By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
The story of Ruth is read at the time of the giving of the Torah so that we might know that the
Torah Shebiktav (Written Torah) and the Torah Shebalpeh
(Oral Torah), are together one Torah, and one is not possible without the
other. For David, the anointed of HaShem unto all
generations, was descended from a Moabite woman, and his legitimacy depended on
the Oral Torah, which declared that only a Moabite
man was prohibited from entering the Congregation of Israel, but not a Moabite
woman. On the foundations of Torah Shebalpeh, the House of David, the whole people of Israel, and the Mashiach
Himself, are supported. For it says, in Matityahu chapter one, that Yeshua HaMashiach is the son of David the son of Abraham. The text explicitly states that King David and
Yeshua HaMashiach are direct descendants of Obed, the son of Ruth and Boaz. The
Talmud[1] explicitly states that a Moabitess is
permitted and a Moabite is not permitted. Therefore, King David and Yeshua
HaMashiach depend on the legitimacy of the Torah Shebalpeh for their authority to even be a part of the congregation of Israel.
Megillat Ruth was
written by the Prophet Samuel, to indicate the genealogy of Kind David for Ruth
the Moabite[2]. We learn from the writing of this Megillah
that there was Divine assent in the matter, for the end of the Megillah
recounts David's ancestry and David was born on Shavuot
and died on Shavuot.
Samuel the prophet,
the author of Megillat Ruth, was the one who anointed His Majesty King David
and proclaimed him king. Samuel saw first hand how weak the knowledge of the nation of Israel
was regarding the laws surrounding the conversion of
Moabite women. Therefore, Samuel decided he had to educate the masses in this
area. It could even be that Samuel felt he was obligated to do such, because he
was the one who anointed David as king over the nation of
The Torah teaches us
that Moabites and Ammonites are not allowed to marry
Jews because they lack an essential character
quality that defines the Jewish people. The essential quality is chessed,
kindness, as expressed in hospitality. The Torah tells us that the Moabites and
the Ammonites had a chance to show the Jewish people hospitality. Because they
were our relatives they had an obligation to show us hospitality. Because
Avraham pleaded for their ancestor, Lot and his family, they had an obligation
to show the Bne Israel hospitality.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 23:3-4 An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into
the congregation of HaShem; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter
into the congregation of HaShem for ever:4 Because they met you not with bread and with
water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt;
and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of
Mesopotamia, to curse thee.
To ‘enter the
Comngregation of Israel’ means marriage. Thus we learn that both Moabites and
Ammonites are not allowed to marry Jews, and if they
do marry a Jew and have children, then the children become mamzers, they become
illegitimate. These illegitimate children are also forbidden to marry Jews.
The controversy that
surrounded the kingship of David, because he was descended from Ruth the Moabite, is described in the Talmud:
Yevamot 76b Mishna An
Ammonite and a Moabite are forbidden and their prohibition is forever, Their
women, however, are permitted at once. An Egyptian and an Edomite
are forbidden only until the third generation. Whether they are males or
females. R. Simeon, however, permits their women forthwith. Said R. Simeon:
This law might be inferred a minori ad majus: If where
the males are forbidden for all time the females are
permitted forthwith, how much more should the females be permitted forthwith
where the males are forbidden until the third generation only. They replied: If
this is an halachah, we shall accept it; But if it is only an inference, an objection
can be pointed out. He replied: Not so. [But in fact] it is an halachah that I
am reporting.
GEMARA. Whence are these laws
inferred? — R. Johanan replied: Scripture stated, And when Saul saw David go
forth against the Philistine, he said into Abner, the captain of the host:
‘Abner, whose son is this youth’? And Abner said: ‘As thy soul liveth, O King,
I cannot tell’. But did he not know him? Surely it is written, And he loved him
greatly; and he became his armour bearer! — He rather made the inquiry concerning
his father. But did he not know his father? Surely it is written, And the man
was an old man in the days of Saul, stricken in years among them; and Rab or,
it might be said, R. Abba, stated that this referred to the father of David,
Jesse. who came in with an army and went out with an army!— It is this that
Saul meant: Whether he descended from Perez, or from Zerah. If he descended
from Perez he would be king, for a king breaks for himself a way and no one can
hinder him. If, however, he is descended from Zerah he would only be an
important man. What is the reason why he gave instructions that enquiry be made
concerning him? — Because it is written, And Saul clad David with his apparel.
being of the same size as his, and about Saul it is written, From his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.
Doeg the Edomite then said to him, ‘Instead of enquiring whether he is fit to
be king or not, enquire rather whether he is permitted to enter the assembly or
not’! ‘What is the reason’? ‘Because he is descended from Ruth the Moabitess’.
Said Abner to him, ‘We learned: An Ammonite, but not an Ammonitess; A Moabite,
but not a Moabitess! But in that case a bastard would’ imply: But not a female
bastard?’ — ‘It is written mamzer [Which implies] anyone objectionable’. ‘Does
then Egyptian exclude the Egyptian woman’? — ‘Here it is different, since the
reason for the Scriptural text is explicitly stated: Because they met you not
with bread and with water; it is customary for a man to meet [wayfarers]; It is not,
however, customary for a woman to meet [them]’.
‘The men should have met the men and the women the women!’
He[3]
remained silent, Thereupon. the King said.’[4]
‘Inquire thou whose son the stripling is’.[5]
Elsewhere he calls him youth; and here[6]
he calls him, stripling! — It is this that he implied, ‘You have overlooked an
halachah,’ go and enquire at the college!’ On enquiry, he was told: An
Ammonite,[7] but
not an Ammonitess; A Moabite,[8] but
not a Moabitess.
Yevamoth 69a For
a Master said: An Ammonite,[9] but
not an Ammonitess; a Moabite,[10] but
not a Moabitess.[11]
Yevamoth 77a
As, however, Doeg submitted to them all those objections[12]
and they eventually remained silent, he desired to make a public announcement
against him.[13] Presently
[an incident occurred]: Now Amasa was the son of a man, whose name was
Ithna the Israelite, that went in to Abigal the daughter of Nahash,[14] but
elsewhere it is written, Jether the Ishmaelite! This teaches,
Raba explained, that he girded on his sword like an Ishmaelite and exclaimed,
‘Whosoever will not obey the following halachah will
be stabbed with the sword; I have this tradition from the Beth din of Samuel
the Ramathite: An Ammonite but not an Ammonitess; A Moabite, but not a
Moabitess’! Could he, however, be trusted? Surely R. Abba stated in the name of
Rab: Whenever a learned man gives directions[15]
on a point of law, and such a point comes up [for a
practical decision], he is obeyed if his statement was made before the event;
but if it was not so made he is not obeyed! Here the case was different, since
Samuel and his Beth din were still living.
The difficulty,[16]
however, still remains! — The following interpretation was given: All glorious
is the king's daughter within.[17] In
the West[18] it
was explained. others quote it in the name of R. Isaac: Scripture said, And
they said unto him: ‘Where is Sarah thy wife?’
etc.[19]
In this mesechta, we learn that Doeg attempted to disqualify David from
kingship by suggesting that he was not a part of the congregation of Israel because his great grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabite and Moabites were forbidden to marry Jews, as we saw from
the Torah.
From here we see that Doeg did his utmost to disqualify David from
being king by proving that David was not Jewish! Amasa defended David’s
Jewishness by indicating that Shmuel (Samual) the prophet had declared,
prophetically, that Devarim 23:3-4 applied to the men and not to the women.
This meant that Ruth, as a Moabitess, was NOT excluded from the congregation of
Israel and that her descendents were kosher Jews. This is only recorded in the Oral Torah (Talmud). It is
not in the Torah. This teaches us that King David and Mashiach
are legitimate only because of the oral law.
The Talmud also provides the logic for why Moabite woman are kosher[20] and Moabite men
are un-kosher. The Talmud tells us that the Moabite women are kosher because
they do not go out of the home to provide hospitality. It is not their job. It
was the responsibility of the Moabite men to provide hospitality to the Jews.
Doeg the Edomite was one of the greatest scholars of the age, head of
the Sanhedrin, and a close friend and adviser to king Saul. Doeg said to King
Saul, “Instead of asking whether or not he is worthy of kingship, ask whether
or not he is fit to enter the congregation of HaShem! He is descended from Ruth
the Moabitess.”
The Prophet Samuel wrote a responsa in response to Doeg’s question
about the validity of King David. The Megillat of Ruth
is that responsa. Thus the Prophet Samuel wrote Megillat Ruth to propigate, for
all time, the understanding that Ruth, as a Moabite, was permitted to enter the
congregation of Israel because she was a female. Male Moabites are the Moabites
which are forbidden from entering the congregation of Israel.
King Saul understood
the Prophet Samuel’s responsa, and he took it to heart! The fact that he got
the message is described in the Tanach:[21]
Shmuel
Alef (I Samuel) 18:27-28 Wherefore David arose and went, he and his
men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the
king, that he might be the king’s son in law. And Saul
gave him Michal his daughter to wife. 28
And Saul saw and knew that HaShem was
with David, and that Michal
Saul’s daughter loved him.
Thus King Saul gave David
his daughter in marriage that all Israel might
know that he had accepted Samuel’s responsa that David was able to enter the
congregation of Israel. Megillat Ruth clarifies the
pasuk, the verse, of Devarim 23:3 and testifies to the truth of mesichta of Yevamot 76b.
Therefore the monarchy of King David
and of The Mashiach rest on the truth of Megillat
Ruth!
Without the clarification of the Talmud, Yeshua cannot be Mashiach because the Torah says clearly that a Moabite
cannot enter the congregation of Israel. Ruth, as a critical part of the
messianic line, is a Moabite. Therefore, it is incumbent upon Christians to
accept the oral law if they say that Yeshua is the Messiah.
The Torah describes an
unusual incident that happened to Avraham that bears
directly on the Torah’s prohibition against Moabites and Ammonites marrying
Jews. Since the Talmud indicates that the reason that Moabite women, and Ammonite women, are
allowed to marry Jews is because they were not
expected to show hospitality to strangers. How do we know that Moabite and
Ammonite women were not expected to show hospitality to strangers? This halachic ruling was given to us by Avraham Avinu who was the Gadol HaDor, the posek of his
generation. He is the judge of his generation.
If HaShem needs to have a judge
render a decision on earth, then Avraham is the man. The Torah describes the
incident where this ruling was made.
Bereshit 17:26 – 18:2 In the selfsame day was Abraham
circumcised, and Ishmael his son. 27 And all the men of his house,
born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with
him. 1 And HaShem appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the
tent door in the heat of the day; 2 And
he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran
to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground …
The Zohar
teaches us that these “men” were really angels:
Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 101b At first he took them for men, but afterwards he
became aware that they were holy angels who had been sent on a mission to him.
The Midrash[22] and Talmud[23] tell us
about these three angels had separate missions and names:
Midrash Rabbah - Genesis L:2 THEN THE TWO ANGELS CAME, etc. But He is at one with Himself, and who can turn Him? and what His soul
desireth, even that He doeth (Job XXIII, 13). It was taught: One angel does not
perform two missions, nor do two angels together perform one mission, yet you
read that two [angels came to Sodom]? The fact is, however, that Michael
announced his tidings [to Abraham] and departed: Gabriel was sent to overturn
Sodom, and Rafael to rescue Lot; hence, THEN THE TWO ANGELS CAME, etc.
It is appropriate that
the destruction of Sodom and Gemara is carried out
by Gavriel. However, one could easily ask: Why is he here with Avraham and Sarah? His mission had nothing to do with
Avraham and Sarah. Why would he not be in Sodom instead? After all, they had a
job to do, why not get to it? Sodom is the place where he has a mission.
We can get some insight
into their presence at Avraham’s tent by noting a very curious question in the Torah. Keep in mind that these three “strangers” have been
invited to dinner and the dinner has been set before them. At this point, the
first thing out of their mouths is a disturbing question.
Bereshit
(Genesis) 18:9 And they
said unto him, Where is
Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
Baba Metzia 87a And
they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, She is in the
tent: this is to inform us that she was modest.[24] Rab
Judah said in Rab's name: The Ministering Angels knew
that our mother Sarah was in the tent, but why [bring out the fact that she
was] in her tent? In order to make her beloved to her husband.[25]
R. Jose son of R. Hanina said: In order to send her the wine-cup of
Benediction.[26]
Midrash Rabbah - Numbers III:13 Another instance: And they said unto him (אליו): Where is Sarah?[27] There
are points over the aleph, yod,
and vaw of ‘אליו’, to indicate that they knew where she
was, yet made inquiries about her.[28]
Now imagine that you are
in Avraham’s place. You have a modest wife who does not normally interact with
strange men. Men who, by the way, have no business with Sarah. Their only
business is with Avraham. The first thing these strange men ask is, “Where is
Sarah?” This is very strange. Further, instead of becoming indignant with these
strangers, Avraham answers their question.
Bereshit
(Genesis) 18:9 And they
said unto him, Where is Sarah
thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
So, HaShem
and His messengers ask their halachic question:
Where is Sarah?
We have HaShem and three of HaShem’s mightiest angels who are sitting on the
edge of their seats waiting to hear the answer to a most important halachic
question. Does Avraham understand that he is rendering an halachic, legal,
decision that will affect humanity for a the rest of time?
Because Avraham was close
to HaShem we can be sure that Avraham realizes the import of this question.
In Bereshit (Genesis)
18:9, we see Avraham answering: ‘Behold in the tent’. Thus we see that Sarah
remained indoors attending to the duties of her household,
even though there were visitors whom Abraham
was entertaining in the open under the tree.
Bereshit (Genesis) 18:1-5 And HaShem appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the
tent door in the heat of the day; 2 And
he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he
saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the
ground, 3 And said, My Lord, if now I
have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray
thee, from thy servant: 4 Let a little
water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and
rest yourselves under the tree: 5
And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after
that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they
said, So do, as thou hast said.
This simple answer will
affect humanity for the rest of time. What does it
mean? Why is this question, and its answer, so important that it is the first
priority for HaShem and His three
mighty angels, on their visit to Avraham?
It is important to note
that Avraham is going to plead with HaShem to save the people of Sodom and to
save Lot in Bereshit (Genesis) 18:23-33. Avraham was genuinely concerned for
Lot and the people of the cities associated with Sodom.
Did Lot deserve to be saved?
Bereshit (Genesis) 19:29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, that God
remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he
overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.
The text tells us that he
was saved only because “G-d remembered Avraham and He sent Lot out …”. The merit of Avraham saved Lot. Lot's salvation
was an act of mercy, not justice. Furthermore, for Lot to be saved required a
much greater degree of divine intervention. If not for Lot, G-d would have
simply sent Gavriel to destroy the city.
Avraham’s pleading
managed to only save Lot and His family.
Why did HaShem and the
three angels want to know Sarah’s whereabouts? To put it another way: Why are
three strange men asking about a woman they had never met and with whom they
had no mission or message?
We have two questions
before us:
What is going on here?
The answer is quite profound and bears directly on the issue of the legitimacy
of King David.
The two
angels have a mission in Sodom. The fact that they are here with Avraham means
that their question has an immediate relevance to their mission. What is the
relevance?
When strangers came to Avraham’s house, did Sarah greet the strangers with food and water? No, Avraham greeted them with food and water. This question and it’s answer were critical to the deliverance of Lot and his daughters because the reason given, in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 23:3-4, for the exclusion of the Ammonites and Moabites is that they did not meet the Israelites with food and water. Since the Ammonites and Moabites (Ruth and Naamah[29]) would become the descendants of Lot and his daughters, it was necessary to know whether the woman (Sarah) would greet the strangers with food and water.
Avraham provided a legal ruling when he said that Sarah was in the tent. His ruling was that women are responsible for hospitality inside the home and NOT outside!
Because of this ruling, Gavriel determined that Lot must be delivered from Sodom because from him would descend Ruth the Moabitess. Thus we understand that Gavriel did not proceed directly to Sodom because he needed to know whether Lot should be saved when he destroyed Sodom. He could only learn this when Avraham made his ruling.
Once the two angels knew that Avraham and Sarah did not have a custom to let Sarah greet the strangers, they knew that they must save Lot and His daughters because they would become legitimate converts that would be responsible for the birth of King David and King Mashiach. The leader of the generation, Avraham, had ruled that the woman’s modesty prevented them from greeting strangers. Therefore, Ruth and Naamah could enter the congregation of Israel and their progenitors, Lot and his daughters, must be preserved.[30]
In spite of Avraham’s efforts for Lot and his family, Lot’s descendents, the Moabites, do not greet the Israelites with food and water when they needed it.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 23:3-4
An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of HaShem; even to their tenth generation
shall they not enter into the congregation of HaShem for ever: 4 Because they met you not with bread and
with water in the way, when ye came forth out of
Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor
of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.
Because the Moabites were ungrateful and inhospitable, HaShem tells us that a Moabite cannot enter the congregation of Israel. This means that no Moabite can marry a Jew. This poses a big problem!
The problem is that Ruth is a Moabite and she is an integral part of the Messianic line. If she is disqualified from marrying a Jew, then her son, Oved, cannot be Jewish. His son, Yishai, can not be a Jew. His son, David, cannot be a Jew and therefore cannot be King in Israel. His descendent, Mashiach, is not Jewish and cannot be King. He cannot be The Mashiach! This is a big problem!
Shmuel the prophet would rule that Ruth was able to enter the congregation of Israel because of Avraham’s ruling. Because Avraham said that Sarah was “in the tent”, Ruth the Moabitess was able to enter the congregation and become a progenitor of the Messianic line.
Shmuel, the Prophet, was the one who anointed David as the King over Israel, at the command of HaShem. He was also the one who wrote the Megilla of Ruth, which shows the genealogy of David.
The book of Ruth was written to help address this problem. Never the less, without the oral law this is a problem which can not be resolved. The written Torah never addresses this issue.
Additionally, there is an allusion to this in Megillat Ruth. Of
the 85 psukim in Megilat Ruth, all but eight (8) begin
with the letter vav - ו.
That's 90.5% of its psukim begin with a vav. The eight pasukim, that do not
start with a vav - ו are:
If we rearrange
these eight letters they
spell: באהל
ישעי (yshi ba’ohel),[31]
which means:
“my salvation
comes from (is in) the tents
(of Sarah)”[32]
or
“my salvation is in the tents (of Torah)”.
Therefore, it's no coincidence that the letters of pesukim in Ruth that don't begin with a vav that obviously teach us something spell out ישעי באהל - my salvation is in the tent. This is because the rationalization used by the angel to save Lot was based on Avraham’s halachic answer that said that Sarah was in the tent.
Now lets take our eight pasukim and rearrange them in the order of the letters of ישעי באהל:
Targum: “May the Lord reward you fully for the kindness which you have shown to me, and by virtue of that reward may each of you find rest in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.
יִתֵּן
יְהוָה לָכֶם
וּמְצֶאןָ
מְנוּחָה
אִשָּׁה
בֵּית אִישָׁ הּוַתִּשַּׁק
לָהֶן
וַתִּשֶּׂאנָה
קולָן
וַתִּבְכֶּינָה׃
Targum: “Return, my daughters, from following me. Go unto your people, for I am too old to be married. Should I say: ‘Now, if I were a young woman, having hope, verily! should I be married this very night and should I bear sons,’
שׁבְנָה
בְנתַי לֵכְןָ
כִּי
זָקַנְתִּי
מִהְיות
לְאִישׁ כִּי
אָמַרְתִּי
יֶשׁ־לִי
תִקְוָה גַּם
הָיִיתִי
הַלַּ֙יְלָה֙ לְאִישׁ
וְגַם יָלַדְתִּי
בָנִים׃
Targum: “Mark the field that they will reap, and follow them. Have I not charged the servants not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink the water which the servants have drawn.”
עֵינַיִךְ
בַּשָּׂדֶה
אֲשֶׁר־יִקְצרוּן
וְהָלַכְתְּ
אַחֲרֵיהֶן
הֲלוא
צִוִּיתִי
אֶת־הַנְּעָרִים
לְבִלְתִּי
נָגְעֵךְ
וְצָמִת
וְהָלַכְתְּ
אֶל־הַכֵּלִים
וְשָׁתִית
מֵאֲשֶׁר
יִשְׁאֲבוּן
הַנְּעָרִים׃
Targum: “May the Lord reward you well in this world for your good work, and may you receive full recompense from the Lord, the God of Israel, in the world to come, because you have come to be a proselyte and to seek shelter under the shadow of His Glorious Presence. Through that merit you will be saved from the punishment of Gehinom, so that your portion will be with Sarah and Rebecca and Rachel and Leah.”
יְשַׁלֵּם
יְהוָה
פָּעֳלֵךְ
וּתְהִי
מַשְׂכֻּרְתּךְ
שְׁלֵמָה
מֵעִם יְהוָה
אֱלהֵי
יִשְׂרָאֵל
אֲשֶׁר־בָּאת
לַחֲסות
תַּחַת־כְּנָפָֽיו׃
Targum: Said Naomi: “We have four methods of capital punishment for the guilty -- stoning, burning with fire, death by the sword, and hanging upon the gallows.” Said Ruth: “To whatever death you are subject I shall be subject.” Said Naomi: “We have two[33] cemeteries." Said Ruth: “There shall I be buried. And do not continue to speak any further. May the Lord do thus unto me and more if [even] death will separate me from you.”
בַּאֲשֶׁר
תָּמוּתִי
אָמוּת
וְשָׁם
אֶקָּבֵר כּה
יַעֲשֶׂה
יְהוָה לִי
וְכה יסִיף
כִּי
הַמָּוֶת
יַפְרִיד
בֵּינִי
וּבֵינֵךְ׃
Targum: “I went away full, with my husband and sons, but the Lord has brought me back destitute of them. Why, then, should you call me Naomi, seeing that my guilt has been testified to before the Lord, and the Almighty has brought evil upon me?”
אֲנִי
מְלֵאָה הָלַכְתִּי
וְרֵיקָם
הֱשִׁיבַנִי
יְהוָה
לָמָּה
תִקְרֶאנָה
לִי נָעֳמִי
וַיהוָה
עָנָה בִי
וְשַׁדַּי
הֵרַע לִי׃
Targum: “Would you wait for them until they grew up, like a woman who waits for a small brother-in-law to marry her? Because of them would you sit tied down, not marrying? Pray, my daughters, do not grieve me, for I am more embittered than you, because a stroke from the Lord has come forth against me.”
הֲלָהֵן
׀ תְּשַׂבֵּרְנָה
עַד אֲשֶׁר
יִגְדָּלוּ
הֲלָהֵן תֵּעָגֵנָה
לְבִלְתִּי
הֱיות
לְאִישׁ אַל
בְּנתַי
כִּי־מַר־לִי
מְאד מִכֶּם
כִּי־יָצְאָה
בִי
יַד־יְהוָה׃
Targum: “Lodge here, and in the morning, if the man qualified to redeem you according to the Torah redeems you, very well, let him redeem you. But if he is unwilling to redeem you, then I will redeem you. I swear by an oath before God, that I will do just as I have spoken to you. Sleep now until the morning.”
לִינִי
׀ הַלַּיְלָה
וְהָיָה
בַבּקֶר
אִם־יִגְאָלֵךְ
טוב יִגְאָל
וְאִם־לא
יַחְפּץ
לְגָאֳלֵךְ
וּגְאַלְתִּיךְ
אָנכִי
חַי־יְהוָה
שִׁכְבִי
עַד־הַבּֽקֶר׃
Thus every Hebrew verse in Ruth begins with a vav
("and"), save eight of the verses. Imagine
starting almost every sentence with the word ‘and’. The conjunction, ‘and’,
means that each verse, save eight, are intrinsically connected to each other as
though we are proceeding on a path step-by-step.
Since vav is the letter of connection (used as the conjunction “and”), we can see that Megilat Ruth stands to connect something. Since this book illustrates the whole of creation from Adam to the second Adam (Mashiach), we can understand that this book connects all of history to the Mashiach. Further, the vav also connects the Megillat of Ruth to Avraham and Sarah.
The vav – ו, which is the number six (6), is a remez to the six orders of the Mishna. This alludes to the fact that Ruth was kosher only because of the oral law.
When rearranged (the first letter of each of the eight verses that do not start with a vav) the letters spell “My salvation is in the tent” - ישעי באהל. This is another allusion to the fact that women are in the tent and do not bring food and water to strangers. Further, the entire Messianic line of kings depend on the women being in the tent in order for them to bring salvation through the Messianic line.
The Oral Torah in
the Psalms
The ArtScroll on Tehillim[34] for Psalm 119:161-12 has the following, very interesting, commentary that bears directly on the legitimacy of the messianic line. Lets start by looking at the verse in Tehillim that the Artscroll will be commenting on:
Tehillim (psalms) 119:161-162
SHIN Princes pursued me without cause, but my heart feared Your
utterance (דבור). I rejoiced over Your word (אמרה), like one who finds abundant spoils.
In this series of verses, David sings of the false
princes who pursued me without cause (v. 161), and of how he abhors
falsehood (v. 163), because the truth of Torah is his only joy.]
161. Princes pursued me without cause.
David said, ‘Powerful princes and generals, like
Saul and Absalom, pursued and threatened me, yet they instilled no fear
in my heart. The only thing I feared was the
possibility that I might transgress Your word or that my enemies might force me to disobey You.’
Another
explanation: ‘When Prince Absalom pursued me, I was not afraid of his physical
prowess nor of his forces, because I knew that his
cause was unjust. My only real fear was the fact that I sinned
and You gave Your word to punish me, through the Prophet, who
warned (II Samuel 12:11, 12): So
says HASHEM: “Behold, I will raise up evil against
you out of your own house ... for you sinned secretly, but I will do this in
the presence of all Israel”’(Radak).
But my heart
feared Your utterance.
Vilna Gaon
comments that this verse refers to the wicked nobles
and ministers [like Doeg and Achitophel] who constantly sought to discredit
David by casting aspersions on his ancestress, Ruth the
Moabite. They always cited the verse (Deut. 23:4) An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of
HASHEM even to the tenth generation.
David's enemies
took note of Torah Shebictav, the
Written Law, concerning Moabites,
but they disregarded Torah
Shebaal Peh, the Oral Law, which teaches that the prohibition applies only to the male Ammonite
and Moabite, and not to the female Ammonitess and Moabitess. Vilna Gaon proves
that the term דבור
refers to a statement written in Scripture, whereas אמרה adverts to a tradition
of the Oral Law.
Thus David
exclaimed in this verse and the next: The princes pursued me
[charging that I was unfit to enter the congregation of Israel] without cause, But my heart feared Your
utterance [i.e., the Written Law,
which appeared to disqualify me].
David was scared from the words of the Written Torah, yet from the Oral Torah he rejoiced because the Oral Torah saved David’s life, proved his Jewishness, and allowed him to be king in Israel.
* * *
A king in Israel was a chief Rabbi.
* * *
Shavuot falls on vav Sivan, the sixth of Sivan. The vav also alludes to the six orders of the Mishna, the Oral Torah.
* * *
I found david in Sodom.
* * *
This study was written by Hillel ben David
(Greg Killian).
Comments may be submitted to:
Greg Killian
1101 Surrey Trace SE
Tumwater, WA 98501
Internet address: gkilli@aol.com
Web page: http://www.betemunah.org/
(360) 584-9352
Return to The WATCHMAN home page
Send comments to Greg Killian at his email address: gkilli@aol.com
[1] Yevamoth 76b
[2] Jerusalem Talmud - Chagigah 2,3, Bavli - Shabbat 30b
[3] Abner
[4] To Doeg. V. infra
[5] 1 Sam. XVII, 56.
[6] 1 Sam. XVII, 56.
[7] Deut. XXIII. 4
[8] Deut. XXIII. 4
[9] Shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord. Deut. 23:4
[10] Shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord. Deut. 23:4
[11] Infra 76b, Kid. 67b, Keth. 7b, Hul. 62b.
[12] Addressed to Abner supra.
[13] To brand David publicly as a descendant of a Moabitess, and unfit to enter the congregation of Israel in accordance with Deut. XXIII, 4.
[14] II Sam. XVII, 25
[15] Basing his ruling on traditional law which he claims to have received from his teachers.
[16] Raised by Doeg (supra 76b) to which no reply was forthcoming.
[17] Psalm 45:14. Respectable women remain at home and do not go into the open road even to meet members of their own sex. No blame, therefore, is attached to the Ammonite and Moabite women for not meeting the Israelites with bread and with water. Cf. Deut. 23:5.
[18] Palestine
[19] Gen 18:9, and he answered, ‘Behold in the tent’. Sarah remained indoors attending to the duties of her household, though there were visitors whom Abraham was entertaining in the open under the tree (ibid. 4).
[20] Kosher is a transliterated Hebrew word which means “fit”.
[21] The TaNaKh (or Tanach) is an acronym that stands for: Torah (the Law), Nevi'im (the Prophets), and Ketuvim (the Writings).
[22] Bereshit Rabbah 50:2
[23] Bava Metzia 86b
[24] And therefore kept herself secluded.
[25] By impressing him with her modesty.
[26] [The wine-cup over which the Grace after meals is recited and which is partaken by all the guests. V. Ber. 51a.]
[27] Bereshit (Genesis) 18:9
[28] For the sake of domestic harmony; Bava Metzia 87a; Gen. R. 48:15.
[29] Melachim Alef (I Kings) 14:21.
[30] Chidushei HaRim in Mayana shel Torah
[31] Beth Yaaqov
[32] Tehillim (Psalms) 118:15
[33] In the sources, mention is made of two separate cemetaries, one for the stoned and burned, the other for those who die by the sword and strangulation, M. San. 6:5.
[34] Tehillim / A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic sources, translation and commentary by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer, in collaboration with Rabbi Nosson Scherman. Published by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.