Ruth Blau

"Prof. Inbari explores the stranger-than-fiction tale of a woman who spied on the Gestapo, converted to Judaism twice, kidnapped a boy, and whose marriage sparked protests."

~The Times of Israel

"While the Haredi world has produced interesting people, perhaps one of the most interesting and simultaneously enigmatic and controversial is Ruth Blau. Her personality and life story demands a biography. And Motti Inbari, professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina, has filled that void with Ruth Blau: A Life of Paradox and Purpose."

~Ben Rothke, JewishLink

"Summarizing Ruth's life would be doing a disservice. Inbari packs so much riveting detail into his 224-page book that I will only drop tantalizing hints of a Gestapo infiltration, spy missions in Morocco, religious identity crises, multiple failed relationships, questionable business activities, Mossad interrogations, Iranian rescue missions, and of course, kidnapping and hiding Yossele Schmacher for ideological purposes."

~JewishPress.com

"The untold full story of the most paradoxical woman who fought the Israeli Mossad and her marriage to the extreme antizionist Rabbi of Jerusalem. History at its best. "

~Margalit Shilo, Bar Ilan University

"Ruth Blau: A Life of Paradox and Purpose constitutes a landmark study of a heretofore mysterious yet highly significant personage in modern Jewish history. A French convert who married the resolutely anti-Zionist Neturei Karta leader Rabbi Amram Blau, this study of her life provides great insight into our understanding of Jewish ultra-Orthodoxy and the role of women within it. Inbari draws on rich archival resources and extensive interviews to construct this story of her life and its many twists and turns both in Israel and the Diaspora. In so doing, he makes an original and vital contribution to modern feminist and Israeli scholarship."

~David Ellenson, Brandeis University

"This is an outstanding book. Its hero (actually heroine) is outstanding. Its research depth is outstanding. Even its writing style is outstanding."

~Menachem Keren-Kratz – Israel, Jewish Culture and History

"Inbari . . . is generous in his overall assessment of the woman whose story he has so skillfully recounted. He recognizes her fanaticism and flaws but admires her resourcefulness, her courage, and her adherence to her principles."

~Allan Arkush, Binghamton University

"This is an outstanding book. Its hero (actually heroine) is outstanding. Its research depth is outstanding. Even its writing style is outstanding. This is the biography of Ruth Blau. This book is, to my best knowledge, the first academic book ever dedicated entirely to a single ultra-Orthodox woman."

~Menachem Keren-Kratz, Jewish Culture and History

"Inbari is generous in his overall assessment of the woman whose story he has soInbari, soskillfully recounted. He recognizes her fanaticism and flaws but admires herskillfully herresourcefulness, her courage, and her adherence to her principles."

~Allan Arkush, Jewish Review of Books