Ruth Ebenstein, at The Blogs

Jul 31, 2023, 9:51 PM

It was a morning protest and we needed a Torah scroll for the Shacharit prayers

This Sefer Torah was written for Minister Moshe Haim Shapiro, a celebrated signatory of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, former Knesset member and government minister who led the Religious Zionist movement from 1924 for decades and championed crossing political and ideological divides.

Written for the healing of a signatory of Israel's Declaration of Independence who had championed crossing ideological divides, what could be better?

Jan 15, 2022, 10:42 PM

Go ahead and Sparkle. Share your light.

Capturing my bonhomie and joy - Seizing the day! photo credit: Gilya Ben Gad

I don’t know if I’ve ever had a photo of me that looks like this one. A photograph that captures my smile, optimism, faith in people, bonhomie, my light. This is me 11 years after breast cancer, after birthing...

Jul 9, 2021, 1:46 PM

Breaking the Ice

Eitan (left) and Mohi play a game of coin toss with marbles where the rules keep changing at the Kids4Peace/Seeds of Peace office in East Jerusalem. photo: Ittay Flescher.

Two teens, a Jewish Israeli and a Muslim Palestinian, play a game of coin toss with marbles where the rules keep changing. Join a group discussion about fairness and trust in Jerusalem. If only it were normal. If it only it...

Dec 21, 2020, 2:29 PM

Hey, Civic Leader: Strut Your Stuff

This photo is part of a digital photo campaign sponsored by the Kiverstein Institute to promote voting for women candidates in the "Minhal Kehilati" Community Council elections, which are taking place in eight neighborhoods across Jerusalem tomorrow, December, 22, 2020. (Avigayil Piperno-Beer)

"Let's go, candidates." Avigayil Piperno-Beer, a portrait photographer, balanced her professional- grade Canon on her lap and raised her eyes to connect with mine. Her warm voice was matched by an encouraging smile. I scanned the beckoning grins of other women...

Sep 18, 2020, 9:24 AM

Featured Post

I know why the coronavirus ward dances

Medical staff dance in Keter Alef. (Galia Wollman)

Hospital staff spurred each other on to create videos of the isolation wards that sparked joy, raised morale, and show how they became more than a medical team

Apr 13, 2020, 4:25 PM

Fighting COVID-19 in the Bedouin community

Fatma Abosheab, 20, who oversees Communal Resilience at the New Dawn in the Negev. (Photo taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, courtesy of New Dawn in the Negev.)

As Israel rallies to battle the coronavirus, it seems that one group in particular lingers on the outskirts of the national mindset. Although the Health Ministry and experts have recently sounded the alarm and taken drastic steps to tackle...

Dec 4, 2019, 7:29 PM

The Heart of the Matter

This six-meter balloon was put up on December 1, 2019, to raise awareness of women's heart health. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Donna Zwas)

It takes the average woman in Israel 59 minutes longer to turn for help than a man while having a heart attack—and 89 minutes longer than a man to get to the ER. When having a heart attack, time...

Nov 17, 2019, 3:56 PM

In Memoriam

Remembering Rochie

Rochie Rachel Schitskovsky, z"l. (courtesy of Marne Rochester)

This woman of untold grace helped so many heal faster from breast cancer, including me; now, I can do nothing but scream NOT FAIR that the illness has claimed her

Jul 5, 2019, 10:19 AM

Please help Rawa’a, 14, of Gaza, who needs a lifesaving cardiac catheterization

Rawa'a Bakhit, 14, of Gaza, desperately needs a cardiac catherization to save her life. (Courtesy of the Bakhit family)

I don’t know much about Rawa’a Bakhit, a 14-year-old young woman from Gaza. I don’t know what kind of music she likes, what are her favorite foods, what are her cherished hobbies, whom she loves most in the world....

About Me

Ruth Ebenstein is an award-winning American-Israeli writer, historian, public speaker, and health/peace activist who loves to laugh a lot--and heartily. She is the author of the forthcoming book, Bosom Buddies: How Breast Cancer Fostered An Unexpected Friendship Across the Israeli-Palestinian Divide. She is also the author of "All of this country is called Jerusalem": a curricular guide about the contemporary rescue operations of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and has written two teleplays for children, Follow that Goblin and Follow that Bunny. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Atlantic, Washington Post, Los Angeles Review of Books, Tablet, WomansDay.com, Good Housekeeping, Triquarterly, CNN.com, School Library Journal, USA Today, the Forward, Stars and Stripes, Education Week, Brain, Child, Fathom, and other publications. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.