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Overview
Rabbi Mark Borovitz was a mobster, gangster, con man, gambler, thief, and drunk. He has seen it all. Now, in this inspiring memoir, he takes you on a journey from the streets to discovering his soul in a ten-by-twelve-foot prison cell. When Mark was fourteen, his father died and his world came crashing down. Within months, he was selling stolen goods for the mob out of his high school locker, beginning a twenty-year life of crime that ran the gamut from bar hustles and con games to check-cashing scams. Mark stole and gambled and drank, all the while trying to be the good son, the good brother, the good boy, but his life only spun more out of control until the mob put a hit out on him. From Cleveland he moved to Los Angeles, virgin territory, and amped up his hustles, schemes, and cons. Then came prison, but it only served to increase his legend, and he played every angle and then some in the prison yard.After his release, the drinking and thieving continued unabated until, at the edge of oblivion, Mark experienced a moment of true divine intervention, a startling revelation that both saved his life and sent him back to prison, where he actually wanted to be. There he found the keys to saving his soul. Mark Borovitz proves that you can change your life -- profoundly. He is now the rabbi at Beit T'Shuvah in Los Angeles, the House of Return, a rehabilitation facility for addicts of all kinds. Mark knows what these people feel and who they are because he was one of them. He is now, as he says, an advocate for the soul. The Holy Thief is the remarkable memoir of an amazing man. It is a true-life gangster story, a passionate love story, and a case study in redemption. Regardless of your faith, you will find Mark's story tragic, funny, uplifting, and inspirational.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Borovitz started with petty thievery-baseball cards, candy, marbles-at age eight. By 14, shortly after the death of his father, he became a middleman, and at 25, he beat two middle-aged men at their own scam. Through most of this he maintained a second life as a nice Jewish boy who went to shul, said kaddish every day for a year for his father, looked out for his sister and turned over much of his ill-gotten gains to his mother to support the family. The scams got bigger, the trail got hotter and eventually he was caught. It took two stints in jail for him to learn that crime doesn't pay, but Borovitz attacked his reformation with the same zeal he once applied to intricate cons. His decision to become a rabbi at age 50 seems nothing less than natural. Borovitz is a storyteller at heart, so it's easy to see how he conned so many for so much. Just as natural is his commitment, with his wife, to Beit T'Shuvah, House of Return, a place for souls lost to addiction and themselves. Heart-wrenching but hilarious, raw but refreshing, this everyman tale reminds us that even nice Jewish boys can go bad, but they can also be redeemed. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.Library Journal
Rabbi Borovitz manages an addiction treatment center in Los Angeles. Devoted to helping those most troubled souls of society, he also knows those troubles firsthand. A career thief and con man, he did not begin to change until his second term in prison, where association with the prison rabbi led him toward a meaningful life. When released, he began work at a community center, where he recognized that he was an alcoholic and that his marriage was over. After divorcing, he married a woman who now works with him at the center. Together, they evolved an organization that successfully treats those with the most serious addictions. Borovitz's philosophy is "that every life is worth fighting for. Every soul can heal." The text is based on interviews with Borowitz and people who know him, conducted and put into narrative form by Eisenstock. Unfortunately, it ends without many details of the rabbi's more recent life. Readers are left with an engaging story of redemption, though one that has been told many times before. Recommended for public libraries. Jerry Shuttle, East Tennessee State Univ. Lib., Johnson City Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.Rabbi -
"You will want to read this fascinating book by America’s most extraordinary rabbi."Book Details
Published
August 17, 2004
Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers
Pages
226
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780641882203