Ziv: The book of Ruth - for Shavuot


Each week, Gad Barnea or Sister Agnès de la Croix (from the Community of the Beatitudes) proposes a reflection on the portion of the Pentateuch that is read in the synagogue (parashat hashavua). This week they comment on the Scroll that is read for the Feast of Pentecost in the synagogue, the Book of Ruth.

ziv ruthThe book of Ruth is the story of repentance and redemption. It is the story of two women : one, whose name is Naomi, loses everything : husband, sons and possessions, and - by the grace of God - perseveres to see herself made whole again, and another, Ruth (after whom the book is named) leaves her family, her country and her pagan faith to become one with the Jewish people and its faith.

The story begins with tragedy when, within a few short verses, Naomi reaches a state of absolute poverty and humiliation in the land of Moab - where she and her family went to escape the famine that was in the land of Judah at the time. At the lowest point of her life, she repents after having deserted her people and her God, and decides to return to her native land and her two daughters-in-law follow her. The two are Orpa - who, according to tradition is the grandmother of Goliath, and Ruth : the future grandmother of David and from whom the Messiah shall spring. It is said that Orpa "has gone back to her people and to her gods” (Ruth 1:15) but that Ruth “clung" to Naomi. The Hebrew word for “clung” here is davak - or “to glue to someone” - effectively “to become one with someone”. It is often used of situations of self-giving love such as marital relationships and of love to God.

Having finally reached their destination : Bethlehem, on the first day of the barley harvest, they are spurned by the crowd of women who ask with disdain : "Is this Naomi?”. The latter, having come to repentance and humility responds : "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” (Ruth 1:20-21). The name she gives herself : Mara, is often misunderstood to mean “bitter" by homophony, but if that were the case, it would be written with a “heh” at the end and not, as it is written, with an “aleph”. The meaning of Mara is actually one of power and authority. Naomi’s confession to the women of Bethlehem is this : “I have lost everything, and it is true that God has dealt very harshly with me - but, it is I who am responsible. I had the authority to choose the course of my life, and made some bad choices, for which I blame only myself”.

This confession sets Naomi and Ruth up on the path of redemption. Ruth goes to glean in the fields of Bethlehem and immediately happens upon the field of a wealthy relative of Naomi’s whose name is Boaz. Boaz, Ruth shall be told, is a kinsman of Naomi (and, by extension, of Ruth) who, according to the law of Moses, is a redeemer of the family, who can save them from their state of poverty. From a purely technical standpoint, Boaz is not required to do anything for Ruth, since from the perspective of Jewish law, her marriage to Machlon was never legitimate. It is here that we find the main theme of the book : free grace and redemption - when Boaz not only redeems Ruth and marries her, but moreover, perpetuates the name of her dead husband, a man despised as a traitor to his people and his God. He says, in front of the people at the gate of the city : "Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate” (Ruth 4:10). It is from this redemption - a redemption not of necessity, but of free grace, not of dry law, but of compassion, that the line of David - the line of the Messiah - will spring. Shabbat Shalom.

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