Ruth McBride was a sharp woman, out spoken and straight to the point. She would tell you how it was and wasn't afraid to do so and didn't mind if in the process she hurt your feelings. These characteristics, among many others are what made Ruth McBride such a wonderful mother. The one quality that is most significant in Ruth McBride was her unbelievable dedication to her children's education. The reasoning behind her dedication stems back to her religious up bringing. Tateh, who was Ruth's Jewish rabbi father, implanted certain ideals about education and hard work in Ruth's mind over the years growing up. It was because of this, even though Ruth was a devoted converted Christian that her Jewishness still shined through when it came to her children's education. Because of this all her children learned the importance of education in a non-conventional way.
Ruth's strong Jewish influence was conveyed to her by her Rabbi father during the younger years of her life. As you can imagine growing up with a father who was a Rabbi, your daily routine would revolve around the Jewish lifestyle. It was because of this Ruth learned the fundamental importance of education. Tateh being the stubborn person he was only sent Ruth to school because it was the law. "He paid for us to take private lessons in sewing and knitting and record keeping from other people, He was tight with his money, but when it came to that kind of thing he wasn't cheap "(Ruth McBride, 80). Tateh did more than just care about book smarts. Hands on learning was the key. Tateh owned a small grocery store were he employed Ruth to work, but this wasn't any job. Even though Tateh he didn't come out and tell you, he expected to see sweat and blood on your shirt at the end of the day because hard work shows dedication, which in turn equals money. "My daily routine never changed: Open the store at seven, school till three, come straight home and work tell ten, then flop to sleep.