By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent
Since 1980, the spunky media psychologist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, has been combining her sensitive mix of the maternal and the moral with her flair for articulating sexually explicit information.
“Dr. Ruth,” as she is known to her millions of fans around the world, pioneered psychosexual therapy on the radio. She will talk about her life and take questions from the crowd during her special guest appearance in February at Connections 2004, the annual Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle’s Women’s Division Community Campaign fundraising event.
“For us Jews, sex has never been a sin,” said Westheimer, speaking by phone from her home base in New York in an interview with the Jewish Transcript. “Sex has always been a mitzvah. Also, the importance of family life is certainly stressed in the Jewish tradition. Part of family life is certainly sex. That’s why it’s easier for me to talk about it than other people.”
Westheimer’s unmistakable German accent and her effervescent personality have made her an undeniable force in the world of professional advice in the media on the topic of sexuality.
“The idea for a radio program came when I was working under Dr. Helen Singer Kaplan at New York Hospital — Cornell University Medical Center,” explained Westheimer. “A letter came to the program from a local station asking for someone to come speak. Nobody wanted to go because there was no money attached to it. So I said, ‘I’ll go.’ I got my radio program one week later.”
Westheimer’s rise to worldwide fame is even more extraordinary, considering the obstacles she had to overcome in her early years. Born in Germany in 1928 as Karola Ruth Siegel, she was sent to Switzerland in 1938 by her German-Jewish parents to escape the Holocaust.
“I was part of the Kinder transport into Switzerland,” said Westheimer. “I left Germany at the age of 10. My whole family did not make it. There was no country that would have us.”
Her family gone, the young survivor transformed herself from orphan to international educator. She would go on to study psychology at the Sorbonne in Paris. At the age of 16, Westheimer traveled to Israel and helped in the fight for Israeli independence by joining the Haganah, the underground military organization.
“Almost all of us had some type of function in creating a state,” said Westheimer, recalling her time in Israel. “I wanted to go back to Israel. I’m very much a Zionist and I believe that Jews need a country of their own. Every year I go to Israel. I’m with them in spirit.”
After living in Israel, Westheimer went looking for a place to call home and eventually moved to New York in 1956. She earned her master’s degree from the New School of Social Research and her doctorate from Columbia University Teacher’s College.
“I came to America to visit an uncle,” said Westheimer. “I wanted to see if he was as short as me. I’m four-foot-seven. He was taller than me, but not by much.”
Although small in stature, this petite Jewish powerhouse is not to be underestimated. She has conquered her share of the media market. In addition to the 27 books she has published to date, for the last 23 years Westheimer has done radio, television and cable television programs that are syndicated worldwide. Her print column, “Ask Dr. Ruth,” is also in syndication.
She has also expanded into video. One was called Terrific Sex while she has also produced two for Playboy Magazine. She has also sat in as executive producer on two documentaries: one, called Surviving Salvation, was a film about Ethiopian Jews. A second documentary, No Missing Link, was about how grandparents transmitted Jewish values to their families in Communist Russia.
Westheimer has appeared in movies and television commercials promoting everything from shampoo to soft drinks to cars. The award-winning doctor even has a board game, “Dr. Ruth’s Game of Good Sex,” and her Night-to-Night calendar promotes her teachable approach to sexuality.
In 2000, Westheimer received an honorary doctorate from Hebrew Union College Institute of Religion for her work in human sexuality and her commitment to Judaism and the Jewish people.
So what is her message for today now that our culture is saturated with sexual information? Westheimer says that high sexual self-esteem begins at home but also requires the help of the proverbial village.
“Certainly things have changed,” said Westheimer. “There are many more people who are sexually literate and there is much more about it in the media. But parents have to be involved in sexual education. They have to be ‘askable parents’ so that the youngster knows they can ask questions and they will get the right answer.
“And synagogues, universities, community centers and the media have an obligation to educate on sexuality and give the information. We know all about it. We have the data — let’s teach it.”
In addition to teaching about family life and sexuality, Westheimer has recently published her latest book, Musically Speaking: A Life Through Song (University of Pennsylvania Press, Fall 2003) and has updated a 1987 title, All in a Lifetime (Warner Books, 1987).
“Musically Speaking is really my autobiography,” Westheimer said. “It’s all about the music in my life. It’s really a biography of my life from synagogue music to the Phantom of the Opera. I updated All in a Lifetime after my husband passed away six years ago.”
While speaking at the Federation event in Seattle, Westheimer says she will be anticipating some good questions from the crowd.
“I always take questions from the floor,” said Westheimer. “ I expect people to ask good questions. So, prepare good questions because I keep all of those questions and they make up my next book.”
To attend the Connections 2004 event, which takes place on Sun., Feb. 1 at the Sheraton Inn and Towers in Seattle, contact [email protected] or call 206-774-2219.