Among the themes of Megillat Ruth, which we read on Shavuot next week, we see an emphasis on names and lineage. In the aftermath of a devastating famine, a man called Elimelech, whose name means "my God is King", has left his home in Bet-lechem (Bethlehem), which means the "house of bread".
In exile, his sons die. Their names as recorded in the Book of Chronicles were Yoash and Seraf, but here in the book of Ruth they are called Machlon and Chilyon, names denoting "Sickness" and "Destruction". These are not names we'd readily choose for our children.
As the narrative develops we progress to the foundations of the House of David, one of the proudest houses and finest pedigrees of our tradition.
Ruth follows Naomi back to Israel and adopts Jewish mores. The commentators embellish her famous pledge of loyalty. "Wherever you go, I will go" - like nomadic Abraham and Sarah, I will follow God's path; "and where you lodge, I will lodge" -- I shall keep a Jewish home.; "your people shall be my people" - I shall be a part of the Jewish community; "your God, my God" - I shall observe the Jewish faith; "where you die, will I die, and there will I be buried" - my commitment is lifelong and my soul is God's in the afterlife.
At the very end of the book, Ruth and Boaz have a son, whom they call Oved. The name implies being a dutiful servant and a follower. Oved's name is apposite because Boaz was a dutiful servant of God, looking to do the right thing by Jewish law, for his family and also for his
We should respect those who are alienated and seek to draw near
employees. Moreover, because Ruth, herself, embraced the way of God, followed Naomi and honoured her extended family ties. The story has come full circle; Oved is the grandfather of King David, born in Betlechem.
A far grander circle is also completed.
Ruth is a Moabitess. The tribe was condemned for cursing Bnai Yisrael, the Children of Israel, in the wilderness and impeding their passage (see the story of Balak and Balaam). Significantly, though, Moab, is a close cousin.
In Genesis 19, we were told of Lot's flight from Sodom. Despite his many failings, Lot had attempted to protect his angelic visitors even to the point of offering his daughters to the mob. Once they flee and Lot's wife has looked back, Lot and his daughters are alone in Tzo'ar. The girls fear that they are alone in the world and their lineage (and possibly humankind as they know it) will be lost. Accordingly and on successive nights, each plies him with drink, engages in intimacy and falls pregnant. Moab was the son born to the eldest daughter.
Peretz, who is Boaz's great ancestor, was born from the immodest liaison between Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar. The story in Genesis 38 tells how Tamar's husbands Er and Onan refrained from making her pregnant (according to the Midrash to preserve her stunning figure). Each of them died.
Judah delayed marrying Tamar to his third son Shela lest he perish also. Trapped, betrothed and unmarried for a prolonged period, Tamar takes matters into her own hand and tricks Judah into relations with her. Peretz is one of the progeny.
Ruth and Boaz are each the descendants of close and condemned relationships. Their yichus is deeply stained from the beginning. In both instances the mother was fighting a perceived doom and trying to right a wrong - but going about it in a prohibited way.
When Ruth lies at Boaz's feet by the barley on the threshing floor in Ruth chapter 3, we are seeing the potential for history to be re-enacted and for Boaz to be seduced in his slumber, while merry from wine. Instead, he resists the advance until a closer kinsman has waived any potential bond to Ruth (a correlation with the story of Tamar).
On one level, we have the metaphor: when we abandon the "house of bread" anticipating prosperity elsewhere, we alienate our children from their heritage and destine them to spiritual sickness and destruction.
Read independently, the background stories of Moab and Peretz teach us that our own moral compasses do not necessarily align with the Almighty's; that the fruits of our intercession are to be spurned. Taken together, though, we see each as grand-ancestor of the messianic house.
After 2,000 years of drought, our people are returning from all quarters to our homeland - a house of technology, the "start-up nation", where the desert blooms. In this respect, we are closer than ever to redemption. However, we are more fragmented than ever as a people, threatened by assimilation and wilful disaffiliation.
Ruth and Naomi show that we can pick up and return. Boaz, who stayed firm, teaches that while doing the right thing the right way, we should welcome people back and welcome them in. We should respect and seek to identify purity of motive among those who are alienated and seek to draw near.
May we be blessed with opportunities to end our famine of alienation, to cultivate understanding and share the harvest our people redeemed.
