An unexpected and emotional encounter changed the course of a Dutch model’s life. Martha Bijl, now Ruth Vaknin, met Israeli Eitan Yechiel—who grew up in an ultra-Orthodox home—at a party in Ibiza. When a serious car accident left her in a coma, Eitan chose to stay by her side. When she awoke, she made a life-altering decision: to convert to Judaism. That decision also reignited Eitan’s own connection to his religious roots.
Six a.m. at a Party
Martha was born in the Netherlands as the youngest daughter in a warm, loving family. A shy but cheerful child, she eventually embraced the party lifestyle, dividing her time between London and Ibiza. She loved the dance floor and the living in the moment—never looking for more than the next thrill.
Eitan Yechiel, raised in a strict ultra-Orthodox community in Israel—what he later described as a “halachic dictatorship”—grew up with a loving father and a close family. At 16, he left that world, drawn more to money than prayer, and pursued a life of freedom, business, and travel. In 2019, he flew to Ibiza for the first time—never imagining he’d meet someone who would change his life at six in the morning at a party.
“Mom, Dad—I’m moving to Israel to be a model”
They met, felt an instant connection, and exchanged Instagram handles and numbers. Within a week, they planned to meet again. Martha traveled to Israel, met Eitan’s friends, and quickly fell in love with the country. Just hours after arriving in Tel Aviv, she was approached by three modeling agencies. She knew then: this was where she wanted to be. “Mom, Dad—I’m moving to Israel to be a model,” she told her parents, setting off on a new path.
The model who converted
Three months of nonstop celebration followed. Martha and Eitan traveled between Barcelona, Mykonos, and Mexico. Then, during a routine drive home from a business meeting, everything changed. Eitan, tired behind the wheel, woke up upside down in a jungle. Martha was silent, bleeding, seriously injured. At the hospital, doctors diagnosed her with a severe head injury. She had slipped into a coma.
“Please let me walk again”
“You’ve only known her for three months,” Eitan told himself. “Are you really going to stay?” But something deep inside urged him not to leave. “I understood there was something pure here—divine. I stayed.”
Martha eventually woke up—silent, paralyzed, broken. She didn’t know who she was. She couldn’t remember. Doctors warned her parents: “She’ll likely never walk again.”
Her tongue was paralyzed, but inside her heart, a prayer formed. “God, help me. I know this isn’t for nothing. Please, just let me walk again.” Against all odds, Martha began to recover. A small movement. A first smile. Her strength returned. Eitan sat beside her every day, until one day he saw it clearly: she was coming back.
When she left the rehabilitation center, Martha was no longer the same woman. Her inner desire was clear—she wanted to convert to Judaism. Eitan was surprised, but he didn’t try to stop her.
“Dad, I want to study”
Martha chose the name Ruth, after Ruth the Moabite. As Eitan saw her sincere devotion, something inside him also reawakened. She left modeling. She became pregnant. Eitan called his father: “Dad, I want to study.” And so, father and son—one in Israel, the other in Ibiza—began learning Torah together once again.
From a party in Ibiza to a life of Judaism. Watch her full story in a new episode from the “Converts” series:
