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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Tanach
- Rut
Among them many reasons given are that 1) the story takes places in the same season as Shavuot; i.e. the harvest season and 2) Ruth took upon herself all the Mitzvot of the Torah, just as we, as a nation, accepted the Mitzvot at Matan Torah at Har Sinai. This is hinted to by the Gematria of the name Ruth; it equals 606, the number of Mitzot - beyond the 7 Noachide Mitzvot applicable to all people - that Ruth accepted at her conversion.
But I want to suggest another idea: This is the story par excellence of Redemption. Ruth will become the ancestress of David HaMelech, who will begin the monarchy of Yehuda, leading to the ultimate king, Moshiach ben David, who will preside over the Geula Shlema. Ruth herself, as a "ba'alat chesed" who accompanies and cares for Naomi over many years, will redeem her nation of Moav, who were ostracized from becoming part of Israel due to their extreme lack of chesed towards Am Yisrael.
Perhaps, most of all, it is Naomi who is redeemed - literally and figuratively. She left Israel with her husband Elimelech at a time when they were needed most. She then suffered every indignity: her husband died; her sons intermarried and then they, too, died; she went from riches to rags and had to literally crawl back, poverty-stricken to Israel, where she knew she would be looked down upon by the people she had deserted. Yet when she her family lineage is redeemed by Boaz, who marries Ruth, Naomi regains her sense of pride and self-worth.
Fascinatingly, Megilat Rut brings this point home through a unique use of the "k'ri and k'tav" at a critical place in the story (chapter 3). While it is Ruth who has a rendezvous with Boaz at the threshing floor, the text - written in one form yet read in another - quotes Naomi as saying, "I will go down there," and "I will lie down" (next to Boaz). And later, when Ruth has a child, the women of the city declare, "A son has been born to Naomi!" Via her surrogate Ruth, Naomi has come full-circle and regained her place in Jewish society, and in Jewish history.
Redemption is not only a collective, far-in-the-future ideal. It happens to each one of us when we retake our vows ("Shavuot") and recommit to live a Torah way of life; and it is happening on a grand scale in our own generation, as Israel is re-established and rises to greater and greater heights among the family of nations. The Ruts - and branches - are magnificently sprouting.
Rabbis in Midrash
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The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
Chukat "HOW ENTEBBE STOLE THE BICENTENNIAL
The Difference Between Historic & Eternal"
As we approach America's 250th birthday, it's worth remembering her 200th Bicentennial birthday, on Jul. 4th 1976, when Israel "stole the show" by shocking the world & miraculously saving 101 hostages in a foreign continent. As Pres. As Pres. Trump decides which countries get priority in his new Middle-East, it's worth reminding him of the difference between historic events and eternally historic ones. This obviously connects with this week's parsha, as well!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 6 - The Parable of the King of India
The advantages of testimony over circumstantial evidence or philosophical speculation.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 5- "Proofs of G-d"
This may be the most important class of the entire book, where we finally get to the Jewish proof of the existence of G-d and truth of the Torah. We should follow His own direction where He tells us how to get to Him: through the Nation of Israel: Jewish history, Jewish prophets (and today, prophecies fulfilled), and national reward & punishment towards Am Yisrael.
Ein Aya One Humanity, One Creator, One Jerusalem
Rav Kook innovatively and beautifully explains this aggadeta where our sages say that after Jerusalem was destroyed her cinnamon fragrance is only found locked in a particular kingdom's treasury.
