Batya Ruth Wootten passed away on February 26th, 2025. She rejoins her faithful husband, Angus Wootten. They will be reunited at Arlington National Cemetery, as they are already reunited in their eternal reward.
Her life has been particularly difficult to encapsulate in a brief summary. It is now that the loss truly hits home of how much I miss her. She had a way of revealing the essence of the most complex of subjects in a way that almost everyone could understand. She was a complex woman. Fiercely loyal, she prized the restoration of the whole house of Israel above all things. She suffered greatly spreading the vision that the Lord imparted to her. Meanwhile, while she was being targeted with slings and arrows, Batya devotedly tried to shield the ones she loved from the same hurts that she endured. She was a warrior in every sense of the word. I find myself wishing I could ask her how she would say how she wanted to be remembered. “If you have to say something, just say it.” I can still hear the tenor of her voice. She loved her Messiah. A Jewish man who sought to redeem all of the lost sheep of Israel. That is what she focused on. Not the sheep of Israel, but the lost sheep. You know, the ones who don’t know that is who they are. She wrote over a dozen books on the topic and was branded virtually everything in the book. She endured the antagonism of those who she was trying to uplift. If that sounds familiar, it is the story of judges, prophets, apostles, saints, and the Messiah himself. As Christ said in John 15:20 “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” (NIV)
It is my duty and honor to carry the torch that she and Angus carried for so many years. The mission of Key of David Publishing is to teach and reach those who are searching for their identity as Ephraimites through various media resources as they rediscover their identity as Israelites. Our resources provide the necessary information to help understand our responsibility to encourage reconciliation and the restoration of the Kingdom to all Israel. This includes mutual respect with our Jewish brethren as they walk out who The Creator called them to be. For as long as I have the ability to do so, I will make sure her books are available and her voice continues to be heard. The only way I know to honor her properly is to live with the same devotion to the cause to which I saw her so committed.
In the end, no one knows how much impact she had. There have been so many random occasions when I would run across a person who knew her. Some she had met along the way. Many were just people who had been impacted by her but had never met her. Many people, who are more eloquent than I, have already said more than I ever can. So, as Key of David Publishing remembers our founder and most beloved author, I will let the people who she touched do most of the talking. We will be sharing the tributes on that so many are sending out on Facebook and other social media and recording them for posterity. Batya welcomed everyone. She truly cared. She fought the good fight and she left this world with no more fight left to give. Please consider tagging Key of David Publishing so that we can continue to spread the message.
Starting March 4th, her favorite day, we will begin re-releasing articles and content that reminds us all of why our identity in the Commonwealth of Israel is so important. In the meantime, since we can’t sit Shiva, let the memories of her for the next few days be an outlet for all those she touched to mourn together. I miss her immensely. But, after that, as she would say, there is work to be done.
And if you are going to play in Mama Batya’s sandbox, you better play nice.
-Alex David Altman
