ronit rinat peleg

As a child, I remember feeling disconnected from a world that I sensed I did not belong in. In retrospect, I believe that I might have simply been avoiding having to deal with the fear and helplessness I felt when witnessing the dark and painful side of human nature. It was distressing to me to witness war, hostility, discrimination, injustice, economic hardship, and dysfunctional communication in families and between couples. Even though a part of me turned inside myself and closed up, another part of me wished to make a difference in this world. I felt that if I became a doctor or a teacher I could reach out to humanity with my heartfelt compassion and bridge gaps by healing others. I always felt that this was my destiny.

My ultimate dream was to inspire and empower people to follow their instincts and visions so that they might live the best possible life. I am grateful that my dream has come true. Today, as the founder and national director of Ma-agal Hak-sha-va (Council) in Israel, I have the opportunity to fulfill my dream of promoting and teaching non-violent and compassionate communication between children and their parents, students and their teachers, families, couples, and between Arabs and Jews.

My father was a sixth generation Sabra, and my mother immigrated to Israel with her parents and siblings from Poland where all members of her extended family were annihilated in the Holocaust. Born in Israel, my life goal of becoming a teacher took a long time to evolve and faced many detours. In 1964, I was crowned Miss Israel and became a runner up to Miss Universe. Becoming Miss Israel gave me the opportunity to travel the world, represent my country as a good will ambassador, and to raise millions of dollars for Israel.

I was married for thirty-six years to a Los Angeles physician, the father of my three adult children, a man that I loved and who has since passed away. During the years that I lived in America, I was involved with philanthropic projects. I worked with Elie Wiesel on the promotion of the Waging Peace Project, and I was the founder of The Haifa Foundation on the West coast. I worked in schools to expand young people’s awareness of tolerance. I was also an active participant in the creation of the documentary film, We Are All One People. My continuous vision is to bring light to dark places by promoting better communication between people in the world. Creating Ego2heart and conducting couples’ workshops with my husband, Dr. Moti Peleg, has given me another opportunity to carry out my vision of empowering people by providing them with tools that will help them communicate compassionately and without judgment, and will awaken them to their full potential.