רות במוצאי יום טוב ראשון של עצרת עד חציו ומשלים במוצאי יום טוב האחרון. ויש אומרים בכולן מתחילין במוצאי שבת שלפניהם ונהגו העם כך
Ruth [is read] halfway on the evening after the first day of Atzeret [Shavu'ot], and it is completed on the evening after the second day. And some say that for all of them [the Scrolls], we begin on the evening after Shabbat before them [their respective holidays], and the people practiced thusly.
I. Conversion
(15) So she said, “See, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and her gods. Go follow your sister-in-law.” (16) But Ruth replied, “Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
(1) Do not urge me. Do not press me. (2) For wherever you go, I shall go. From here our Rabbis of blessed memory derived24In Maseches Yevamos 47b. that if a [prospective] proselyte comes to convert, we inform him of some of the punishments [for violating the commandments] so that is he decides to renege [from his intention to convert], he can renege; for out of the words of Rus, you can learn what Naomi said to her. [Naomi said.] “We may not venture outside the boundary [of 2000 cubits beyond city limits] on Shabbos.” She [Rus] replied to her, “For wherever you go I shall go.”25Alternatively, just as you are going to Eretz Yisroel for the sake of your religion, so it is my purpose to go there in order to be able to keep the Torah’s commandments. (Malbim) [Naomi then said,] “We are prohibited to allow a woman to be secluded with a man who is not her husband.” She [Rus] replied, “Where you lodge, I will lodge.” [Naomi said,] “Our nation is separated from other nations by 613 commandments,” [and Rus replied,] “Your people are my people.” [Naomi said,] “Idolatry is forbidden to us,”26Although idolatry is forbidden to Noahites, they are forbidden to worship idols only if they do so exclusively, but not if they worship God in conjunction with their idolatry. (Torah Temimah) [to which Rus replied,] “Your God is my God.” [Naomi then said,] “Four [types of] death penalties were delegated to Beis Din [to punish transgressors],” [and Rus replied,] “Where you die, I will die.” [Naomi continued,] “Two burial plots were delegated to Beis Din [to bury those executed], one for those stoned and those burned, and one for those decapitated and those strangled.” She [Rus] replied, “And there I shall be buried.” [See Yevamot 47b]
וגם בחג השבועות נהגו לקרות רות מפני שכתוב בו בתחלת קציר שעורים והוא זמן הקציר. ועוד טעם אחר לפי שאבותינו לא קבלו את התורה ולא נכנסו לברית אלא במילה וטבילה והרצאת דמים כדאיתא בפ' החולץ ורות גם היא נתגיירה שנאמ' כי אל אשר תלכי אלך וגומ'
... And also, on the Holiday of Shavu'ot, they have had the practice of reading Ruth, because in it is written (Ruth 1:22), "at the beginning of the barley harvest," and this is a harvest time. Yet another reason is that our ancestors accepted the Torah and entered the covenant only through circumcision, immersion, and the sprinkling of blood [see Ex. 24:5-8], as it says in HaHoletz [chapter 4 of Y'vamot], and Ruth also converted, as it says (Ruth 1:16), "For wherever you go, I will go, etc.'
ולא יתכן שיקחה מחלון וכליון אלו הנשים עד שנתגיירו, והעד 'אל עמה ואל אלקיה'.
It cannot be that Mahlon and Chilyon married these women without their having converted, and the evidence is (v. 15) "to her people and to her god."
[פ' ט''ו] (ח) אל עמה ואל אלקיה. לעד שהתגיירו.
[v. 15] TO HER PEOPLE AND TO HER GODS. As evidence that they had converted.
[פ' ט''ז] (ב) עמך עמי. לעולם לא אעזוב תורת ישראל וייחוד השם.
[v. 16] YOUR PEOPLE SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. I will never forsake the Torah of Israel and the unity of Adonai.
II. Harvest Time
[See text 5, above]
III. How We Receive Torah
ומה ענין רות אצל עצרת שנקראת בעצרת בזמן מתן תורה, ללמדך שלא נתנה תורה אלא על ידי יסורין ועוני וכה"א חיתך ישבו בה תכין בטובתך לעני אלקים:
What is the connection between Ruth and Atzeret [Shavu'ot] that it should be read on Atzeret, the time of the Giving of the Torah? To teach you that the Torah is given only through privation and poverty, as it says (Ps. 68:11), "Your tribe dwells there; O God, in Your goodness You provide for the poor."
(11) Your tribe dwells there; O God, in Your goodness You provide for the needy.
IV. Yahrzeit of King David
א"ר יוסי בי רבי בון דוד מת בעצרת והיו כל ישראל אוננין והקריבו למחר
R' Yosi the son of R' Bon [Ravin] said, "David died on Atzeret, and all of Israel mouirned, and brought their sacrifices the next day."
(תהלים לט, ה): הוֹדִיעֵנִי ה' קִצִּי וּמִדַּת יָמַי מַה הִיא, אָמַר דָּוִד לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, רִבּוֹן הָעוֹלָם אוֹדַע לִי אֵימָתַי אֲנָא מָיֵית,.... וּמֵת בַּעֲצֶרֶת שֶׁחָל לִהְיוֹת בְּשַׁבָּת,
And David died on Atzeret [Shavuot] that was on Shabbat,
V. A Lesson in G'milut Hasadim
אמר רבי זעירא המגלה הזו אין בה לא טומאה ולא טהרה לא היתר ולא איסור, ולמה נכתבה, ללמדך שכר של גומלי חסדים:
R' Zeira said, "This megillah has neither tum'ah nor tohorah, neither permitted nor forbidden; why was it written? To teach you the reward for deeds of lovingkindness.
(4) No Ammonite or Moabite shall be admitted into the congregation of the LORD; none of their descendants, even in the tenth generation, shall ever be admitted into the congregation of the LORD, (5) because they did not meet you with food and water on your journey after you left Egypt, and because they hired Balaam son of Beor, from Pethor of Aram-naharaim, to curse you.—
מתני׳ עמוני ומואבי אסורים ואיסורן איסור עולם אבל נקבותיהם מותרות מיד מצרי ואדומי אינם אסורים אלא עד שלשה דורות אחד זכרים ואחד נקבות ...
mishna Ammonite and Moabite converts are prohibited from entering into the congregation and marrying a woman who was born Jewish, and their prohibition is eternal, for all generations. However, their female counterparts, even the convert herself, are permitted immediately. Egyptian and Edomite converts are prohibited from entering into the congregation only for three generations, both males and females. ...
ורבי אבהו בהאי קרא דרב נחמן מאי דריש ביה ההוא מיבעי ליה למידרש עמוני ולא עמונית מואבי ולא מואבית דאי סלקא דעתך לברכה לא סגיא דלאו זקנים ואידך אי סלקא דעתך למידרש לא סגיא דלאו עשרה אין לפרסומי מילתא
And what use does R' Abbahu make of R' Nahman's verse [Ruth 4:2 -- Boaz called ten elders together]? He needs it to explain "Ammoni and not Ammonit, Moavi and not Moavit" [that the prohibition applies only to the males], for if you think he relies on that verse to show that the sheva brachot require a minyan, wouldn't it have been adequate even if they had not been elders [and so it must have been to promulgate a ruling]? And the other [R' Nahman] -- if you think that [the gathering of ten] was to expound, wouldn't it have been adequate had they not been ten? Yes, [but the ten] was to publicize the matter.
א"ל דואג האדומי עד שאתה משאיל עליו אם הגון הוא למלכות אם לאו שאל עליו אם ראוי לבא בקהל אם לאו מ"ט דקאתי מרות המואביה א"ל אבנר תנינא עמוני ולא עמונית מואבי ולא מואבית אלא מעתה ממזר ולא ממזרת ממזר כתיב מום זר מצרי ולא מצרית שאני הכא דמפרש טעמא דקרא (דברים כג, ה) על אשר לא קדמו אתכם בלחם ובמים דרכו של איש לקדם ולא דרכה של אשה לקדם היה להם לקדם אנשים לקראת אנשים ונשים לקראת נשים
...
מכל מקום קשיא הכא תרגמו (תהלים מה, יד) כל כבודה בת מלך פנימה במערבא אמרי ואיתימא ר' יצחק אמר קרא (בראשית יח, ט) ויאמרו אליו איה שרה אשתך וגו'
Doeg the Edomite said to [Shaul]: "Before you inquire as to whether or not he [David] is fit for kingship, inquire as to whether or not he is even fit to enter into the congregation." What is the reason for such doubts? It is that he descends from Ruth the Moabite, and Moabites are permanently barred from entering the congregation. Avner said to him: "We learned 'Ammoni' and not 'Ammonit' [male Ammonite is excluded, not the female], 'Moavi' and not 'Moavit.'" But if so, "mamzer" and not "mamzeret" [the exclusion of mamzerim should apply only to the male]! [But] it's written "mum zar" [a defect from a strangeness, which can apply to both sexes]. [What of] "mitzri" but not "mitzrit" [the exclusion of Egyptians should apply only to the male]? This case is different, as it explains the reason in the verse (Deut. 23:5), "because they did not meet you with food and water" -- it is the way for a man to go out and meet, and it is not the way for a woman to go out and meet. [But] the men should have gone out to meet the men and the women to meet the women.
...
The difficulty [why not have the women go out to greet the women and the men the men] remains. Here [in Babylonia] they explained (Ps. 45:14) "The king's daughter's glory is entirely inward"; in the west [Eretz Yisrael] they say, and some say R' Yitzhak says (Gen. 18:9), "They said to him, 'Where is Sarah your wife?' etc."
VI. Combining Themes.
(א) תרס"ד
(ב) מחג השבועות
(ג) תקנו מגילת רות בשבועות לומר כי ע"י שנבחרו בנ"י במתן תורה הם כלים לקרב כל הגרים כי בנ"י נקראו ראשית תבואתו שהיא הפרי שבשבילה נברא הכל כמ"ש בראשית בשביל ישראל שנק' ראשית פי' ראשית היא התחלה והעיקר הפנימיות כמ"ש ראשית חכמה יראת ה' לכן נק' יום הביכורים שנגמר הפרי. אבל בנ"י יצאו מן הכלל ללמד על הכלל כולו כמו שיהי' לעתיד אהפוך אל העמים שפה ברורה כו'. ואז יהי' טוב אחרית דבר מראשיתו. ובאמת כפי מה שמעלין בנ"י גם מן האומות מתרוממים הם ביותר. וזה עצמו פי' הקדמת נעשה לנשמע. כי בנ"י הבינו זאת שנבחרו כדי לקרב הכל ואמרו כל אשר דיבר ה' נעשה. כתיב הכא נעשה וכתיב התם נעשה אדם. כמ"ש את הנפש אשר עשו ותרגום אונקלוס דשעבידו לאורייתא ועי"ז נשמע. כמו שהוא בפרט כפי תיקון המעשים לקרב כל מעשה הגוף אל הנפש אז מאיר הנשמה באדם. כמו כן בכלל כפי תיקון כלל ישראל לקרב מן האומות כך מאיר בהם התורה. וכתיב תתן אמת ליעקב חסד לאברהם. כי בנ"י הם באמת חלק ה' ותורתו. אבל גם זאת ממדת האמת לעשות חסד לקרב גם את הרחוקים הבאים לשם שמים. אמת ליעקב התורה. חסד לאברהם שנתקרב גם מזרע לוט רות המואביה:
5664. From the holiday of Shavu'ot. They established [reading of] Ruth on Shavu'ot, to say that, by means of B'nai Yisrael being chosen through the Giving of the Torah, they are instruments to draw near the converts, because B'nai Yisrael are called the First of His Crop which is the fruit for which everything was created. This is as it says (Gen. R.), "B'reishit -- for the sake of Israel which is called 'reishit.'" The meaning is that "reishit" is the beginning and the inner essence, as it says (Prov.), "The 'reishit' of wisdom is the awe of God." Therefore it is called the Day of Bikkurim, when the fruit is ripe. But B'nai Yisrael "are excepted from the generality in order to teach to the entire generality" (Sifra, principles of R' Yishma'el), as it will be in the future (Zeph. 3:9), "For then I will make the peoples pure of speech, etc. [so that they all invoke Adonai by name and serve Him with one accord]." And then (Eccl. 7:8) "The end of a matter is better than the beginning of it" [see Ruth 3:10]. And in truth, according as B'nai Yisrael elevate from the nations, they are themselves exalted even more. And this itself is the meaning of putting "na'aseh" before "nishma," for B'nai Yisrael understood this, that they were chosen in order to draw everyone near, and they said (Ex. 24:7), "Everything that Adonai has spoken we will do." It is written here "na'aseh" and it is written there (Gen. 1:26), "Na'aseh adam," as it says (Gen. 12:5) "the souls that they had made," which Onkelos translated "that they had subjugated to the Torah", and it is through this that "we will hear." As it is with the particular -- as the improvement [tikkun] of the deeds, in order to draw each physical deed close to the spirit so that the soul shines in the person -- so it is in general -- as the improvement [tikkun] of K'lal Yisrael to draw near from the nations, so that the Torah shines in them. It is written (Micah 7:20), "You will give truth to Ya'akov, hesed to Avraham," for B'nai Yisrael are in truth God's portion and His Torah, but it is also part of the aspect of Truth to do hesed, to bring near those who are far off and who come for the sake of Heaven: "truth to Ya'akov" is the Torah, "hesed to Avraham" is that we should draw close also from the descendants of Lot -- Ruth the Moabite.