Ruth's Devotion

ב"ה

When Ruth's husband, brother-in-law and father-in-law all died suddenly, Ruth stayed with her mother-in-law Naomi even as her sister-in-law Orpa returned home.

"In the time the Judges were judging...", according to the biblical book of Ruth, a rich man named Elimelekh took his family to Moav (Moab) because there was a famine in Israel. His sons, Mahlon and Khilyon, married a couple of local women, Ruth and Orpa.

Ruth as a symbol of loyalty, devotion and love

By Staying with her Mother-in-Law, Ruth also Accepted the Tora

"In the time the Judges were judging...", according to the biblical book of Ruth, a rich man named Elimelekh took his family to Moav (Moab) because there was a famine in Israel. His sons, Mahlon and Khilyon, married a couple of local women, Ruth and Orpa.

Soon after, Elimelekh died. Then his sons died. The three women were left alone. Naomi, Elimelekh's wife, then decided to return home to Israel. Her daughters-in-law said they would go with her. Naomi told them both to go home to their families. Orpa kissed her good-bye and went home to her family. But Ruth vowed to remain with her saying "Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people will be my people, your G-d will be my G-d."

So Ruth and Naomi went back to Israel and lived together. Though Elimelekh had been rich, their wealth had been lost and Naomi and Ruth were very poor. So they had to go to the fields and pick the food that was left by the owners as charity.

When they went to one field, the owner, Boaz, saw Ruth. He noticed that she never took anything except from what he was required to leave by Jewish law. This attracted him because he saw that she was a moral person. He asked her to marry him and she did. Together, they had a son named Oved. Oved had a son named Yishai (Jesse) and Yishai's son was David. David was the second king of Israel, the king whose descendants were a dynasty.

Because Ruth accepted the Tora on herself, we read the book of Ruth on the holiday that the Children of Israel accepted the Tora -- Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks, which comes 7 weeks after Passover in the Jewish month of Sivan. Shavuot is one of the 3 Pilgrimage holidays during which the people would come to Jerusalem. These three holidays are Passover, Shavuot and (Sukkot).

It should be noted that Ruth was the granddaughter of Eglon, the king of Moav in the time of the Judge Ehud the son of Geira. Ehud was sent (by G-d) to kill Eglon (who was oppressing the Children of Israel). When Ehud came to the king (he was left-handed, so he was able to hide his sword on the right), he said he had a message from G-d. The king stood when he heard that Ehud had a message from G-d and Ehud killed him. But because he stood at the mention of G-d's name, he merited to be the ancestor of such a great woman as Ruth.

Devora, "Woman of the Flames"

B"H

Anyone who ever learned the book of Shoftim (Judges) knows the pattern:

"And the Children of Israel did evil in the eyes of G-d and they worshiped the Ba'al [a form of tree worship] And they left G-d, the G-d of their forefathers, who took them out of Egypt and they went after other gods, gods of the surrounding nations, and they bowed down to them and G-d was angry with them."

Shoftim (Judges) 2:11-12

"And the Children of Israel continued to do evil in the eyes of G-d and G-d strengthened Eglon the King of Moav [Moab] on Israel [for the reason that] they did evil in G-d's eyes."

Shoftim (Judges) 3:12

"And the Children of Israel cried out to G-d and G-d set up for them a redeemer Ehud the son of Geira and son of the tribe of Binyamin [Benjamin] left-handed [who put his sword on] his right side and the Children of Israel sent him to with a gift to Eglon the King of of Moav."

Shoftim (Judges) 3:15

"And Ehud sent out his left arm and he took the sword from his right hip and he thrust it into [Eglon]'s belly."

Shoftim (Judges) 3:21

In other words, the Children of Israel sin, G-d punishes them by sending a strengthened enemy, they cry to G-d, he sends a champion who routs the enemy and that's that... well, at least until the next time....

And that's the story all through the book of Shoftim.

One of stories that goes this way is the story of Devora [Deborah]. She is described:

"And Devora was a woman, a Prophetess, a woman of the flames, she judged Israel at that time"

Shoftim (Judges) 4:4

(The above translations are all my own interpretation of the Hebrew) Many people translate the "a woman of the flames" as "the wife of Lapidot". I prefer my translation. The Flames represent the Tora, so I believe this is a hint to all that Devora was learned in Tora law and could hold her own with any male judge.

Barak the son of Avinoam was the General of the Army and he wouldn't go to war without Devora by his side. Devora joined Barak and, with G-d's help, they defeated their enemies.

Devora then sang a song to G-d (in the same way as the generation that was released from slavery in Egypt sang a song to G-d at the Red Sea -- the woman also sang to G-d with dancing an tambourines). Because this song is similar to the song that the Children of Israel sang at the Red Sea, this portion is read as the Haftora the week the Red Sea song is read as the Tora portion (a Haftora is a portion of the Prophets that connects somehow to the Tora reading of the day).

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Tamar: The Mother of Kings

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Yehuda (Judah) was the fourth son of Yaakov (Jacob). He married and had three sons. The oldest son, Er, married a woman named Tamar. But Er died without having any children. So Yehuda told his next son, Onan to marry her (this is called a Leverite Marriage -- a man marries his brother's childless widow to give her a child). According to the commentaries, Onan didn't want a child of his to be credited to his brother, so he "spilled his seed". Because of his selfishness, he died also.

Yehuda didn't want to lose another son, so he told Tamar that Sheila (Shay-luh), his third son, wasn't old enough to get married.

But this put Tamar in the position of not being permitted to get married to anyone and, therefore, she wouldn't have children. And she really wanted children.

So she dressed in clothes that the prostitutes wore and she stood where the prostitutes stand until Yehuda, her Father-in-law, who she believed owed her a child, came by. Because she normally dressed modestly, Yehuda didn't recognize her. He approached her and, thinking she was a prostitute, asked her what her "price" was and she said that all she wanted was his walking staff, his cloak and his signet ring.

After this, Tamar put on her modest widow's clothes and went back to her normal life. But soon after this, people started noticing that she was pregnant and they told Yehuda and asked him if he wanted them to bring her to them for punishment.

When Tamar heard that she would be put to death for adultery, she sent a messenger to Yehuda with his staff, cloak and ring and asked him if he, perchance, knew who those items belonged to.

Yehuda saw the items and right away realized that he was the father of Tamar's child. Yehuda told the people not to kill Tamar and that she was more righteous than he.

It turned out that Tamar had twins. She named them Peretz and Zerah.

In the book of Ruth (This original story was in B'reishit -- Genesis), it lists the descendants of Peretz -- Peretz had a son named Hetzron, who had a son named Ram, who had a son named Aminadav, who had a son named Nahshon (who was the Nasi -- Prince -- of the Tribe of Yehuda in the time when the Children of Israel wandered 40 years in the Desert).

Nahshon had a son named Shalma (or Shalmon), who had a son named Boaz, who married Ruth. They had a son named Oved, who had a son named Yishai (Jesse), who had a son named David. David was the second king of Israel and the founder of the Davidic Dynasty of kings of Israel and Judea and from whom the Moshiah (Messiah) will one day come.

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Mirror, Mirror, on the Tabernacle......

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After the Exodus from Egypt, the Children of Israel were given the Tora. This was the beginning of 40 years of wandering in the desert.

While the Children of Israel wandered in the desert, the built a Mishkan (Tabernacle), a home for G-d's presence, a place to congregate and worship together.

When the Mishkan was finished, there was a dedication. For the dedication, everyone gave gifts.

The women came to Moshe (Moses) and wanted to give their gift too. They offered their copper mirrors. Moshe didn't want to accept the mirrors, since they represent ego and the Mishkan is dedicated to the Children of Israel as a people and G-d. But G-d told Moshe to take the mirrors. Why?

To answer that question, we need to go back to the time when the Children of Israel were slaves in Egypt. During the time of the slavery, the men would come home from their work tired. The women were concerned for the survival of the Jewish people, so they used their mirrors, their polished copper, to make themselves beautiful, attractive to their husbands. This ensured the survival of the Jewish people.

When the women wanted to give these mirrors as gifts for the Mishkan, G-d wanted them because they showed the women's dedication to the survival of the Jewish people.

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Queen Esther and the Persians

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On Purim, a holiday that takes place every year on the 14th of Adar (or Adar II in Jewish leap year -- )the Book of Esther (also called the Megilla) is read. It tells the story of the Jews in Persia during the time of Ahashverosh, also known as Xerxes.

I have always found the Megilla to be a fascinating book. There are several levels of intrigue, stories within stories, but, unlike just about all the other books of the Tanakh (the Jewish Bible), no mention of G-d.

One interesting thing I noticed in the Megilla a number of years ago is that the Megilla has more passive verbs than I've ever seen in any other place. I wondered about that for some time and then realized that in the time of the Megilla and of Esther and Mordechai, the Jews who were under the Persian rule (which was pretty much all of the Jews in the world at that time because the empire of Ahashverosh spanned from India to Ethiopia) pretty much just sat back and let things happen to them. They didn't do anything when Ahashverosh gave one of the most important jobs in his government to Haman, a sworn enemy of the Jews. They didn't do anything when Ahashverosh allowed Haman to pass an edict calling for the slaughter of all the Jews, including ..."children and women..." in one day, the 13th day of the Hebrew month of Adar. (Read more about the Hebrew month of Adar and the Jewish Calendar)

Though she needed a little verbal push from Mordechai, Esther did act. She asked Ahashverosh and Haman to a party (where she was able to lull Haman into a false sense of security), then invited them to another party where she finally revealed that Haman was threatening her and her people.

The story works out well in the end -- Haman and his 10 evil sons are hanged, the Jews fight against their enemies and defeat them, and everybody celebrates. We celebrate the holiday of Purim in commemoration of these events.

There are a number of mitzvot (commandments) associated with Purim. Twice during the day of Purim (from sundown to sundown on the 14th of Adar, or, in a leap year, Adar II) we hear the reading of the Megilla (from parchment) twice -- once at night and once in the morning. We also give matanot l'evyonim, "gifts" (of money) to the poor, shalah manot (ready-to-eat food gifts -- at least two items -- sent to at least one friend). ("Cafe Press" mugs with Esther from Strong Jewish Women -- Esther make great holders for your shalah manot -- put some food in, wrap with colored saran and add a card and you have easy shalah manot).

Toward the end of the day, families (and friends) get together for the seuda -- feast. Many families have feasts similar to American Thanksgiving feasts. After all that eating, you understand why there's a fast day (called Ta'anit Esther, the fast of Esther) the day before Purim!

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The Women of Hanuka

B"H

When most people think of Hanuka, they think of the Maccabees, lead by Yehuda (Judah) Maccabee and his four brothers and their father, Matityahu (Mattathias). Few people think of the women of Hanuka.

Yehudit (Judith) was a widow living in the city of Bethulia. The Assyrian King, Nabuchodonosor, sent his general Holofernes to punish the city. Holofernes went and cut off the water supply and laid siege to the city.

The city's elders were about to give up when Yehudit told them she had a plan. She went in her nicest clothes and jewelry to the camp of Holofernes. The general was taken with her beauty and invited her to a feast. Holofernes drank a lot of wine and got drunk.

Yehudit went back to his tent and, when they were alone, and Holofernes was passed out from the alcohol, she took his sword and cut off his head.

With the death of Holofernes, his army was in disarray and the Jews were able to mount an offensive and defeat the Assyrian army. The account of this story is in the book of Yehudit, which is part of the apocrypha and, while it was originally written in Hebrew, only the Greek version survived to be translated.

Another brave woman whose story is associated with Hanuka is Hana. Hana had 7 sons and King Antiochus brought them to his throne room. He told them to bow down to him, since he considered himself a god. One by one, Hana's sons refused and were tortured to death in front of their mother and their other brothers. When there was only the youngest son left, Antiochus gave her the chance to speak to him. She told him that he should remember the Sh'ma and that Hashem (G-d) is One. Her son told her not to fear, he would not bow down to a false god.

When Antiochus heard from the youngest son that he, too, would not bow down, he killed him too, leaving Hana without her sons. She then prayed for the souls of her sons, for G-d to give strength and victory to the Jewish people, and that she should die before the Assyrian Greeks could kill her. She then fell over dead next to her sons.

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