Ruth Mason

Writer, mother, parent educator, activist, gardener

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Dec 12, 2024, 11:24 PM

Dancing to the judicial coup

I recently began folk dancing regularly again (it’s great for osteoporosis prevention) and the lyrics to the Hebrew songs we dance to still do it to me. As I’m crossing left foot over right or turning to the count...

Nov 4, 2024, 1:55 PM

Visiting America Now

For months before our family trip to the US, I obsessed about what California family camp would be like. I knew there would be campers from the Bay Area, and having consumed distressing news about anti-Zionism and antisemitism and...

Jun 13, 2024, 1:52 PM

Photo by Ruth Mason

Hamas’s barbaric attack on October 7th cracked open Israel’s defensive shield – the shield that enabled many of us to live as though there was no conflict. We feel shock and pain and rage and fear and hopelessness. But...

Jun 6, 2019, 11:19 AM

Parenting 101: ‘What do you think he is feeling?’

Life in the Seventies Parenting 101: “What do you think he is feeling?” I’m learning a lot from my kids lately. Yesterday, Gabe, our youngest, told me about a scene on Master Chef that struck him. The camera had focused on...

Feb 14, 2019, 9:14 AM

Life in the 70s – Happiness is in your Head

It was 27-year-old Gabe’s idea to celebrate my 70th birthday in Sinai. Son #2, Yosef, flew in from Portland for the occasion. I worried about taking our baby granddaughter, but I know responsible people who take their kids there,...

Dec 7, 2018, 7:53 AM

Life in the Sixties: Turning 70

How terribly strange to be 70. -- Paul Simon When did 70 become young? I guess when us baby boomers started turning the age that I still can’t believe I will reach on Saturday. The older I get, the older old gets....

Dec 3, 2018, 9:09 PM

Life in the Sixties: Active, active listening

Everyone knows the received wisdom about how to listen well. The active/reflective listening dogma has its roots in the human potential movement of the 1960’s. Half a century later, its wise and gentle fingers still have a stranglehold on...

Nov 23, 2018, 12:53 AM

Life in the Sixties: I’m turning 70 soon. Can I get it all done?

I can’t come to grips with the fact that I won’t get it all done. This should become my new mantra. Repeat daily, as often as needed: I won’t get it all done. Maybe that will drive this unwelcome fact home. Maybe...

Feb 14, 2018, 9:58 PM

Life in the Sixties: Be with me

The other day, my daughter, who recently gave birth to her first child, was lamenting the isolation stay-at-home moms encounter. I agree with her that it is an unnatural state of affairs for mother-baby pairs not to be surrounded...

Apr 30, 2016, 9:42 PM

Life in the Sixties: Machatunim

Dedicated to Renee (Renya) Krakowski (Nana). Thanks for the introduction, Renee. Happy birthday. Imaginary scene: I’m in a café, meeting my son’s girlfriend’s mother for the first time – though we’ve whatsapped here and there, especially when the young couple...

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About Me

Born to Bukharian parents in Los Angeles, Ruth Mason immigrated to Israel with her family in 1993 after a long stint in Manhattan. She is a veteran journalist and columnist. A lifelong baby lover, she teaches parent-infant classes based on the RIE and Pikler approaches.

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