רות המואביה

In the days when the judges ruled, when there was a famine in the land, Elimelech went down with his wife Naomi and their two sons to the fields of Moav. There the father and both sons died, and Naomi was left bereaved and empty, a stranger in a foreign land. When she sought to return to Bethlehem, she turned to her two Moabite daughters-in-law and told them to return to their mothers' homes.

Orpah kissed her and turned back, but Ruth clung to her with words engraved forever: 'do not urge me to leave you, to turn back from following you, for wherever you go I will go, your people are my people and your God is my God' (Ruth 1). This is not merely loyalty to a mother-in-law, but conversion by wholehearted choice, out of poverty and despair, with no benefit to be gained.

In Bethlehem Ruth gleaned in the fields behind the reapers to support Naomi, and came upon the field of Boaz, a relative, a man of kindness who noticed her modesty and devotion and protected her (Ruth 2).

By Naomi's counsel Ruth turned to Boaz as a redeemer, and he treated her with honor and purity, redeemed the inheritance of Elimelech and took Ruth as his wife (Ruth 3-4). Out of kindness and faithfulness a house was built.

From that union was born Oved, father of Yishai, father of King David (Ruth 4). The poor convert from Moav is the mother of the monarchy of the House of David, and from her the Messiah is destined to spring.

The Sages taught that the Scroll of Ruth was written to teach the reward of those who perform acts of kindness; it contains neither laws of purity nor impurity, only kindness. Ruth and Naomi hold one another through their bereavement, and so history is built.

Ruth teaches that greatness does not depend on origin. A Moabite who chose the people of Israel out of truth became the root of the monarchy. From here we learn that every sincere convert who comes under the wings of the Divine Presence may be a cornerstone in the building of eternity.