The Book of Ruth: A Story of Selfless Dedication

The custom is that on Shavuos one reads the מגילת רות , the Book of Ruth. Numerous reasons are given for this, I will just quote a few.

1) In the same way as the whole Jewish People said Na’aseh V’Nishma “We will do and then hear” (all the details), Ruth made the same undertaking, when insisting on joining her mother-in-law, Naomi, on her return journey from Moav to the Land of Israel.

2) The story of how Ruth was collecting the gleanings left in the field for people in poverty, and therefore met Boaz to whom she eventually became married, took place at the time of the wheat harvest which is around the time of year of Shavous.

3) Ruth had the merit to see as her great grand son, King David, Dovid Hamelech the most famous king in Israel who composed the Psalms and from whom the Moshiach will come. King David died on Shavuos.

As we read through this moving story we are all struck by the strength of character and צדקות, righteousness, of the two ladies concerned. One could say that as far as Naomi is concerned, having seen what happened to her husband and two sons, who all died after they had fled from the Land of Israel, because there was a famine, that Naomi was returning to her roots and realised how important it was to be steadfast.

However, as far as Ruth was concerned, she was a Princess in Moav, not only taking a leap into the unknown, but also going to accompany an old broken impoverished lady who begged Ruth not to come with her. We all know how the two daughters in law Ruth and Orpah both started walking on the road together with Naomi imploring them to return to their parents houses and lives of luxury and here we see the difference in that, whilst both cried, Orpah returned to her parents house and to the bad ways of her people whereas Ruth cleaved to Naomi and promised to keep the whole Torah.

It was even more remarkable in that, there is a verse in Torah which says לא יבאו עמוני ומואבי בקהל ה “a descendant of the two nations, Ammon and Moav cannot join the congregation of Hashem” that is become Gerim. Here we find Ruth who was a Moabite insisting that she would try to join.

The Gemora tells us that when there was talk of David becoming King of Israel, there were people who objected because of this verse, but Boaz who was David’s great grandfather had a tradition that when it says a Amoni and Moavi it only means the male members of those nations. מואבי ולא מואבית A Moabite man may not become a Ger but a lady may. This is what is known as Torah Shel baal Peh, our oral tradition of the interpretation of the Torah which was also given to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Finally, it was agreed that this was the definite correct interpretation, but can you imagine, this young girl coming from a foreign country, not even knowing whether she would be accepted as a full Jewess.

Her strength of character and steadfastness was extraordinary.

She then got married to a very elderly gentleman, Boaz was certainly over 80 at the time, one can see that both of them meant it לשם שמים, for the sake of heaven. Ruth outlived her husband and in fact lived on to see David crowned as King.

We find in a verse just before the revelation at Mount Sinai, that Moses was instructed
כה תאמר לבית יעקב ותגיד לבני ישראל “So you should say to the House of Jacob and tell the Children of Israel” and our Rabbis comment that first Moshe had to speak to the ladies and see what their reaction was, they were known as Bais Yaacov. Once the women agreed to go ahead, the men would no doubt follow and they all accepted the Torah Na’aseh VeNishma, we will do and we will hear, as we know.

It cannot be emphasised too strongly that the ladies have a pivotal role in keeping and continuing Yiddishkeit, Torah True Judaism. The woman of the house sets the tone, she buys kosher food and she teaches her small children how to behave in a Jewish way and so it continues.

Naomi and Ruth were both prototypes of this, Naomi coming from the traditional background, whilst Ruth was coming from outside. Nevertheless, they made a fantastic team.

I mentioned a second reason for reading the book of Ruth at Shavuos namely that the main part of the story took place at the time of the reaping of the crops. If you look at the wording in the story, you will find at one place it says “And it happened by chance that Ruth went to the field owned by Boaz”. And then it also happened that Boaz asked his workers who is this young girl. But if you look into it more carefully, you will see that although there seems to be a whole series of coincidences, really they were not coincidences.

The scene was set in order that this match should take place. However, we all have what is known as a Bechirah, a choice and it is up to the individual or individuals to do the “right” thing. That is exactly what happened to Boaz, who was under pressure not to take this Moabite convert as a wife and also Ruth who could have had the pick of a number of young men. They both made the correct choice.

I want to repeat to you an idea which I heard from Rabbi Dessler זצ"ל, of blessed memory, (who incidentally officiated my parents’ marriage many years ago) and he discusses this idea of free choice, Bechira. He says that we all have a free choice, for example people have the choice to read this article, people have the choice to walk down one side of a road or the other side. There are some choices which have relatively minor implications but, he says, we all have at certain times in our lives, to take a major step, we are at a cross-roads and we are not sure what to do, if we turn one way our lives and those of later generations turn out completely differently than if we had gone the other way. He refers in particular to the moment when Naomi told her two daughters in law to return to their homes, one did and one didn’t and what was the result after three or four generations, Ruth had a great grandson called David, Orpah had a great grandson called Goliath. It may be a surprise to you but it is so.

So we see the two complete opposites, we all know the story of David and Goliath and in fact Goliath was a distant cousin to David. But look at the way they had drifted poles apart. That is one of the outstanding lessons that we can learn from The Book of Ruth.

We, all of us, nowadays are faced with major choices, we live in a society which some people call Western civilisation and I think of as Western decadence. Increasingly we are pressurised by the media into attitudes and actions which, to put it mildly, are not according to Torah values. Very often, instinctively, we know that the latest Government thinking on education or the general permissive attitudes are wrong. How are we supposed to know the correct way to behave and to ensure that our children and grandchildren, relatives and friends remain true Jews?

One, first of all, must have strength of conviction, we adhere to a Jewish religion and race which has been in exile for nearly 2000 years but nevertheless survived and the ones that survived were the Jews that adhered to their religion. Secondly there must be basic knowledge of Torah in order to be able to keep the mitzvahs, we must know what are the most important points. Not only must we know, we must internalise that they are important. There are certain basic mitzvahs which are the foundations on which Jewish family life functions. There is Kashrus, eating kosher food, and this does not mean just when eating at home but also outside the home, for example when going out to a restaurant or on holiday etc. There is Shabbos, which is a day to recharge our spiritual values, learn some Torah, sit together as a family, sing Zemiros etc. There is Taharas Hamishpocha, going to Mikvah creates purity in a spiritual sense and then there isחינוך , education. But of course, all mitzvas are important and to be adhered to.

If you look back on the communities that were very large in this and other countries but did not have organised orthodox Jewish education, they have virtually disintegrated, whereas others with proper organised Torah True Jewish education are strong vibrant and increasing in numbers.

It is important that a two pronged method is used to withstand bad influences. They are, of course, the home, where I have emphasised the role of the mother but of course the role of the father is also important, and secondly, the Jewish, Torah True, education that each child needs to receive. Going to a cheder once or twice a week is a very poor substitute. Torah True Jewish School for boys and girls is essential. We need to ensure that boys continue to Yeshiva Gedolah and girls to Beis Yaakov type of High School education.

The third reason I gave at the beginning for the reading of the book of Ruth was that King David, who is mentioned right at the end of the book, died on Shavuos. He was a great Tzaddik and an original thinker and psalmist and composed beautiful and eloquent praises and songs to Hashem, including the Hallel. These תהלים, psalms are used by Jews all over the world to this day.

I am sure that Ruth never dreamt, when she accompanied Naomi back to the Land of Israel that she would marry Boaz and that she would witness a great grandson as King David from whom would come the Royal family and the Moshiach .

It shows you what can be achieved with selfless dedication.