Dr. Ruth in town tonight

Legendary sex therapist Ruth Westheimer is happy to be Jewish for a number of reasons. Not surprisingly, one of those reasons has to do with sex. "I do believe that for me, being Jewish, it is easier to talk about sex openly. … In the Jewish tradition having intercourse with your spouse on a Friday night – it’s a good deed.”

Westheimer -- best known as Dr. Ruth -- will go into detail about all of this tonight when she leads a talk called "Heavenly Sex" for the New Center for Arts and Culture. The night will include a chat about sex and religion, as well as a Q&A, which might get X-rated despite the professional setting. Dr. Ruth believes that because of her age and place in life, people feel comfortable asking her questions about topics they'd ordinarily be ashamed to discuss in public. "I was already 50 when I started on television and radio. I was not a little kid talking about it. I tell people, you can ask a question without saying 'I.' You can say, ‘A friend of mine' ….”

Westheimer says she's often asked why she's not in Boston more frequently. "I have to tell you that I teach Mondays at Yale and Thursdays at Princeton. And everybody is asking me, why not Harvard?" For the record, it's because 81-year-old Westheimer wants to be able to return to her New York City home in a day's time. Ted Reinstein moderates the 7:30 p.m. talk at Temple Israel.