HOW ARE MEGILLAT RUTH AND SHAVUOT CONNECTED
There are several holidays when one the “megillot” included in the Ketuvim section of the TaNaKh, (the Hebrew Bible) is read in conjunction with the holiday. Most notably is the reading of the book of Esther during Purim. We also read Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) at the end of Sukkot and Song of Songs during Passover. During the festival of Shavuot, we read the book of Ruth, the story of a family who left Israel during a famine, usually a drought, moved to Moav, and, after some tragic losses, the mother and one of her daughters-in-law move back to Israel. The story is set fairly late in the period of the Judges, between the entry of the people into the land under Josua and the establishment of the kingdom.
The story tells us of Ruth’s steadfast loyalty to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and her acceptance of Naomi’s God, the one God of Israel. We read about how she is noticed by their distant cousin, Boaz, ultimately marries him and is the matriarch of a line that three generations later, produces her great-grandson, David.
How, one might ask is this story related to Shavuot? Why did the Rabbis choose this
Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, is described in the Torah as a harvest festival. It comes fifty days, seven weeks (and one day) after Passover (Leviticus 23:15); thus the “feast of weeks”. It is a celebration of the grain harvest and the ripening of the first of the fruits of the land.
The connection between Shavuot and Passover is made clear by the declaration one makes when bringing the first fruit offering to the temple, a statement that refers to the enslavement in Egypt and the redemption, (Deuteronomy 26:5). Much of this statement has been “copy/pasted” into the Passover Haggadah. Also, the connection is implied by the fact that the date of Shavuot is defined a fixed time after Passover rather than, as most holidays, a fixed day in a specified month. Later on, likely during the Mishnaic period, when Israel was no longer an agrarian society, or an independent nation with a Temple in Jerusalem, the Rabbis did some calendrical calculations and concluded that Shavuot, the fiftieth day after Passover, was the date of the revelation at Sinai and should be celebrated as the anniversary of the giving of the law.
The story in the book of Ruth begins with a family leaving Israel (Cana’an) due to an extended drought, which might bring to mind Jacob and his family’s descent to Egypt. After the deaths of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech and her sons Machlon and Chilion and upon learning that the famine in Israel was ended, Naomi decides to return home and tells her Moabite daughters-in-law to return to their parents’ homes in Moav. After some discussion one of the girls, Orpah, does go home but Ruth does not. Ruth makes the well-known speech/request of Naomi that begins “Entreat me not to leave you” and includes “your God will be my God.” Ruth’s statement, in its inception is a statement of love for Naomi and loyalty to her adopted family and an act of kindness since, as an old woman, Naomi will need help. “Your God will be my God” is effectively an act of what we would now call conversion. It is a statement of acceptance of the god of Israel and God’s Law.
During the grain harvest Ruth, Naomi’s source of sustenance, goes out into the field as a gleaner to gather the grain the harvesters leave behind (according to the laws of Peah, the requirement the corners of the field not be unharvested but left for the poor (Leviticus 19:9)). It turns out that the field she is in belongs to a man named Boaz who is in fact a relative and, because Mahlon died childless, therefore required by the Torah (Deuteronomy 25:5) to marry Ruth, if no closer relative steps up an fulfills his duty, and that their first-born be deemed the son of Machlon. Boaz shows great kindness to Ruth. In fact, he shows kindness and respect to all his workers and the gleaners in his field as he greets them by invoking God’s blessing upon them. Boaz praises Ruth for her kindness to Naomi.
Ultimately, after the relatives “in front of him in line” decline to fulfill their Levirate responsibility, Boaz and Ruth marry and have children. The genealogy that concludes the book tells us that they are, in fact the great-grandparents of King David.
So, what is the connection between the two narratives? First Shavuot celebrates revelation, the giving of the Torah and our acceptance of the Torah and of God’s sovereignty, in saying “your God will be my God” Ruth is effectively saying that she accepts the God of Israel and accepts God’s Law. Much like the assemblage at Sinai, Ruth might not understand all the rules and requirements of Torah but she is willing to subject herself to it and, presumably, to learn its meaning. Ruth’s declaration to Naomi is a “na’aseh v’nishmah” “we will do it and learn it” (Exodus 24:7) moment.
Second, the “gleaning” that Ruth does is at the season of the wheat and barley harvest. This takes place in Israel at the end of May or Early June, the same time of year as Shavuot. There is, therefore, a seasonal connection.
The third point is that both Ruth and Boaz are both credited with numerous acts of kindness. Since loving-kindness, chesed, is most certainly a Torah value there is another connection to the revelation theme.
Finally, we are told that Ruth and Boaz are the great-grandparents of King David and thus, the Davidic line of kings of Israel. There is a lesson there that even a poor, simple convert and a farmer can, through their own goodness and righteousness, i.e. adherence to Torah, be the source and fountain of greatness.
