In the passing of Ruth Weyl, both the CCJ and the ICCJ has lost its organisational memory. From the earliest days of CCJ working with Bill Simpson, Ruth had been a supportive and informative presence. She held many positions within the CCJ, the Three Faiths Forum and the ICCJ and, most recently, served as Consultant to ICCJ. She recently contributed to the ICCJ’s publication, “As long as you believe…”
Ruth was fluent in English, French, German and Hebrew. She was always energetic and vibrant, intellectually sharp and with a keen wit. Ruth was born in Berlin. Writing about her parents, she said:”… it is due to the wonderful family life I had that I learnt to deal with the less agreeable things in life with a sense of humour and trust. In that sense they also taught me to be firmly grounded in what and who I was, and at the same time open to no matter what life, encounters with others, etc. may have in store.“ From 1938 to 1958 she lived in Jerusalem and then moved to London, where she lived out the rest of her life. She took great pride in her children, grand-children and great-grandchildren.
A life-long Liberal Jew, Ruth was active in Jewish causes as well as inter-religious dialogue and the struggle for justice and peace. She was honored on a number of occasions for her work, including a CCJ long service award from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the ICCJ Interfaith Gold Medallion, and also from the German government. CCJ extends its condolences and deepest sympathy to Ruth’s family. May she Rest in Peace and her memory be blessed.
We are grateful to Dr Debbie Weissman, President of ICCJ for her help with this brief tribute.
