Ruth: The Emblem of Loyalty and Devotion to Hashem

The book of Ruth tells the story of the first documented female convert in Jewish history. A woman who stemmed from the royal family of Moav, the younger cosseted daughter of King Eglon, a wealthy princess destined for fame and plenty. On Shavuot, we read of how Ruth decided to commit herself entirely to Hashem and His Torah, sacrificing all her riches, prestige and security. Ruth’s name is made up of the same letters as the Hebrew word ‘tor’ ‘turtledove’ as she is a perfect emblem of loyalty and devotion to Hashem¹. 

One of the trademark qualities of Ruth, mentioned by Boaz, is her chessed. In total opposition to the land and culture in which she was born, Ruth was a person who not only always considered others, but put them before herself. The Moabites are known for their selfishness, having rejected Bnei Yisrael’s plea for water when they were weary from Egyptian slavery². We see Ruth’s chessed immediately in the Megilla, in the way she stays with and supports Naomi after the death of her husband and sons³. Although Orpah initially supported Naomi⁴ as well, her later abandonment of Naomi shows her true intentions. There was nothing glamorous in Ruth’s chessed. In fact, arguably, showing kindness to one’s mother-in-law is among the more challenging forms of chessed. Sometimes, chessed at home proves the most difficult and especially in a relationship as commonly fraught as daughter-in-law and mother-in-law⁵. 

Ruth’s endless devotion to Naomi does not end after their long journey back to Eretz Yisrael. Ruth, the born-and-bred princess insists on descending to the fields to collect grains for the two of them to eat, in the manner of the paupers of the land⁶. Even this lowly task was not beyond Ruth and it is incredible to appreciate that she abandoned a life of sumptuous palace feasts for a life of picking forgotten sheaves off the ground. The pesukim make it clear that Ruth worked hard as well as with wisdom⁷. She worked all day, aside from a short resting period in a nearby hut. Additionally, she picked her grains with thoughtfulness, coming only after everyone else had finished and not taking all she was entitled to (as a widow). Even in her time of need, she was still able to put everyone else’s needs first. 

The Megilla holds Ruth in high esteem as it quickly equates her with Naomi, calling the pair ‘the two of them.’ At this point, we know that Orpah has left and can easily calculate there are two. Yet, the Megilla wishes to highlight that Ruth was equal in status to Naomi. One of the other outstanding traits of Ruth was her modesty. Part of this manifested physically, in the way she gracefully sat or knelt to glean her grains. She certainly shone in the field as a woman of tzniut, unlike many others who spoke loudly and raucously with the field workers.

Of course, her marriage to Boaz itself was a chessed as it ensured the perpetuation of her late husband’s legacy⁸. The process to initiate the marriage, as proposed by Naomi⁹, was uncomfortable for Ruth, yet she did so willingly. Ruth understood that not only would her marriage comfort her husband’s soul, but it will greatly console her bereft mother-in-law. According to some, Naomi had miscarried due to all the family tragedy and indeed, we see that she raised Ruth’s son Oved as her own¹⁰. 

The Megilla holds Ruth in high esteem as it quickly equates her with Naomi, calling the pair ‘the two of them.’¹¹ At this point, we know that Orpah has left and can easily calculate there are two. Yet, the Megilla wishes to highlight that Ruth was equal in status to Naom¹²i. One of the other outstanding traits of Ruth was her modesty. Part of this manifested physically, in the way she gracefully sat or knelt to glean her grains¹³. She certainly shone in the field as a woman of tzniut, unlike many others who spoke loudly and raucously with the field workers. However, this is only one manifestation of her deeply ingrained trait of tzniut. Of course, Ruth physically walked with dignity and did not bring attention to herself with loud jokes or eye catching clothing. But all this was just a reflection of her humble soul. 

To me, Ruth’s greatness is that she did not realise she was great. She did not see herself at all. Partly because she was so focused on doing chessed for others and partly because she was so focused on her obligations to Hashem, she did not stop to admire herself. Boaz, the spiritual leader of the generation praised her generously for all her accomplishments¹⁴ and Ruth appears surprised by his compliments. She doesn’t see herself as fitting to be his wife, only as a lowly maidservant. Ruth is compared to the Imahot¹⁵, yet she is bewildered by the lofty imagery. Ruth did not join the Jewish nation to become a someone, she joined because the truth in her heart guided her to Torah. She was content to be a silent pauper, collecting in the fields for her mother-in-law. In fact, Ruth thought that her conversion would not even be accepted by the people, let alone Boaz because of the controversy over Moabite converts. Her regal self-effacement is incredible. Yet, Hashem set the stage for her ascent to greatness, her status as the mother of Mashiach. The day she arrived in Eretz Yisrael, Boaz was mourning his late wife¹⁶, preparing him to be Ruth’s husband. Right before that, the halacha had been clarified: a Moabite man may not marry into the people, but a Moabite woman can. 

In truth, Ruth did not sign up for a fairytale and she was not granted one. Although she merited to marry Boaz, their marriage lasted only one night as Boaz died the next day. She was resigned, once more, to caring for her mother-in-law, alone. Yet, this was not even a challenge for her as she never signed up for a good life, but for the good of Torah itself. 

The Megilla begins with the sin of Elimelech, the prestigious and wise man who abandoned the people for the fields of Moav. Yet, a deeper glance reveals that in Elimelech’s name is written ‘elai hamelech’ ‘to me, the kingship is coming.’ Elimelech was not callous or foolish, he foresaw that kingship was destined to emerge from his family, and he knew its roots lay in Moav. Although his method was wrong, he was laying the foundations for the marriage of Boaz and Ruth. Boaz gives Ruth a blessing ‘yeshaleim Hashem… sheleima.’¹⁷ ‘May Hashem reward your deeds and may your reward from Hashem be complete.’ There is an allusion in the double wording to Shlomo, the great King of the Jewish people. Boaz blessed Ruth, the mother of malchut and majesty, that she may live to see her descendant Shlomo on the throne, and indeed she did. 

“Let me go out to the field and glean among the grain.”¹⁸ In truth, Ruth’s utterance only mentioned leket (the gleanings) which she was entitled to pick up, she did not mention peah (the corner) which she collected as well. Ruth was not merely referencing the physical sheaves, she was alluding to her mission as the beginning of the Davidic dynasty¹⁹. The Navi²⁰ says ‘You will be gleaned (teluktu) one by one, children of Israel.’ Ruth was not only an efficient plucker of grains, she was the forerunner of the precious plucking of our people, for the days of Mashiach. May we merit seeing the full manifestation of this prophecy!

1. This idea, together with many of the sources in this article was taken from Let me Join Your Nation, a book by Mr Yosef Deutsch ↩︎
2.  Devarim 23:4-5 ↩︎
3.  Ruth 1:5 ↩︎
4.  Ruth 1:14 ↩︎
5. Yevamot 117 ↩︎
6.  Ruth 2:2 ↩︎
7. Ruth 2:7 ↩︎
8. Ruth 4:10 ↩︎
9. Ruth 3:1-5 ↩︎
10. Ruth 4:17 ↩︎
11. Ruth 1:19 ↩︎
12. Rashi 1:19 ↩︎
13. Rashi on Ruth 2:5 ↩︎
14. Ruth 2:11 ↩︎
15. Ruth 4:11 ↩︎
16. Rashi 1:19 ↩︎
17. Ruth 2:12 ↩︎
18. Ruth 2:2 ↩︎
19. Rav Shmuel Landau zt’l, quoted on https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2837186/jewish/Megillat-Ruth-Chapter-Two.htm ↩︎
20. Yeshaya 27:12 ↩︎