Ruth Topelberg

Ruth was born into a WIZO family. Her grandmother, Anya Ginsburg, came to Australia from Israel (then Palestine) in the late 1920’s. An ardent Zionist, Anya was one of the founders of WIZO in Australia. She was also a founder of Jewish Day Schools in Australia, Mount Scopus and Bialik Colleges.

Her daughter Zepora, followed in her Mother’s footsteps, active in WIZO in Melbourne, then Anya’s granddaughter Ruth continued the family tradition when she came to Perth after marrying Alex in 1971. Alex’s family had a similar background, with his Mother Dora a stalwart of WIZO in WA.

Ruth was part of WIZO WA State Council from 1986, holding many portfolios including Membership, Education, Fund Raising and Wills & Bequests. She has been bestowed with several special honours, including Honorary Life Membership of WA State Council and the Rebecca Sieff Award.

Over the years, Ruth has served several terms as President of local group WIZO Aviva and is still on their committee. She has attended many Federal Conferences and a World WIZO Conference in Israel. She treasures the many friendships made both in Australia and world-wide WIZO.

Ruth’s other strong commitment in the Jewish community has been with the Maccabi movement. Starting with an Executive position in what was then AJAX in Victoria, Ruth continued to be involved in Maccabi when she moved to Perth, both at local level and on the Maccabi Australia Executive.

This culminated in her being inducted into the Maccabi WA Hall of Fame in 2016.

She is now serving her 27th year as President of the Hora Maccabi Israeli Dance Club and still maintains a dedicated connection to Maccabi.

A strong Zionist and Jewish community ethic continues to be a feature of Ruth’s life; she feels it is part of her heritage and her husband Alex has been a strong support for her.