With daily stories of war between Israel and the Middle East, each side is born with bias to hate the other side. Yet one little girl, Ruti Yudovich, saw things through her own eyes, and grew up to fall in love with an Arab man.
Ruti’s unique book, weaving both fact and fiction, is told through the eyes of Ruti as a little girl; what she saw, how she felt, and most importantly, how others can learn how to see and feel as she does- with an open mind, and an open heart filled with compassion and love.
About Ruti Yudovich
Ruti Yudovich was always an avid reader; when her siblings were sound asleep she would be reading her books to the light of the moon. She especially loved simple stories that brought with them deep meanings and inspiration. Among her favorite books are: The Little Prince; Dear God, this is Anna; The Alchemist, and The Kite Runner. She always wanted to write children’s books with deep philosophical messages to inspire one, and for that reason she began to write in 2007. This writing started with vignettes from her childhood. The “children’s” book she wanted to write evolved into this, I Hate to Say Goodbye.
Ruti Yudovich is the third and youngest child of Jewish-Russian parents. She was born in the city of Tel-Aviv in 1953 but grew up on a kibbutz and farming villages. She spent seven adventurous and memorable years in Hayogev, a farming village near the Jordanian border.
Those seven years were magical for her. During that time, Miss Yudovich had the opportunity to learn about life by exploring her environment, amazingly being free to go anywhere without any adult supervision, making her own judgments regarding her activities; what would be dangerous and what not. She believes the best way a child can grow is to have general boundaries and then have him or her make their own judgment within those. “This way you have a self assured, confident individual who learns to trust himself and his decisions,” she says.
She considers that she was very fortunate to grow up in a musical family: “A world without music is a dead world; with music we can build bridges among nations in conflict and bring people together,” she says with a bright smile.
Moving To The City
In 1963, her family moved to the city, Rishon Lezion, where she spent her teen-age years. Ruti is a graduate of the Ben Gurion University with a BA in Geography and Education. In 1980, she moved to the United States and continued her educational path teaching at the University of Judaism, followed by a long held position at a one of the largest Jewish temples in the U.S. Currently she is a tutor, lecturer and personal consultant.
Ruti Yudovich believes that man is basically good, that children should be treated like adults with respect and love, that one should be free to express one’s thoughts without fear and that there is so much beauty in this world, all one has to do is look for it and he or she will find it.
Business entrepreneur Carl Urbin states of the book by Ms. Rutovich, “I Hate to Say Goodbye” the following; “While reading the book I have found so many incredible thoughts, such as …” “I was taught to fear and hate Arabs and I fell in love with one.” Also the wise saying, “It is better to be a cow than a pig.”
Carl continues, “For whatever reason, I have found that the book has had a calming effect on me. It feels like it has taken me into another zone, an adventure that is full of different emotions and experiences in a far away land, where people are searching for a better world and creating one. It is also fun and very easy to read. I’ve only read 68 pages so far and I can not wait to continue reading.”
To order I Hate to Say Goodbye, click here.
