In the Shadow of the King | Rabbi Stewart Weiss | Beit Midrash

Torah Portion and Tanach
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קטגוריה משנית

Shabbat and Holidays
Shavuot

Once, there was a man who passed away and left just one item to his favorite granddaughter. It was a photograph, clearly a very old photograph, of a young boy standing in a field. The girl was puzzled, "who is this boy, and why is this my inheritance?" She knew her grandfather was quite wealthy and a bit eccentric, but someone with whom she had a very special relationship, so this must be a very special gift. Yet try as she might, she could not identify the boy in the photo. He didn't look like Grandpa, and no one she asked recognized him.

She studied the picture for a long, long time and then she noticed something she had missed before; the boy was standing within a long shadow. And then she remembered that one of Grandpa's favorite songs was, "Just Me and My Shadow." So she started to research the history of photography, and famous photographers, and discovered that the shadow in the photo was that of President Abraham Lincoln! A very valuable artifact, indeed!

As we approach Shavuot, I want to suggest that the "shadow" which hovers over this Chag is that of David HaMelech. By tradition, David was born - and also died - on Shavuot. Of course, we know that the story of Ruth ends with the birth of David (note that the name "David" is, literally, the very "last word" of this Megila!). But what is the deeper significance of David's hidden presence in Ruth's story, and in the message of Shavuot?

David was truly a "man for all seasons." He underwent every trial, he experienced every emotion. He was a gentle soul, a poet and musician. Yet he was also a fierce warrior, with much holy blood on his hands, who conquered Jerusalem and brought our eternal capital into Jewish hands. He was beloved by millions, but he was also an outcast in his own family, where, for a long time, he was deemed illegitimate and not even allowed to sleep in his father's home! He enjoyed riches and power, yet he also experienced dire poverty and almost starved to death. He achieved widespread acclaim when he slew Goliath, but then was hunted down like a dog and barely escaped death.

All of this contributes to the brilliance of his book of Tehilim - the most read of all Jewish books. Because of David's range of experiences, he can relate to everyone else in his or her own situation. Are you joyful, and want to praise Hashem? Recite Tehilim! Are you sad, depressed, scared? Read Tehilim! David has words, and music, for every possible condition. And that is why, I suggest, it is his lineage that will produce Moshiach. Because Moshiach will connect to everyone - Jew and non-Jew alike - in order to usher in the Age of Redemption when "the knowledge of G-d will flow like a river."

And that is why David must come from Ruth, a convert whose life story is one of pure Redemption, the royal princess of Israel's ancient adversary Moav, turned poverty-stricken beggar, who masters the Mitzvot (thus her name equals 606 for the commandments she takes upon herself) and returns again to royalty and respect as the ancestress of the House of David. David is the lynch-pin, the connector between the nations of the world and its ultimate Redeemer. He is the great-grandson of Ruth and the grandfather of the Geula, the Everyman who casts a giant shadow over us all.

Shavuot

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