‘Cheeky Dirty Convert’: The Marriage of Amram Blau and Ruth Ben-David
Keywords:
Amram Blau, Ruth Ben-David, Yosele Schuhmacher, Neturei Karta, Haredim in IsraelAbstract
On September 2, 1965 Amram Blau (1894-1974) and Ruth Ben-David (1920- 2000) married in a small and secretive wedding in Bnei-Brak. Amram was one of the founders of the radical ultra-orthodox religious group, Neturei Karta, in 1938 and had been its leader since then. Ruth, a former French Catholic, converted to Judaism in the early 1950s. The ceremony ended a two-year saga that resulted in Blau’s dismissal from his preeminent position.
Ruth and Amram gained considerable notoriety in Israeli society. Ruth played a central role in smuggling the child Yosele Schuhmacher out of the country several months after he was kidnapped from his parents. Amram was a vociferous, uncompromising demonstrator against Zionism, Israel, and what he perceived as violations of the Sabbath and other sacred injunctions in the public domain.
Based upon archival material and other primary sources, the article traces the affair and its main characters, and suggests that its importance lays in the fact that it provided a golden opportunity for Blau’s Neturei Karta opponents to oust him.
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