The Story of Ruth & Naomi is Not About "Loving the Stranger"

Artscroll Stone Chumash

Maybe I should call this post:

Jerusalem Post Promotes Intermarriage

I got very aggravated on Shavuot after reading the first/main article in the Jerusalem Post's Holiday Magazine,  LOVING THE STRANGER: THE TIMELESS MESSAGE OF THE STORY OF RUTH by Lee Caspi, because Caspi got it all wrong.

On my first reading, I focused on Caspi's totally mistaken idea that The Scroll of Ruth is a story promoting the acceptance of strangers/refugees, and during classes I attended on Shavuot, I kept reminding people that Naomi had returned to her original home where she had land. Her problem was to find a way to return to her family, so she and her daughter-in-law Ruth wouldn't starve. Ruth was a Jew, a convert who had pledged her allegiance to Naomi's god and Land. When she gathered grain, it wasn't to send it back to Moav. Caspi's parallel to an Eritrean friend sending money to family in Eritrea is a total distortion of Ruth's story.

Boaz is praised for helping a family member who had fallen on hard times. As soon as he became aware of Ruth's identity-- widow of a clansman, he told his workers to be extra kind and generous to her. She and Naomi were not strangers. They were family!

And now I just reread Caspi's article and there is another very serious problem. I find it outrageously sacrilegious, since it promotes intermarriage, distorting the way marriage was done in those days.

Today, for various historical reasons, much emphasis is put on the importance of Jews marrying within the faith, keeping matters in our ethno-religious group. But this is, to a degree, a deviation from our holiest text, in which several examples can be found of successful intermarriages, some so successful that they resulted in one of the biblical figures known to have been most beloved by God – King David. This is not to say that the story of Ruth encourages us to marry outside the Jewish faith, but I believe it teaches us that good things can sometimes be gained from doing so.

I must repeat that Ruth was a convert to Judaism, and once someone has accepted the "yoke" of Torah, it is forbidden to refer to the person by by his former religious/ethnic identity. And the Boaz-Ruth marriage was not a love match. It was more a business deal. Boaz had promised to arrange a marriage between Ruth and a relative of Elimelech. When no other suitable candidate agreed, then Boaz married her, and according to Biblical scholars he didn't live long after. And according to the Biblical text, the baby was considered as Naomi's; Ruth is not mentioned after the birth.

In one of the classes I attended on Shavuot, it was stressed that the baby born to Boaz and Naomi/Ruth brought the Tribe of Judah back to life. It had been dying out. In this story, like many of the Davidic Messianic Line, we see strong determined women who took the initiative in their relationships with the men of Judah. Naomi and Ruth are following in the footsteps of Leah and Tamar.

It's disappointing that the editors of the Jerusalem Post can't find someone more knowledgeable about Judaism and the Bible to write about the Scroll of Ruth in their Shavuot Supplement.

Counting The Omer, Looking Forward to The Next Holiday

Reminder for Counting the Omer when phone and computer are off. I've been leaving a "sign" right over the television, a place my eyes wander for the past few years. I find this to be the best way of remembering to count.

The Counting of the Omer, Sefirat Ha'Omer, is a pretty long process. It's 7 X 7 = 49, seven complete weeks long. And the numbers go up and up each night.

The Counting of the Omer begins on the second night of Passover and it ends just before the Shavuot Holiday. In Hebrew it is much more interesting, because seven, week, satiated and Shavuot, which means "weeks" or "oaths," are all written from the same root:

שבע

There's nothing like Hebrew as a brilliant language with so much meaning however you combine letters. There's no real "gibberish" in Hebrew. Every simple two or three letter combination can be linguistically interpreted somehow.

As we begin counting on that second night of Passover, we know that in forty-nine days, seven times seven weeks, we will all swear our allegiance to Gd, accept the Torah and be satisfied with it, Gd willing.

It's an amazing concept, and it repeats every year. Yes, it's connected to the commandment that we each must feel ourselves as having left Egypt and joined with Gd and Gd's Commandments to us. We first search for and destroy the chametz, forbidden leaved products, and then we start anew with matzot, מצות, which are linguistically, mitzvot מצות Gd's commandments. This is either confusing or comforting and satisfying in how it connects the Holy Days.

Passover celebrates our no longer being slaves of Pharaoh, and Shavuot celebrates Gd's giving us the Torah and our emergence as a People.

Even though the 49 days of the Omer is supposed to be a time of national mourning, there are, davka, two modern holidays in the middle, Israeli Independence Day and Jerusalem Day. These are the modern Holy Days that parallel the development of the Jewish People today. We've reclaimed the Holy Land as Ours! We are now a State/Nation after two thousand years of exile. And these significant days are during the forty-nine of the Omer. Gd controls timing, which is a reminder of how holy Israeli Independence Day and Jerusalem Day truly are.

Chag Sameach!!

Shavuot, The Holiday of Jewish Unity

I'm not referring to the traditional Shavuot menu, based (at least according to Ashkenazim) on dairy foods, because lactose intolerance aka milk allergies/sensitivity is the latest Jewish genetic trait. 

The more I study Jewish History, Biblical, ancient Jewish History, the more obvious it seems to me that there were always Jews who sinned, or skimped (a popular label for this in Israel nowadays is "dati lite," the diatietc/low calorie religious observance) on their observance of the Torah, G-d's instructions. Most probably the only few seconds in time when all Jews agreed, were united and obeyed were as long as it took to shout out in unison:

נעשה ונשמע.
Na'aseh vinishmah.
We will do and we will listen.

Those crucial, magical, life-changing historic event took place at the foot of Mount Sinai, after the exodus from Egypt when we, the Jewish People, accepted the Torah, G-d's instructions on how to live.

By saying "Na'aseh" before "Nishma" they expressed acceptance of Hashem's Torah "sight unseen" - without first understanding. After the unqualified acceptance of "Na'aseh, saying "Nishma" means that we are ready to open our brain, our intellect and our hearts to understand Hashem's Torah to the extent that Hashem will help us to do so.

If this sight unseen acceptance hadn't happened, Jewish History would have taken a different path.  But it did happen.  Chazal, our sages say that the soul of every single Jew to be born (or converted) was there at that great historic moment.  That was the pledge, the oath that linguists say is the key to the name of this holiday, which should be called Shvu'ot, oaths, not Shavu'ot, weeks.

Our ancestors, accompanied by our souls, pledged our allegiance, obedience to G-d all those thousands of years ago.  We saw, experienced the miracles which G-d produced to facilitate the exodus from Egypt, the end to the bondage to Pharaoh in Egypt.

Today we see, even among many Jews who claim not to obey the Torah that despite this they are attracted to the Torah.  There are "secular yeshivot" in which religious observance isn't required in order to study the classic Jewish texts.  Shavuot is a very traditional time to study Torah, Talmud and commentaries.  More and more we hear:

"The dati'im (Torah observant) don't have a monopoly on our Jewish texts."

I'm glad to hear this.  We're all Jews, and nobody "owns" the Torah.  The Torah must unite us to remain one people.

Chag Sameach

Have a Joyful Holiday

Davka, Just Days Before Shavuot

Shavuot is the Jewish Holiday during which we read Megilat Ruth, the story of the most famous convert to Judaism, the one every potential convert is to emulate. Ruth's oath to her mother-in-law Naomi parallels G-d's instructions to Abraham in Lech Lecha. My next step in this thread is to compare these stages of Jewish commitment to the stages of Jewish Redemption as signified during the Passover Seder and the four cups of wine.

Jewish Israel has been focusing on the increasing Christian influence on various Israeli politicians. Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon is married to a Christian woman who proclaims her belief in Jesus at every event and in all media. Jewish Israel has also alerted us to Likud's Sagiv Assulin strong connection to the missionary Joel Bell.

Unfortunately, because many Israelis lack knowledge of true Torah Judaism, they're confused and influenced by christian values and tempted by the generous donations that christians offer.

King Solomon wrote "Nothing's new under the sun," and it's so true. Megilat (The Scroll of) Ruth begins by reporting that Elimelech and his family went down to Moav.

א וַיְהִי, בִּימֵי שְׁפֹט הַשֹּׁפְטִים, וַיְהִי רָעָב, בָּאָרֶץ; וַיֵּלֶךְ אִישׁ מִבֵּית לֶחֶם יְהוּדָה, לָגוּר בִּשְׂדֵי מוֹאָב--הוּא וְאִשְׁתּוֹ, וּשְׁנֵי בָנָיו.
1 And it came to pass in the days when the judges judged, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth-lehem in Judah went to sojourn in the field of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
ב וְשֵׁם הָאִישׁ אֱלִימֶלֶךְ וְשֵׁם אִשְׁתּוֹ נָעֳמִי וְשֵׁם שְׁנֵי-בָנָיו מַחְלוֹן וְכִלְיוֹן, אֶפְרָתִים--מִבֵּית לֶחֶם, יְהוּדָה; וַיָּבֹאוּ שְׂדֵי-מוֹאָב, וַיִּהְיוּ-שָׁם.
2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem in Judah. And they came into the field of Moab, and continued there.

They left the HolyLand for financial reasons, but in the end, they lost their money and Elimelech and their sons died without leaving any descendents. By the time that Naomi returned to Beit Lechem with Ruth, who stubbornly insisted on joining her, regardless of their prospects, affluence had returned to the HolyLand.

No doubt, those who've aligned themselves with today's wealthy Christians will suffer the same fate as Elimelech.

Chag Shavuot Sameach

May you have a joyful Shavuot Holiday

Yes, Succot is a Real Holiday

Robert, of Seraphic Secret, has a great piece of dialogue about Succot:

I was asked to attend a script conference tomorrow, Tuesday morning. I told the producer that it was a Jewish holiday and I couldn't attend.
“Wait, the holidays are over, your Yom Kee-pur just ended, right?”
“Uh, yeah, but now we have Succot, Shemini Atzeret and then Simchat Torah.”
“No disrespect, but you are kidding, tell me you're kidding.”
“Sorry.”
“Let me get back to you.”
An hour later the producer, not Jewish, truly bright, creative and decent, calls back.
“I asked all the Jews in the company and they're drawing a blank.”
“Right. Well, I'm not surprised. Look, lemme send you a few links and then get back to me.”
“Hey, I believe you. Just tell me when we can have our sit-down?”
I suggest a day and time.
“Robert?”
“Yeah?”
“I respect your commitment. I really do. But tell me, how come none of the Jews in the company know what I'm talking about?”

It brings me back to the days when I didn't really know about the holiday. In OJC Hebrew School, they took us to see the funny hut decorated with hanging fruit, and I think I visited the rabbi's home with my aunt who was their friend, but it wasn't a holiday we actually celebrated.

We didn't celebrate Simchat Torah either.

In New York City, at least in my school district in Bayside, the schools were closed for Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur, but after that it was business as usual, except in Hebrew School. But since it was the beginning of the school year, it didn't feel like a school vacation.

Shavuot from my childhood is a total blank. We must have learned something about it, but I don't remember anything, not even cheesecake. At least for Purim I have vague memories of hamantashen and a grogger. No, I don't remember hearing the Megillah. And no mishloach manot either.

At least in Israel, even for the non-religious, the Jewish Calendar is the calendar of the country.

Succot are all over. My kids put up ours.

They even hung a picture of their favorite rabbi, "HaRav Tzimmerman."

It's Not Just About Converts

In a few hours we'll be celebrating/observing the Shavuot Holiday. The Story of Ruth, the most important of our many converts, is read on Shavuot. What's the connection?

Most people translate "Shavuot" into "weeks," but it's also the Hebrew for "oaths."

Ruth is most famous for her oath to commit/connect herself to her Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi.

Ruth Chapter 1
טז וַתֹּאמֶר רוּת אַל-תִּפְגְּעִי-בִי, לְעָזְבֵךְ לָשׁוּב מֵאַחֲרָיִךְ: כִּי אֶל-אֲשֶׁר תֵּלְכִי אֵלֵךְ, וּבַאֲשֶׁר תָּלִינִי אָלִין--עַמֵּךְ עַמִּי, וֵאלֹהַיִךְ אֱלֹהָי. 16 And Ruth said: 'Entreat me not to leave thee, and to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God;
יז בַּאֲשֶׁר תָּמוּתִי אָמוּת, וְשָׁם אֶקָּבֵר; כֹּה יַעֲשֶׂה יְהוָה לִי, וְכֹה יוֹסִיף--כִּי הַמָּוֶת, יַפְרִיד בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵךְ. 17 where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried; the LORD do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me.'

Even though I was born and raised a Jew, I have always felt connected to that oath and even gave a shiur about it.

Judaism isn't a proselytizing religion. Prospective converts are turned back, like Naomi did to Ruth:

יא וַתֹּאמֶר נָעֳמִי שֹׁבְנָה בְנֹתַי, לָמָּה תֵלַכְנָה עִמִּי: הַעוֹד-לִי בָנִים בְּמֵעַי, וְהָיוּ לָכֶם לַאֲנָשִׁים. 11 And Naomi said: 'Turn back, my daughters; why will ye go with me? have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
יב שֹׁבְנָה בְנֹתַי לֵכְןָ, כִּי זָקַנְתִּי מִהְיוֹת לְאִישׁ: כִּי אָמַרְתִּי, יֶשׁ-לִי תִקְוָה--גַּם הָיִיתִי הַלַּיְלָה לְאִישׁ, וְגַם יָלַדְתִּי בָנִים. 12 Turn back, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say: I have hope, should I even have an husband to-night, and also bear sons;
יג הֲלָהֵן תְּשַׂבֵּרְנָה, עַד אֲשֶׁר יִגְדָּלוּ, הֲלָהֵן תֵּעָגֵנָה, לְבִלְתִּי הֱיוֹת לְאִישׁ; אַל בְּנֹתַי, כִּי-מַר-לִי מְאֹד מִכֶּם--כִּי-יָצְאָה בִי, יַד-יְהוָה. 13 would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye shut yourselves off for them and have no husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes, for the hand of the LORD is gone forth against me.'
יד וַתִּשֶּׂנָה קוֹלָן, וַתִּבְכֶּינָה עוֹד; וַתִּשַּׁק עָרְפָּה לַחֲמוֹתָהּ, וְרוּת דָּבְקָה בָּהּ. 14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law; but Ruth cleaved unto her.
טו וַתֹּאמֶר, הִנֵּה שָׁבָה יְבִמְתֵּךְ, אֶל-עַמָּהּ, וְאֶל-אֱלֹהֶיהָ; שׁוּבִי, אַחֲרֵי יְבִמְתֵּךְ. 15 And she said: 'Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her god; return thou after thy sister-in-law.'

But once someone does convert, his/her background isn't supposed to be mentioned. That's one of the anti-Halachik (Jewish Law) "ironies," or inconsistencies, with the blanket/mass cancelling of conversions by a chareidi court. But that's no surprise to me. I find a lot of inconsistencies with Chareidi Judaism. Now, some of you may really blow up when you read this, but please read through to the end. IMHO, it has copied foreign religions in one of its basic premises, that men should learn Torah full time and not work in a full variety of professions. I also disagree with its refusal to recognize the validity of the State of Israel and the official Rabbinate.

One of the great beauties and uniqueness of Judaism is its integration of the Holy and Profane, Kodesh v'Chol. We don't send our holy people, our learned rabbis to isolated monasteries, nor ban them from the physicality of married life. I have no doubt that the plague that killed 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva's students was caused by the idealizing of his marriage, that he lived for years without his wife Rachel.

Our wars, the fighting soldiers are doing great Mitzvot (Holy Commandments) and should be G-d fearing, Torah-knowledgeable people. Therefore the Chareidi custom of shirking this duty/mitzvah is also against the basic tenant of Judaism.

The State of Israel has a Rabbinate which has a department which give Kosher Certification to foods. The Chareidim don't recognize it and they have their own kashrut certification. So, I wasn't surprised that they insulted the Official Rabbinate's certification of converts.

These poor Jews, yes, Jews, have been caught pressed between a rock and a hard place. Rabbi Sherman's "Beit Din," religious court, is trying to score anti-state points by destroying the lives of countless Jews.

According to Jewish Law, we're not supposed to eat insects, but when checking food, we're not supposed to use anything stronger than our simple, everyday if you need them reading glasses. If you use a high-powered microscope, nothing will be clean enough to eat, and you'll starve or die of malnutrition.

Let us all have a Chag Sameach, a Joyful Holiday.

Do you? Or don't you?

My question is simple, or maybe not so simple.

Do you learn all Shavuot night or not?

There's a tradition to learn all night,

• but not every location has shiurim (classes) to attend
• but some people need to sleep
• and some of us uncontrollably doze off if we sit still, after a certain hour
• is this considered a "women's tradition?"
• or is it really a "requirement," mitzvah?

In Shiloh, for quite a long time, there have been a number of "all night" or "most of the night" learning options for men, women, children and English speakers. That's not including the shiurim and open Beit Medrash in the local Hesder Yeshiva.

We've been hosting some for well over 15 years. It started the year after our elder son was seriously injured when a small truck hit him, while he was riding his bicycle. I'm convinced that his miraculous recovery is due to the fact that he had insisted on going to his classes' Shavuot Shiurim just a few weeks before, even though he had seriously sprained his ankle. We had to carry him; he couldn't walk.

The following year, to thank G-d, we hosted his class's shiur. After that there always was some shiur in our home on Shavuot. The year my mother-in-law passed away, we hosted a slew of English language shiurim, so my father-in-law would have something to attend. That included a shiur or two Shavuot afternoon.

Since then, we've made it our tradition to host a Shavuot Shiur in English, which our next door neighbor, HaRav Dov Berkovits, gives. For many of the English speakers, who aren't getting any younger, it's much easier to stay awake and alert in the afternoon.

A few years ago, some neighbors started putting together all-night learning in English. Our local Chief Rabbi Elchanan Bin Nun even began giving a shiur in English. For those who don't understand Hebrew, it's a real treat, and many of us who can understand both languages show up to support his efforts to serve the English-speaking Shiloh population. Yes, there are quite a few English speakers here in Shiloh, probably more than one would expect.

That's it for now.

I have lots to do today, even though not much cooking. We were invited to eat at neighbors tonight.

Chag Sameach!

In G-d's Honor

Bimhaira biyamainu... Speedily in our days...

Yesterday at the last of this year's Pirkei Avot classes, we learned the last chapter.

11. Everything that G-d created in His world, He did not create but for His glory. As is stated (Isaiah 43:7): "All that is called by My name and for My glory, I created it, formed it, also I made it." And it says (Exodus 15:1): "G-d shall reign forever and ever."

As we read and discussed it, suddenly I saw a "vision," or call it an "inspiration."



I imagined that if only, as the 1967, Six Days War, ended, if everyone in Israel had only ascended the Temple Mount, Har HaBayit, instead of crowding at the inferior Kotel, the Moshiach would have come!



Yes, the more I think of it, the less doubts I have. G-d was ready to reveal the Moshiach, the Messiah, but the Jewish People weren't ready.



Not only did we crowd at the outer wall and hand the key to our Holiest Place to the goyim who want to destroy us, but we thanked and praised the army, not G-d. And instead of repopulating our Holy Ancient Land, we (as a People and government) have been offering it to the terrorists and terrorizing the good Jews living in every hill and valley.



Each wrong step we take, makes it harder to return. But return we must.



Chag Shavuot Sameach