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.

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פסח שני

14th Iyar is פסח שני. This is the anniversary of the day in the year which has the only mitzvah in Torah, for which, if somebody, was unable to perform it at the correct time, there is a second chance. In parshas בהעלותך Moshe Rabbenu was told that the second year from the going out of Mitzrayim, that is a year after the actual יציאת מצרים, the Bnei Yisroel should sacrifice a korban Pesach. And so they did, on 14th day of Nissan, exactly on the first anniversary of the original korban Pesach.

The Torah then continues
ויהי אנשים אשר היו טמאים לנפש אדם ולא יכלו לעשות הפסח ביום ההוא, There were people who had become tomei being in contact with a dead person and, therefore, they could not bring the korban Pesach. These people said to Moshe, למה נגרע, why should we be less than everybody else in that we cannot bring the korban Pesach at the right time, Moshe’s response was stand and wait and I will listen to what Hashem commands me. Hashem said to Moshe that anybody who had become tomei or was far away from the Mishkon (and in due course the Bais Hamikdosh) and was unable to bring a korban Pesach, was allowed to perform the same ceremony on 14th Iyar, eating the קרבן together with matzos and moror.

As I said above, I believe that this is the only time in Torah that there was a specific mitzvah given as a “second chance”.

The question one can obviously ask is, we have a general rule מחשבה טובה הקב''ה מצרפו למעשה a good intention is considered as if the person had carried out the deed. Namely, if there is some reason why a person cannot carry out the actual actions of a mitzvah, but very much wanted to do so and had done so in the past, it is counted as if he had actually done the mitzvah. For example, if somebody was in hospital and could not lay tefillin because the doctors would not allow it, or due to no fault of his there were no tefillin available, but he had in mind that he really wished to do so, it was as if he had carried out that mitzvah. So the question here, in this case, is the people who were tomei wished to participate in the mitzvah of korban Pesach on 14th Nissan so why did they have to be given this second chance to carry out the mitzvah.

I heard an answer in the name of the Sanzer Rov, the דברי חיים, as follows, we are talking about very great people, דור דעה. He suggests that when they came and complained to Moshe Rabbenu that because they had become tomei as they had been burying dead people or the like and, therefore, performing a mitzvah; Moshe Rabbenu suggested that they would have the same spiritual uplift as the people actually performing the mitzvah of korban Pesach just by having the right thoughts, מחשבה טובה הקב''ה מצרפו למעשה. However, when the Bnei Yisroel brought the korban Pesach, those people who were tomei came back to Moshe and said “we don’t feel anything”, למה נגרע, why is it that we are feeling less than everybody else. Moshe Rabbenu then said, let me go and consult and find out what is the correct position.

It then proved that there was a second chance available. That is why they did not feel anything when the rest of the Bnei Yisroel brought the korban Pesach on 14th Nissan. They were enabled to have the spiritual uplift by bringing the Pesach Sheni.

This is, of course, an object lesson to us, sometimes, for one reason or another, we don’t have the opportunity to perform a mitzvah the first time round but we are given a second opportunity and we need to grab it and therefore, experience a spiritual boost.

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The Parshios of Vayikra

The parshios of Vayikra are known as תורת כהנים. This is because many of the mitzvos given in the parshios between Vayikra and the end of Behokosai are specifically to do with the Kohanim or the Mishkon and Bais Hamikdosh. Nevertheless, there are numerous parshios which are not to do with Kohanim specifically, for example, virtually the whole of the sedra Kedoshim and a considerable amount of Behar-Behokosai as well as parts of Shemini and Emor.

Looking at the five parshios commencing אחרי מות, carrying on with קדשים, אמר, through בהר and finally בחקתי, I think we can find a common thread running through all these parshios, namely, that a person has to try to acquire the quality of kedusha. In order to be able to do this, one has to not only keep to the strict mitzvos of Torah but one also has to build extra walls and fences to assist in obtaining kedusha and increasing it.

The word קדושה comes from the root קדש. This is translated in English as Holy. But what does it mean? We have visions of angels up in heaven saying קדוש קדוש קדוש ה' צבאות Holy, holy, holy is Hashem of the legions. We need to define what is meant by this holiness. It is broadly speaking, setting oneself aside from the mundane and becoming more spiritual and near to Hashem.

Rashi at the beginning of Kedoshim states as follows:-
כל מקום שאתה מוצא גדר ערוה אתה מוצא קדושה. A negative concept, wherever you find a fence against lewdness you will find holiness.

The Ramban goes one further and states that one can keep all the mitzvos of Torah and still be what is called a נבל ברשות התורה. I intend going into that concept in greater detail a little later.

קדושה has been translated as הבדלה and פרישות, setting oneself aside and perhaps even leading an ascetic life. That is only part of the concept.

We must, however, always remember that the רבונו של עולם’s קדושה His sanctity and holiness is much higher than any holiness that we can aspire to. קדושתי למעלה מקודשתם

The seforim Hakedoshim say that there are three parallel levels on which one has to work. They are known as עולם, the world, שנה, time, and נפש, the soul, the human being. In each department one has to create, retain and aspire to kedusha.

Let us commence with the sedra אחרי מות. This gives detailed instructions for Aharon and subsequent Kohanim Gedolim to go into the Holy of Holies, the Kodesh Kodeshim, once a year. This is firstly a reflection of kedusha in time, namely the 10th Tishrei every year. It is also kedusha of עולם, the world, because it is the one place in the world, originally the Mishkon and subsequently the Bais Hamikdosh, which had this special kedusha. In addition, the Kohan Godol had to set himself aside for seven days before Yom Kippur and on Yom Kippur itself, immerse himself five times in the mikvah. We see here all three headings of kedusha, עולם, שנה, נפש. The particular place in the world, in time and in the person. Furthermore, the Kohen Godol only had the opportunity to go into the Kodesh Kodeshim just once a year.

The next parsha in Torah talks about שחוטי חוץ, that is a sacrifice, a korban, may not be brought (when there was a Mishkon or the Bais Hamikdosh standing) except at that very place, again this is קדושת המקום, a place in the world. This is followed by the parsha stating that one may not eat blood under any circumstances. This being קדושת הנפש, in a human being. In fact, the Torah itself uses the word נפש in this connection.

We begin to see that in order to create, retain and aspire to kedusha, one has to have these restraints and much more.

This is followed by the parsha of עריות, the ultimate in physical kedusha, namely, that certain relationships are completely forbidden. So much so, that the Torah says that the transgressing of those mitzvos can cause the opposite of kedusha, and lead, in the extreme, to the Bnei Yisroel being exiled from our Holy Land. As we know, unfortunately, this did happen on more than one occasion especially after each Beis HaMikdosh was destroyed.

Immediately after that, commences the sedra קדשים. Where we are enjoined to be spiritually holy.

Interestingly, if one goes carefully through all the mitzvos in that sedra, they appear to be a jumble of commands. There are relationships between one man and his fellow man and at the same time other mitzvos between man and his maker. I should like to enumerate a few of the general principles

We can climb the ladder of holiness by being kind and charitable, honest and fair, upright and just, practising self control over our words, our thoughts and our actions and by avoiding spiritually destructive things, relationships and also by atoning for all our mistakes. We have to behave in a holy manner with regard to agriculture, personal conduct and appearance, child rearing, inter-personal relationships, commerce and life in general. This is all mentioned in the sedra קדשים. Of course, there are numerous other mitzvos mentioned including שבת, פיגול and נותר, ערלה etc. which are mitzvos בין אדם למקום.

All these help in and are part of ascending the ladder of holiness.

As we can see kedusha, holiness, does not just mean putting our heads in the clouds and having mitzvos between ourselves and Hashem. It is very much also about inter personal relationships בין אדם לחבירו.

As I mentioned fleetingly earlier on, the Ramban at the beginning of Kedoshim goes one step further in trying to define and discuss kedusha.

The Ramban says that one can keep all the mitzvos and still be what he refers to as a נבל ברשות התורה, namely being very lowly without breaking any of the mitzvos. To illustrate, if somebody sits all day long eating and drinking like a glutton, even though he can be eating absolutely kosher foods and drinking nothing which is prohibited, it is very far from kedusha and in fact it leads to the opposite happening. The person can become very coarse and degenerate, instead of refined and holy.

You may have noted when reading the sedra last week, that it is the second verse of קדשים which states קדשים תהיו, you shall be holy. The second verse from the end of the sedra repeats this. The Torah says והייתם לי קדשים You should be holy to Me, כי קדוש אני ה' because I am Holy. Meaning that you should try and emulate Me, as far as is humanly possible, of course. I don’t know whether anybody has noticed that the word Kedoshim is spelt without a ו, קדשים, whereas the word קדוש is spelt with the ו, when referring to Hashem.

I have discovered that this is a general rule in Torah, namely, wherever we are referring to the kedusha of Hashem, the holiness with reference to the Al-mighty, the word is spelt קדוש. This is because His Holiness, sanctity, separation etc. is beyond and above anything that we can aspire to, it is מלא, complete, in the same way it is spelt fully, קדוש. When the Torah refers to human beings theו is omitted because we can only go so far.

Turning to the next sedra, אמר, if you look at פסוק ח', the 8th verse, we are talking about the Kohanim, and their level of kedusha. וקדשתו כי את לחם אלקיך הוא מקריב you should sanctify him because he brings the sacrifices to Hashem. The Torah carries on as follows קדש יהיה לך he should be holy to you כי קדוש אני ה' מקדישכם because I am Holy, and sanctify you. Please note that the first קדש, referring to the Kohen, is spelt חסר, without a ו, whereas the second one, referring to Hashem, is spelt מלא, with a ו, קדוש.

As I mentioned the kedusha of the Kohanim is given in detail at the beginning of Emor and the Kohan Godol’s kedusha is at a higher level. We are talking there of קדושת הנפש, the human being.

The Torah then continues, all Jews have to be careful not to touch or to eat of קרבנות when they are in a state of טומאה. Then we have the parsha about the animals themselves that could not be sacrificed if they were not perfect, without any blemish. This is followed by an injunction that an animal cannot be sacrificed for the first seven days of its life. This, in turn, is followed by the various parshios all concerning the different קרבנות brought in the Mishkon or the Bais Hamikdosh on Yomim Tovim.

Harking back to the three parallel levels of kedusha that I mentioned above, one can see that again עולם, שנה, and נפש are mentioned time and time again. There was even a kedusha in respect of the oil that was utilised for the menorah, of course, in the Holy part of the Mishkon and that it had to be replenished each day. We then go to the parsha of the לחם הפנים, the special bread that was brought once a week and placed on the shulchan, on the table, once again in the Holy part of the Mishkon.

We can see that apparently mundane objects in the world, including animals, oil, bread etc. are utilised as a means of spiritual uplift and kedusha.

The Torah then comes to another parsha where there was an incorrect relationship between an Egyptian man and a Jewish woman and the son was caught blaspheming and what happened to him and others in similar circumstances. Obviously, the opposite of kedusha, to be avoided at all costs.

The sedra of בהר commences with the mitzvah of שמיטה, here we have קדושת הארץ, the holiness, the sanctity of the actual Land of Israel. Once in seven years, work on the fields stopped, קדושת הזמן. We know that the farmers and their families were supposed to spiritually elevate themselves as well in that sabbatical year, קדושת הנפש.

The Torah then goes one further and states that once in 50 years there is a special jubilee יובל, so that in effect one has two years of complete rest of the fields, the 49th year and the 50th year, to the extent that even Jewish servants had to be allowed to go home then and the leasehold properties which had been sold reverted to their owners.

Do I have to keep on mentioning the interplay between עולם, שנה,and נפש, Eretz Yisroel being holier than the rest of the world, the years mentioned in and the individuals as well.

The Torah then continues for the whole of בהר with a poor person selling part of his inheritance and selling a house and eventually selling himself, not only to a fellow Jew but in extremity to a Non Jew. Rashi tells us that this was all because originally שמיטה was not kept properly and this was a downward spiral, the opposite of kedusha.

Finally, in בחקתי we are enjoined to keep all the mitzvos properly and we will have great ברכה blessings showered upon us.

If, חס וחלילה we do the opposite, there are a series of קללות which unfortunately over the ages did occur in previous generations.

However, the Torah then, at the end of בחקתי comes back to kedusha, the elevation of people and animals and possessions by declaring them קודש, holy, ending finally with the mitzvah of taking a tithe, מעשר from all flocks, the tenth one being, as the Torah states קדש לה'.

I think that you will agree that there is a common thread going through these sedras from אחרי מות right the way through to בחקתי. This is a lesson for all of us, male and female, to try and adhere to קדושהand spiritually uplift ourselves. This, of course, includes keeping the mitzvos בין אדם למקום between ourselves and Hashem, and בין אדם לחבירו between ourselves and fellow Jews.

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