Every year on Shavuot, we read the story of Rut. Every year, there\u2019s another shiur about Rut. Every year, I was frustrated by my own inability to connect with all the accolades, wondering why everyone else seemed perfectly comfortable with Rut as a heroine and role model and why no one else seemed to notice the holes I saw in these portrayals.<\/p>\n
Until last year, when I finally gave Megilat Rut more focused attention, and realized that Rut is indeed a heroine and role model. She\u2019s just not the kind I was expecting \u2013 and that is exactly why she\u2019s so important.<\/p>\n
In one area that many highlight about Rut, I make no argument: her tremendous chesed<\/em>, particularly towards Naomi. Both Naomi and Boaz refer to this chesed<\/em> explicitly in the Megilah, and who better to tell us than those who experienced her kindness firsthand?<\/p>\n But this element of Rut\u2019s relationship with her mother-in-law is also one reason I was never comfortable with another element of her character: her devotion as a convert to Judaism.<\/p>\n We love to highlight Rut\u2019s poignantly unequivocal words to Naomi, insisting that \u201cyour nation is my nation; your G-d is my G-d\u201d (Rut 1:16). As Dr. Yael Ziegler points out<\/strong><\/a>, \u201crabbinic sources treat Ruth as the paradigmatic convert, and they derive several laws of conversion from [her]\u2026 Ruth\u2019s unselfish decision and unwavering position emanate from a sincere desire to become a member of the Jewish people\u2026 a sterling role model.\u201d<\/p>\n The problem I always had with this view of Rut is that it seems abundantly clear to me from the text of the Megilah that Rut\u2019s devotion was not to G-d, but to her mother-in-law, perhaps as a function of her magnificent chesed<\/em>. She never says a word about G-d Himself, never expresses any feeling about him. \u00a0\u201cYour G-d is my G-d\u201d sounds no different from \u201cwhere you go, I will go\u201d; the entire verse is about devotion to Naomi, with religion as just one piece of the life Rut is willing to embrace for her sake.<\/p>\n Rut never exclaims \u201cNow I know that G-d is greater than all the gods\u201d like Yitro (Shemot 19:11). She never expresses a belief that \u201cHashem, your G-d, He is G-d in heaven above and over the land below\u201d like Rachav (Yehoshua 2:11). Wouldn\u2019t we expect our paradigmatic convert, our role model for devotion to G-d against all odds, to have exhibited some sort of sentiment about Him?<\/p>\n This lack is also apparent in contrast to others in the Megilah, for whom G-d\u2019s Name peppered everyday speech. In chapter 2, for instance, Boaz calls on G-d to reward Rut for her kindness to Naomi and describes her as having \u201ccome to take refuge under His wings\u201d (2:12). Compare this to Rut\u2019s own words in the next chapter, when she suggests that Boaz will \u201cspread your wings over your maidservant\u201d (3:9). The similarity in language highlights the difference in their perspectives: Boaz thinks of her as a ger tzedek<\/em>, a righteous convert; Rut, however, is interested in attachments to people, saying nothing of G-d or religious commitment.<\/p>\n Rut\u2019s interest in human attachments is also related to the second element of her character that always bothered me: she doesn\u2019t seem to do<\/em> anything. Again, her chesed<\/em> to her mother-in-law is undeniable, and she takes the initiative in going out to find food for them (2:2). But this simple initiative to avoid starvation never seemed to measure up to instances of independent, strong-willed initiative-taking and creative problem-solving\u00a0 I admired in other women in Tanach<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 especially considering that even to solve that very basic problem, she doesn\u2019t take action without first consulting her mother-in-law.<\/p>\n Miriam didn\u2019t get permission before going to watch over her baby brother or volunteering her services as a wet nurse broker. Avigayil rode off without a word to her husband to solve the problem he\u2019d created, telling the king himself what was what. Even Esther, who needed some time to get used to the idea of what she could and must do, didn\u2019t ask<\/strong> Mordechai; once she was ready, she told <\/strong>him the plan.<\/p>\n Rut never has a turnaround like Esther. From the very beginning, her only independent actions are those which attach herself to someone else: while Orpah kisses Naomi and turns back to make her own life, \u201cRut clung to her\u201d (1:14). In fact, the Gemara defines her as \u201cthe clinger\u201d (Sotah 42b). Clingy people tend to make us uncomfortable; we want to see them live their own lives and make their own decisions, not just latch on to someone else to imitate or obey. Yet, imitation and obedience are Rut\u2019s hallmarks, from the very moment that she proclaims her identification with everything about Naomi. We read in 2:23 that she \u201cclung to Boaz\u2019s maidservants and dwelled with her mother-in-law,\u201d and the implication is that she saw nothing missing from that life and those attachments, no problem that required her initiative or action.<\/p>\n It is Naomi who, immediately following this evidence of Rut\u2019s complacency, expresses her intention to \u201cseek for you a rest [read: settled home life]\u201d and outlines her plan to get Boaz to marry Rut. The Zohar (1, 188) compares Rut to Tamar in terms of their hishtadlut<\/em> (active effort) to remarry, but what did Rut do that could compare to Tamar, who realized Yehuda wasn\u2019t going to give her his youngest son as promised and took matters into her own hands in the most shockingly decisive way?<\/p>\n Certainly, Rut pursues Boaz in a similarly surprising manner (in the sense that both seemed inappropriate but were actually \u201ckosher,\u201d as the Zohar puts it) \u2013 but only because Naomi told her to. She tells Rut exactly what to do, including that Boaz, in turn, \u201cwill tell you what to do\u201d (3:4). Rut responds that she will do as Naomi instructed (v. 5), and in case we didn\u2019t get the point, the Megillah goes on to assure us that \u201cshe did everything her mother-in-law had commanded her\u201d (v. 6).<\/p>\n As Rut and Boaz go on to marry and have a child, we still find no independent action on Rut\u2019s part. Naomi is the focus, and even raises Rut\u2019s child as her own (3:16-17).<\/p>\n Why do we view Rut as a heroine and role model when she demonstrates none of the religious conviction, or strengths like initiative and leadership, that we value so deeply in other women in Tanach?<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s because those are not the only strengths worthy of being valued.<\/p>\n Not long ago, a friend told me about a book called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking<\/em>, by Susan Cain. The title alone says a lot, suggesting that society tends to value qualities typically associated with extroverted personalities and forget about the quiet, often less-visible, contributions of an introvert. I think we may fall into a similar trap when thinking about other elements of human personalities as well.<\/p>\n Maybe my hesitations about Rut stemmed from a limited picture of what it means to be a hero(ine), the image of the extroverted, bold, powerful initiative-taker. It\u2019s important to us today to point out those qualities in our biblical heroines, sometimes almost defensively: \u201cSee? They\u2019re not passive or oppressed! They\u2019re empowered and bold! They\u2019re leaders!\u201d<\/p>\n But what about people who are simply not like that? What about the introverts, who prefer quieter action in the background? Or those who are simply satisfied with their lives, in their \u201ctents,\u201d and who are content to leave big bold action to others? What about the followers, who have no desire or personality to lead?<\/p>\n Maybe not every woman \u2013 not every person \u2013 needs to be an outgoing, initiative-taking, leader type.<\/p>\n Last year around this time, when I finally gave my own pre-Shavuot shiur about Rut, I had just seen an exhibit of projects about \u201cleadership\u201d by my daughter\u2019s fifth-grade class. I was struck by how different students portrayed leadership, including some that didn\u2019t even seem to fit the word \u2013 like one who described leading herself in her own choices. And I began to wonder whether we are doing a disservice when we encourage everyone<\/em> to develop leadership qualities, because maybe not everyone needs to be a leader in the typical sense. Maybe some are more inclined to lead themselves towards following others\u2019 breakthroughs than to make those breakthroughs themselves.<\/p>\n Naomi, despite her difficulties, emerges as a bold problem-solver and even a leader \u2013 but not Rut.<\/p>\n During the shiur, one woman in the audience argued with my suggestion that Rut was more of a follower than a leader. \u201cBut she has such strength of character,\u201d she kept saying. \u201cShe left everything she knew to go to a new life she knew nothing about!\u201d That may be true, I answered, but it looks to me like the strength of a follower, not of a leader. The strength of a person who attached herself to a person she loved, not the religious devotion of someone who chose a new life directly because of G-d.<\/p>\n The discussion highlighted what I thought we needed to reconsider: that \u201cstrong\u201d is synonymous with \u201cleader.\u201d Being a follower doesn\u2019t make a person weak; it just means they need a different kind of strength.<\/p>\n Rut\u2019s particular type of strength came out when she was \u201c\u05de\u05ea\u05d0\u05de\u05e6\u05ea\u201d to go with Naomi and would not be dissuaded (1:18). What does \u05de\u05ea\u05d0\u05de\u05e6\u05ea mean? Malbim (here and elsewhere, eg. on Yishayahu 28:2) offers a nuance between the synonyms \u201c\u05d7\u05d6\u05e7\u201d and \u201c\u05d0\u05de\u05e5,\u201d suggesting that \u05d7\u05d6\u05e7 refers to momentary strength towards an action while \u05d0\u05de\u05e5 describes an internal, lasting strength. Maybe Rut wasn\u2019t an initiator, but she had the capacity to sense the good in Naomi and her people, and she had the strength to make the choice to join them. To cling to them, with constancy.<\/p>\n And perhaps this is also why she was able to develop as such an impressive baalat chesed<\/em>.<\/p>\n Rut was able to shape her life in positive ways without being any kind of person other than herself, by forming valuable attachments. By fulfilling the dictum \u201cacquire for yourself a friend\u201d (Avot 1:6). As Rambam explains it, the term \u201cacquire\u201d emphasizes that \u201cone must put effort (\u05dc\u05d4\u05e9\u05ea\u05d3\u05dc) into it\u2026until his friendship is strengthened\u2026the desire of both of them and their direction is to one goal, namely, the Good.\u201d<\/p>\n We have lots of role models for \u201cfinding G-d,\u201d like Yitro and Rachav (and of course Avraham); we have lots of role models for taking big, bold, decisive action. Rut reminds us that there are other elements to growing as a good, strong person. Chazal praise her devotion as a convert, even if it was inspired by her love for Naomi; they exalt her hishtadlut<\/em>, even if it was by way of her attachment to Naomi. Rut went to great lengths to attach herself to the right people, whose influence she knew would bring her closer to \u201cthe Good.\u201d<\/p>\n If Rut emerges as a role model for how to \u201ccling\u201d to others constructively, we might find that in being a strong follower, she is in fact a true leader.<\/p>\n Chazak v\u2019amatz.<\/em><\/p>\n Sarah C. Rudolph is a Jewish educator and freelance writer. She has been sharing her passion for Jewish texts of all kinds for over 15 years, with students of all ages. Sarah\u2019s essays have been published in a variety of internet and print media, including Times of Israel, Kveller,\u00a0Jewish Action<\/a>, The Lehrhaus, TorahMusings, and more. Sarah lives in Cleveland with her husband and four children, but is privileged to learn online with students all over the world through\u00a0www.TorahTutors.org<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0www.WebYeshiva.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every year on Shavuot, we read the story of Rut. Every year, there\u2019s another shiur about Rut. Every year, I was frustrated by my own inability to connect with all the accolades, wondering why everyone else seemed perfectly comfortable with Rut as a heroine and role model and why no one else seemed to notice<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133529,"featured_media":59713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\n
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