Dr. Ruth Westheimer z"l

Dr. Ruth Westheimer recording her show on WYNY.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer passed away on Friday, July 12, 2024. Dr. Ruth Westheimer is survived by two children, Joel and Miriam, and four grandchildren.

Ruth K. Westheimer led a remarkable life. Dr. Ruth Westheimer was a renowned sex therapist, author and media personality, best known for her popular 1980’s radio show Sexually Speaking. Long before she became a world-famous sex therapist, she escaped the Holocaust on the Kindertransport to Switzerland and was a teenage sharpshooter in the Haganah. Dr. Ruth Westheimer and Manfred ‘Fred’ Westheimer were married for 36 years until Fred’s passing in 1997.

Below is a collection of Dr. Ruth Westheimer’s contributions to Moment. We encourage you to read and watch her work and remember Dr. Ruth Westheimer as we do.

Left; Dr. Ruth in her Washington Heights apartment. Right; Ruth and Fred at their wedding 1961

Beshert | Two Husbands Later, True Love!

Dr. Ruth Westheimer reminisced about meeting her third husband and their life together: 

I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again now, my first two marriages were legalized love affairs, but with Fred, it was true love. I don’t know for sure if relationships can be beshert, maybe. But what I do know is that Fred was the right husband for me.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer with Lilly Gelman in her Washington Heights Apartment

Dr. Ruth Westheimer Meets Gen Z

So what did a 91-year-old sex therapist who seemed to have done it all have to say to a 22-year-old who, thanks to Dr. Ruth, grew up with little to no sexual taboos? Well, if you asked Dr. Ruth, that was stupid question: “I’m still teaching courses. I’m very, very busy,” she said with a giggle.  Read the interview to find out.

Becoming Dr. Ruth with Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer and Tovah Feldshuh

Watch Dr. Ruth Westheimer in conversation about how to live life to the fullest, with Tovah Feldshuh, the six-time Tony- and Emmy-nominated actor who played her in the Off-Broadway show Becoming Dr. Ruth, and Moment Editor-in-Chief Nadine Epstein.

What Should the Role Of American Jews Be With Respect to Israel Today?

Dr. Ruth Westheimer contributed to Moment‘s symposium on this topic. Read Dr. Ruth Westheimer’s opinion on what, if any, obligations American Jews have toward Israel today.