Boaz Yisrael Rotenberg was born on January 29, 1970 in the United States to Mordechai and Naomi. The family made aliya when Boaz was eight months old and settled in Jerusalem. Boaz studied at the Evelyn de Rothschild Elementary School and at the Netiv Meir Yeshiva High School.
He was drafted into the IDF in February 1988 and served in a special unit of the Paratroopers. On May 28, 1988 he fell in the line of duty during a military action in the Jericho area. He was buried on Har Herzl in Jerusalem.