Program Description: "The Most Mysterious Woman of Modern Israeli History,” Prof. Motti Inbari, Dept of Religious Studies, UNC Pembroke
Ruth Blau (1920-2000) turned Israeli society on its ear -- her part in kidnapping and smuggling a child in a conflict between Israeli ultra-Orthodox and secular Jews, hunted by the Mossad, her scandalous marriage to the head of an anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox sect, and her shocking meetings with PLO's Yasser Arafat and with Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini... And that's just for starters. Drawing on archival material and interviews Prof Inbari portrays a complex mysterious woman on a remarkable and scandalous journey that influenced modern history.
Dr. Motti Inbari is a professor of Religion at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. His teaching and research focus on Jewish history, thought, and culture, with expertise in Jewish politics and ethics, gender and sexuality and Jewish-Christian relations. He is the author of seven books, among them, Ruth Blau: A Life of Paradox and Purpose. His latest book, published in 2024, is Christian Zionism in the Twenty-First Century.
