Ruth Chapter 2 5782

“Ruth the Moavite said to Naomi: I will go to the field and glean among the stalks after one in whose eyes I find favor. She said to her: Go, my daughter” (Ruth 2:2).
“Ruth the Moavite said to Naomi: I will go to the field and glean among the stalks after one in whose eyes I find favor” – Rabbi Yannai said: She was forty years old, and only until the age of forty is one called “daughter.”
“She went, came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened upon the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the family of Elimelekh” (Ruth 2:3).
“She went, came” – she had not even gone and you say that she came? Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: She began marking the path before her. “She happened upon [vayyiker mikreha]” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Anyone who would see her would have a seminal emission [keri]. “The portion of the field…from the family of Elimelekh” – it was given to her from what was due to be her portion.

(4) Presently Boaz arrived from Bethlehem. He greeted the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they responded, “The LORD bless you!” (5) Boaz said to the servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose girl is that?” (6) The servant in charge of the reapers replied, “She is a Moabite girl who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. (7) She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.’ She has been on her feet ever since she came this morning. She has rested but little in the hut.”^-a (8) Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen to me, daughter.^-b Don’t go to glean in another field. Don’t go elsewhere, but stay here close to my girls. (9) Keep your eyes on the field they are reaping, and follow them. I have ordered the men not to molest you. And when you are thirsty, go to the jars and drink some of [the water] that the men have drawn.”

Said R. Joshua b. Levi: "Three things were done by the worldly court, and the heavenly court agreed with them. They are: The reading of the Book of Esther on Purim (Feast of Esther); greeting with the Holy Name, and placing the tithe belonging to the Levites in the treasury of the sanctuary. As to the first, we infer from (Esther 9, 27) The Jews ordained, and took upon them; i.e., they ordained above, what they took upon them down below. Greeting, from (Ruth, 2, 4) And he said unto the reapers, the Lord be with you, and there is also a verse (Jud. 6, 12) The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. To what purpose is the second quotation? Lest one say that Boas did it according to his own opinion and without the consent of heaven. Come, listen! The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. And concerning tithe, as it is written (Mal. 3, 10) Bring ye the whole tithes into the store-house, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall be more than sufficient.

“She said: Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves; so she came, stood from the morning until now, she sat in the house only a bit” (Ruth 2:7).
“She said: Please let me glean and gather…among the sheaves…a bit” – she took only a bit, [which was insufficient even] for herself; how much more so [was it insufficient] for the one sitting in the house waiting for her [Naomi].

(10) She prostrated herself with her face to the ground, and said to him, “Why are you so kind as to single me out, when I am a foreigner?” (11) Boaz said in reply, “I have been told of all that you did for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth and came to a people you had not known before. (12) May the LORD reward your deeds. May you have a full recompense from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have sought refuge!” (13) She answered, “You are most kind, my lord, to comfort me and to speak gently to your maidservant—though I am not so much as one of your maidservants.” (14) At mealtime, Boaz said to her, “Come over here and partake of the meal, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.” So she sat down beside the reapers. He handed her roasted grain, and she ate her fill and had some left over.

“Boaz said to Ruth: Have you not heard, my daughter? Do not go to glean in another field, and also do not pass from here, but cleave to my young women” (Ruth 2:8).
“Boaz said to Ruth: Have you not heard, my daughter? Do not go to glean in another [aḥer] field” – this is on the basis of: “You shall have no other [aḥerim] gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). “And also do not pass from here [mizeh],” on the basis of: “This [zeh] is my God and I will exalt Him” (Exodus 15:2). “But cleave to my young women” – these are the righteous who are called youth, as it is stated: “Will you play with it as with a bird? Will you bind it for your young women?” (Job 40:29).

“She fell on her face, and prostrated herself to the ground, and said to him: Why have I found favor in your eyes, to acknowledge me, and I a foreigner?” (Ruth 2:10).
“She fell on her face, and prostrated herself to the ground…[to acknowledge me [lehakireni]],” it teaches that she prophesied that he was destined to be intimate with her [lehakirah] in the way of the world.

“Boaz answered and said to her: It has been told to me, everything that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband; and you left your father and your mother, and the land of your birth, and you went to a people that you did not know before” (Ruth 2:11).
“Boaz answered and said to her: It has been told [huged hugad] to me.” Why [is the term “told” stated] twice; “huged hugad to me”? I have been told [what you have done] in the house and I have been told [what you have done] in the field. “Everything that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband,” and, it goes without saying, during the life of your husband. “And you left your father and your mother, and the land of your birth,” – your country. “You left your father and your mother” – your idol worship, as it is stated: “They say to a tree, you are my father, and to a stone, you have given birth to me” (Jeremiah 2:27). “The land of your birth” – this is her neighborhood. “And you went to a people that you did not know before,” as had it been before, you would not have been.

(15) When she got up again to glean, Boaz gave orders to his workers, “You are not only to let her glean among the sheaves, without interference, (16) but you must also pull some [stalks] out of the heaps and leave them for her to glean, and not scold her.” (17) She gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned—it was about an ephah of barley— (18) and carried it back with her to the town. When her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned, and when she also took out and gave her what she had left over after eating her fill, (19) her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be he who took such generous notice of you!” So she told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with, saying, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” (20) Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not failed in His kindness to the living or to the dead! For,” Naomi explained to her daughter-in-law, “the man is related to us; he is one of our redeeming kinsmen.” (21) Ruth the Moabite said, “He even told me, ‘Stay close by my workers until all my harvest is finished.’” (22) And Naomi answered her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is best, daughter, that you go out with his girls, and not be annoyed in some other field.” (23) So she stayed close to the maidservants of Boaz, and gleaned until the barley harvest and the wheat harvest were finished. Then she stayed at home with her mother-in-law.

“She rose to glean, and Boaz commanded his young men, saying: Let her glean among the sheaves as well, and do not shame her. Also pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave them, and let her glean, and do not rebuke her” (Ruth 2:15-16).
“She rose to glean…also pull out some for her from the bundles.” Rabbi Yoḥanan was scattering sela coins so Rabbi Shimon bar Ba could acquire them. Rabbeinu would declare grits ownerless so Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta could acquire them.

“Her mother-in-law said to her: Where did you glean today and where did you work? Blessed be he who acknowledged you. She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and she said: The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz” (Ruth 2:19).
“Her mother-in-law said to her: Where did you glean today?” It is taught in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua: More than the owner does for the poor person, the poor person does for the owner, as Ruth said to Naomi: “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” She did not say “who worked with me,” but rather “with whom I worked.” I performed many actions and many favors for him because he gave me one slice of bread. “[They will be punished for their iniquity] because [ya’an uvya’an] [they rejected my ordinances]” (Leviticus 26:43), yaan is ani. Rabbi Shilo of Naveh said: The destitute [haevyon], your wealth is dependent on him [honakh bei].
Rav Naḥman said: It is written: “[Give to him] because for [biglal] this matter [the Lord God will bless you]” (Deuteronomy 15:10) – there is a wheel [galgal] that spins over everyone in the world, like a water wheel; one that is full empties and one that is empty becomes filled. Bar Kappara said: You do not have a person who does not experience this circumstance [poverty], and if not him, his son experiences it, and if not his son, his grandson experiences it. It was taught that Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: The vengeance against idolaters is in the hands of Israel, and the vengeance against Israel is in the hands of their poor. The vengeance against idolaters is in the hands of Israel, as it is stated: “I will place My vengeance upon Edom by means of My people Israel” (Ezekiel 25:14). The vengeance against Israel is in the hands of their poor, as it is stated: “He will cry to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin in you” (Deuteronomy 15:9). Rabbi Avun said: This poor person stands at your door and the Holy One blessed be He stands to his right. If you give to him, He who is standing to his right blesses you, and if not he will exact retribution from that man, as it is stated: “Because He will stand to the right of the indigent” (Psalms 109:31).
Rabbi Abbahu said: We must be grateful to the impostors among them. It was told that Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish descended into the bathhouse of Tiberias and a poor person encountered them. He said to them: ‘Give me charity.’ They said to him: ‘When we exit we will give you charity.’ When they exited, they found that he was dead. They said: ‘Since we did not give him charity during his lifetime, we will tend to him in his death.’ When they rose to wash him, they found a purse of dinars with him. They said: ‘Rabbi Abbahu spoke well: We must be grateful to the impostors among them, as were it not for the impostors among them, when a person sees one of them asking him for charity and he does not give him immediately, he would be punished with death.’

“Naomi said to her daughter-in-law: Blessed is he by the Lord, who did not withdraw His kindness to the living and to the dead. Naomi said to her: The man is a relative of ours, one of our redeemers” (Ruth 2:20).
“Naomi said to her daughter-in-law: Blessed is he by the Lord, who did not withdraw His kindness to the living,” as He sustains and supports the living; “and to the dead,” as He tends to their shrouds. “Naomi said to her: The man is a relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: Boaz was the greatest man of his generation, yet the woman rendered him a relative, as it is stated: “The man is a relative of ours.”