatthewell.org.

