Vaya’an Boaz vayomer lah hageid hugad li kol asher asis (Rus 2:11)

Rus asked Boaz why she found such favor in his eyes, and why he was being so kind to her to encourage her to continue collecting grain in his field. Boaz responded by telling her that he had heard about all of the acts of kindness that she did for Naomi, and how she had selflessly left behind her family and her homeland to travel to Israel.

This is difficult to understand. If Boaz knew about the entire chain of events and realized that Naomi and Rus returned to Beis Lechem poor and in dire need of food, why didn’t he take his relatives into his house and support them until they could get back onto their feet? Additionally, the Targum writes (2:10) that Boaz told Rus that he was prophetically informed that kings and prophets would be descended from her. As a wealthy man and a leader of the generation, why didn’t he show more compassion to Rus if he realized how special she was?

The Iggeres Shmuel answers that the day on which Naomi and Rus arrived in Beis Lechem was the day on which Boaz’s wife died. The reason that he couldn’t help them was a very practical one: he was preoccupied with burying his wife and sitting shiva. At the conclusion of the week of mourning, he went out to his fields and there he discovered Rus.

Still, why didn’t Boaz take them in at that point? First, he assumed that Rus would not want to accept charity from him. Also, it would have appeared inappropriate for him to bring one or two women into his house the moment that he finished the week of mourning for his wife, and additionally, they were both widows and he didn’t yet know which one to choose.

Alternatively, the Akeidah answers that although Boaz was greatly impressed with all that he had seen and heard about Rus, he still wanted to check the sincerity of her conversion. If she arrived in Israel and was quickly taken in and assisted by her wealthy relative Boaz, there would still be no proof about the purity of her motivations. Therefore, just as Naomi had tested Rus and Orpah by encouraging them to return to Moab, Boaz continued the test by turning a cold shoulder to her plight and encouraging her to continue gathering in his field. If she had only returned to Israel in the hope that he would rescue her, she would now be revealed for her insincere intentions. However, the Megillah proceeds to record that she passed his test with flying colors.

Vat’dabeik b’naaros Boaz l’lakeit ad k’los k’tzir ha’seorim u’ketzir ha’chitim (2:23)

The second chapter of Rus concludes by stating that Rus remained to glean in Boaz’s fields until the end of the wheat harvest. The Medrash teaches that the duration of the period from the beginning of the barley harvest until the end of the wheat harvest is three months. The Malbim explains that this seemingly trivial bit of information is in fact a critical introduction to the next chapter, which begins with Naomi telling Rus of her plan to try to get Boaz to marry her.

Until that time, she was unable to do so because the Gemora (Yevamos 41a) teaches that a convert must wait three months after converting before she may marry, to ensure that she isn’t pregnant with a child conceived prior to her conversion. Therefore, the Megillah records that three months passed, at which point Rus was permitted to get married and Naomi began her efforts in this regard.

The Chasam Sofer makes a brilliant calculation. Naomi and Rus arrived in Israel on 16 Nissan, the day of the offering of the Korban Omer. If so, the three months of the harvest season ended on 15 Tammuz, and on that day Naomi approached Rus with her plan for her to marry Boaz. On the following night, 16 Tammuz, Rus went to Boaz, and they married the next day, the day of 16 Tammuz. That night Rus conceived a child with Boaz, just before he died.

It is well-known that Chazal teach that on Tisha B’Av, the seeds of the redemption will be planted and Moshiach will be born. However, according to this calculation, the day of 17 Tammuz, which is also a fast day which is associated with great suffering and punishment, was also a day on which the beginning of the redemption was created through the conception of the Davidic line of kings.

Vayomer mi at vatomer anochi Rus amasecha u’farasta k’nafecha al amasecha ki go’el atah (3:9(

When Boaz woke up in the middle of the night, he was startled to discover Rus, and he asked her who she was. She responded by identifying herself and requesting that Boaz marry her since he was her redeemer. How is this to be understood, and in what sense was Boaz considered Rus’s redeemer?

In discussing the episode of Yehuda and Tamar, the Ramban explains (Bereishis 38:8) that when a man dies without children, his soul is in turmoil, as it has no continuation. The ideal way to rectify this problem is for his brother to marry his widow, but if he is unavailable, the custom used to be that the closest relative would marry her, which was also of benefit for his soul.

When the Torah was given, most of these close relatives were forbidden to marry the widow, but the Torah specifically permitted the brother of the deceased to perform the mitzvah of yibum since that is the ideal form of the mitzvah. In the case of Machlon, whose brother Kilyon also died, Rus decided to marry the closest remaining relative, her uncle Boaz, who was permitted to marry a niece. This does not provide the full rectification for the soul of the deceased, so it is not called yibum but redemption, and for this reason Rus informed Boaz that he was her redeemer. This is even more interesting in light of the fact that the Chida writes that Rus was a gilgul of Tamar.

As for the reason that Moshiach is interconnected with the concept of yibum, first through Yehuda and Tamar and later through Boaz and Rus, the Mishbetzos Zahav explains that when a man dies without children, it appears that he and his memory are eternally erased from all future generations. However, Hashem in His infinite mercy gave a mitzvah of yibum to give him a second chance and enable him to return from what seems like eternal oblivion.

This is a metaphor for the redemption that Moshiach will bring, as the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash and the sentencing of the Jewish nation to exile for so many hundreds of years would seem to indicate that all hope is lost and we are condemned to our plight, yet Hashem promises that just as yibum gives a second chance to a man who dies without children, so too will Moshiach, who came about through yibum, give Klal Yisroel a second chance.

V’Yishai holid es Dovid (4:22)

One of the reasons given for the custom of reading Megillas Rus on Shavuos (Shaarei Teshuvah 494:2) is that Dovid HaMelech died on Shavuos, and because the Gemora in Rosh Hashana (11a) teaches that Hashem fills the days and months of the righteous, we may assume that he was also born on Shavuos. Since Megillas Rus discusses the lineage of Dovid HaMelech, it is therefore appropriate to read it on the day of his birth. However, it is difficult to understand why the lofty Davidic line of kings specifically came about through a marriage involving Rus, a convert.

The Zohar HaKadosh explains that Jewish kings must possess a unique balance of compassion and vengeance. They receive their mercy from their paternal side, the Jewish side, and their cruelty from their maternal side, the non-Jewish side. The mercy is to be shown toward the Jewish nation, while the cruelty must be used when attacking the enemies of Hashem and the Jews. Rav Dovid Cohen adds that even the vindictiveness came specifically from Rus, who was the paragon of compassion and chesed, in order to ensure that it would be used solely for the sake of Heaven.

Alternatively, the Maharal explains that in order to make a new creation, Hashem must mix in outside sources and genes. Mixing and breeding any combination of people who are descended from the same source, as are all Jews who are ultimately descended from Avrohom Avinu, can by definition only result in more of the same.

When Hashem wanted to create Moshiach, He by necessity had to do so by mixing in converts who came from non-Jewish origins. Moreover, the greater the difference between the species being “crossbred” and the original species, the greater will be the likelihood of making a new creation. For this reason, Hashem specifically created Dovid through Rus the Moabite and Shlomo HaMelech’s successor Rechavam through his marriage to Na’amah the Ammonite because the Moabites and Ammonites are the two nations who are the farthest removed from Judaism, as they are the only two nations who are forbidden ever to intermarry into the Jewish nation. It was specifically the converts from these distant and removed nations who were able to facilitate the new creation of the Davidic line of kings.

Shavuos Points to Ponder (and sources which discuss them):

1)     The mitzvah of counting the Omer requires one to begin counting the days from the second day of Pesach until the day before Shavuos, which is the 49^th day. If one continues counting beyond that point (e.g. with Shavuos being the 50^th day), does he violate the Torah prohibition (Devorim 4:2) against adding to the mitzvos? (Mikdash Mordechai Parshas Behaaloscha)

2)     The Gemora in Avodah Zara (2b) relates that before giving the Torah to the Jews, Hashem first offered it to the other nations of the world, all of whom refused. The Gemora in Shabbos (89a) explains that the mountain on which the Torah was given is named Sinai because it caused the non-Jews to hate (sinah) the Jews for receiving Hashem’s Torah there. Why did they hate us for accepting something which they had been offered and declined? (Mishmeres Ariel)

3)     The Gemora in Avodah Zara (2b) relates that before giving the Torah to the Jews, Hashem first presented it to the other nations of the world, all of whom refused to accept it. How could He offer the Torah to them when He promised our forefathers that He would give it to their descendants, and what would have happened had one of the other nations actually chosen to accept the offer? (Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh Shemos 19:5)

4)     The Magen Avrohom writes (494) that the reason for the custom of staying up all night on Shavuos and learning is because the Medrash teaches that on the night before the giving of the Torah, the Jews slept too long and Hashem had to awaken them when the time came for the giving of the Torah. To prevent ourselves from making a similar mistake and to rectify theirs, we show our eagerness to receive the Torah and remain awake the entire night. How is it possible that all of the Jews “overslept” for the most monumental event in history? (Darkei HaShleimus)

5)     The Gemora in Shabbos (88a) teaches that Hashem lifted Mount Sinai above the Jews like a barrel and threatened them that if they didn’t accept the Torah, they would be buried there. Did it remain like this for the entire duration of the giving of the Torah, or did it return to its natural state after they agreed to accept the Torah? (Ayeles HaShachar Shemos 19:17)

6)     Rashi writes (Shemos 20:2) that Hashem said the 10 Commandments in the singular tense so that Moshe would be able to defend the Jews after the sin of the golden calf by arguing that they had thought that the mitzvos were given only to Moshe and not to them. As the 10 Commandments begin, “I am Hashem Who took you out of the house of slavery in Egypt,” and Rashi writes (5:4) that the tribe of Levi wasn’t subjected to the servitude there, how could Moshe claim that the people thought that the commandments were given to him and not to them? (M’rafsin Igri)

7)     Why is bearing a false oath considered such a severe sin that the prohibition against doing so appears in the 10 Commandments (Shemos 20:7)? (Ibn Ezra, Rabbeinu Bechaye, Kli Yakar)

8)     Rashi writes (Shemos 20:8) that regarding Shabbos, Hashem said both the positive commandment of “Zachor” – remember – and the negative mitzvah of “Shamor” – safeguard – at the same time. What was written in the Tablets? (Ibn Ezra 20:1, Ramban 20:8, Shu”t Radvaz 3:549, Shu”t Maharam Alshaker 102, HaEmek Davar Devorim 5:19 and 10:4, Emes L’Yaakov Devorim 5:12)