These days NJBs (or Nice Jewish Boys) are kind of like the Bigfoot of the Jewish community. They’re fabled — maybe you heard campfire stories about NJBs at sleepaway camp or maybe your savta says she spotted one behind the local JCC years ago — and many claim that they’re real. Just go on any dating app and see how many self-identify as an NJB in their bio!
“I think he exists somewhere (full disclaimer, my boyfriend — an aforementioned -berg — is one), but I think that often, the men who claim that they are ‘nice,’ ‘Jewish,’ and a ‘boy,’ are only two out of the three,” Hannah Pasternak wrote for Hey Alma in her 2018 essay, “The Myth of the Nice Jewish Boy.”
As it turns out, Hannah was right — this elusive person does exist, and it seems that he has been under our noses this entire time. The one true NJB is Jewish actor Daniel Radcliffe.
Following Sunday’s Tony awards, where Radcliffe won his first Tony for portraying Charley Kringas in the revival of “Merrily We Roll Along,” Twitter users began sharing their favorite stories about him. What emerged was a portrait of a former child actor who is genuinely kind, true-to-himself and hardworking, prioritizes tikkun olam and, crucially, is just a normal guy.
Here are some of our favorite revelations that solidify the former “Harry Potter” actor as the one true NJB:
1. Daniel Radcliffe, Tony winner and certified member of Bachelor Nation.
2. Daniel Radcliffe, Tony winner, certified member of Bachelor Nation and New Yorker fact-checker.
3. Daniel Radcliffe, Tony winner, certified member of Bachelor Nation, New Yorker fact-checker and outfit repeater.
4. This is literally the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.
5. I can’t wait until Daniel Radcliffe learns about PBS.
6. Take that, J.K. Rowling!
7. Not only is Daniel Radcliffe possibly the only NJB, but he might just be the most wholesome man to ever live.
8. A man of the people!!
9. Dan identifies as as Jewish and Irish, and don’t you ever forget it!
