Dr. Ruth was just named New York State’s Ambassador to Loneliness, with a charge to help New Yorkers cope with the loneliness epidemic. Dr. Ruth, the Holocaust survivor who gained fame as a sex therapist, says that she began focusing on this issue when she was isolated during the COVID lockdown, which reminded her that she had written in a childhood diary about being lonely. She located that diary from her time in Switzerland after World War II, and found this quote: “I live with 150 people — and am alone.” She also noted that she was “longing for a friend.” Ruth Westheimer emigrated to Palestine where she joined the Haganah at age 17 and suffered serious injuries in a mortar-fire attack during the War of Independence. She subsequently moved to Paris, studied psychology at the Sorbonne, later earning a masters degree in sociology and a doctorate in education in the United States. She taught at universities and established a practice offering sex therapy, eventually gaining a world-wide following from radio and television programs in which she discussed sexual issues with knowledge, frankness, humor and respect. What else is true about Dr. Ruth?
A. When she emigrated to Palestine in 1945, she settled at Kibbutz Ramat David, where she lost her virginity on a hay stack.
B. She was the first female president of the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale in New York, serving from 1986-1988.
C. While living in Paris in 1952, she had an affair with Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild banking family.
D. In 1967, Betty Friedan (whom she knew as a fellow member of the Hebrew Tabernacle Congregation of Washington Heights) recruited her to become involved in the National Organization for Women, where she headed up their Reproductive Rights campaign.
Mark Zimmerman is the author of a series of Jewish trivia books, under the title RASHI, RAMBAM and RAMALAMADINGDONG: A Quizbook of Jewish Trivia Facts & Fun.