In traditional settings, the book of ruth is read on the second day of shavuot. May 25, 2012 the book of ruth ruth was the moabite wife of machlon, one of the sons of elimelech and naomi, a wealthy couple who had fled bethlehem during a bitter famine. The story shows that gods grace and mercy extends beyond israel to include all peoples. What would his position have been, if he had remained with abraham. In current usage, most jews designate the books by titles that are derived from their opening words. Ruth 1, new international version niv the bible app.
The book of ruth perspectives from faith communities. When lot, abrahams nephew and his faithful companion in canaan and egypt, chose to abandon the family of abraham he left a void that was not filled in for many generations. Why is it that we read the book of ruth the story of a moabite woman who converted to judaism and who eventually married a judge of israel, boaz on shavuot, the holiday when we celebrate the giving of the torah at mount sinai. It came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. Ask the rabbi jewish calendar daily torah study subscribe search glossary rss.
Ruth was the ancestor of king david, and he is the ancestor of mashiach. This is the torah, the story of naomi and ruth, and it is a torah more compelling now than ever. If god is the primary actor, then his presence, actions and plans must serve as the foundation for understanding this story. The negative personal results of abandoning the land of israel and its jews are explicit in the story and in the words of all of the commentators to the book. On the foundations of the house of david, the whole people of israel is supported. Boaz, who was much older, an established landowner and a leader in the community, had not thought of himself as a possible suitor until that night. Every woman can relate to ruth as she goes through her tears, her toil, her trust, and her triumph. Naomi, in preparing ruth for her conversion, was conveying a basic principle about yiddishkeit.
Some come to synagogue to hear the beautiful voice of the chazzan, but not to actually pray to hashem or listen to the torah reading. She was dissatisfied with the idolworship of her own people, and when the opportunity arose, she gladly gave up the privileges of royalty in her land and accepted a life of poverty among people she admired. Ruth was a moabite princess of very fine character, who became the greatgrandmother of king david. On the day we receive the torah again, and are faced with inevitable torah ambiguities, is the book of ruth not teaching us the value of choosing chesed when turning written, unchangeable laws into life. The interaction between the secular and the holy, the jewish people and moav, torah and science. And naomi had a relative of her husbands, a man of wealth, of the family of elimelech. Ruth, 96, reads from the torah for the first time jewish news. The story is set in the time of the judges, a time characterized in the book of judges as a period of religious and moral degeneracy, national disunity and frequent foreign oppression. The warning of the rabbis in avot, that one should never take a small matter of torah and kindness lightly, resonates throughout the book of ruth and its events. And a man of bethlehem in judah went to sojourn in the country of moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. The book of ruth concludes with the connection between king david and ruth. Ruth was a moabite woman, whose sense of piety and devotion to her motherinlaw naomi led to her marriage to the prominent boaz of bethlehem in judah. After exodus, what story there is often gets lost in endless demographic info, rules for hygiene, and of course constant threats by god to kill everyone.
It is as if the narrator wished to disguise the director behind the scene. Widespread as this custom may be, the connection between this short narrative about a moavite woman. The central theme of lovingkindness, and its reward, is not only the central theme of the book of ruth, it is also the central theme of the torah. These are the titles that are employed in all jewish bibles, including ther mikraot gedolot. The book of ruth, which appears in the third section of the hebrew bible, ktuvim, writings, is a beautiful folktale written in four short chapters. Ruth is a moabite woman who marries a judean immigrant named mahlon 1.
Ruth is a book for all times, whether written in post. Boaz and ruth married and their son, oved, was the grandfather of king david. It is set in the time of the judges not the best ones, if we assign it to the period of gideon and samson and it attempts to define the rights of widows and aliens within a society. Why we read the book of ruth on shavuot my jewish learning. In a moving dvar torah, in front of a packed synagogue, ruth explained how she had not had the chance to learn hebrew growing up in nazi germany. Messianic life lessons from the book of ruth nadler, sam on. It celebrates the loyalty and reward of a young moabite widow ruth who chooses to follow her israelite motherinlaw naomi back to bethlehem after naomi was bereaved of her own husband and two sons. Look how important they were, for eglon the king of moab married off his daughter to mahlon, for the master said ibid. Ruths conversion midrash rabbah on chapter 1 of the book of ruth ruth 1. Torah commentators offer two major theses to explain the custom. Orpah is mainly hanging around to be a handy dandy little contrast to the behavior of her fellow moabite, ruth. Ruths name provides the title for the book of ruth, probably a piece of historical fiction set in the time of the judges. Ruth reads from the torah for the first time aged 96. The story of ruth jewish history judaism, torah and.
The book of ruth reveals god as one who cares for the needy, expects his people to care for the needs of others and blesses those who reflect his character by doing so. It is with this in mind that hebrew reader for ruth was created. Today, the book of ruth is generally read as part of shavuot services. Abraham was childless and lot was to be the inheritor. Book of ruth the torah of ruth and naomi reclaiming judaism. The book of ruth points to yeshua as the ultimate kinsman redeemer. On the surface, it is the story of a young virtuous maiden who leaves her family and her nation to cast her lot with a people and religion that she has not previously known. Hebrew reader for ruth christian book distributors. It is a story of loyalty and love between women, risk taking for relationships, commitment in the face of almost certain destitution, and humility. Can be read any time during the year, but especially on shavuot pentecost, the anniversary of the giving of the torah on mount sinai and when the holy spirit was poured out on yeshuas disciples acts 2. Aug 21, 2017 birmingham progressive synagogue bps member and holocaust survivor ruth shire read from the torah for the first time, at the age of 96, in front of a packed bps sanctuary.
Sure, orpah would love to stay with naomi shes motherinlaw of the year, but the road ahead just isnt looking so sunny. Naomis husband and two sons had migrated to moab during a famine, and there found moabite wives. The book of ruth is an important historical work in hebrew scripture, our old testament of the bible, as it traces the lineage of king david and ultimately that of the messiah, jesus christ. A paradigm shift in understanding ruth, torah and life. Upon his death she becomes a childless widow who chooses to accompany her motherinlaw, naomi, to judah.
The midrash, rabbinic legend, says they were daughters of the moabite king. King david, her descendant, was born and died on shavuot y chagigah 2. Hebrew reader for ruth presents the complete hebrew text of the book of ruth, a versebyverse translation, and an analysis of every word, including morphology, meaning, and syntax. It is set in the time of the judges not the best ones, if we assign it to the period of gideon and samson and it attempts to define the rights of widows and aliens within a society fallen upon hard times. Ive seen the torah pentateuch classified as an epic, but to me the genre seemed much less straightforward than in homer. The editio princeps was called midrash ruth, the title ruth rabbah being derived from later editions from that published in venice, 1545, and onward in which the work was printed together with midrashim on the other scrolls song of songs, lamentations, ecclesiastes. If you have not had significant issues when reading ruth it is unlikely that you will appreciate just how many question this book answers. When her husband died, she followed her motherinlaw, naomi, back to israel and adopted the jewish faith and people as her own. Further, utilizing all of the standard reference grammars, vance references every discussion of. Sep 26, 2005 there, from the outset we know who determines, plans and arranges matters. All this could only come about through the authority of the oral torah. A regular personorpahwould turn back when it comes to hardship like that. There are 85 verses, and 4 short chapters in the book of ruth. Elimelechs family had settled in moab, a neighboring country with which israel had a history of conflict.
Traditionally, the book of ruth, part of the section of the bible known as writings, is read during services on shavuot. The names of the books of the torah there are five books that make up the torah, and the title is usually indicated clearly at the top of each page. Ruth is a young moabite woman who married an israelite man. The book of ruth hadavar messianic ministrieshadavar. Midrash rabbah on chapter 2 of the book of ruth soncino translation reformatted. The book of ruth, which is poetically idyllic in character, although the narrative is in the form of prose, contains an episode from the period of the judges. I ruth and shavuot the custom of reading megillat ruth on shavuot is a wellestablished one, first appearing by allusion, at least in the 8th century massechet sophrim 14.
For this reason it is placed in the septuagint after the book of judges. In this matter of fact retelling of events without their direct attribution to god, the book of ruth resembles the book of esther, and no other biblical book. May 30, 2017 that night, ruth demurely waited at boazs feet, signaling her intentions. And a certain man of bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. Dvar torah questions and answers on book of ruth chabad.
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