Q: When we lain Rus on Shavuos what’s one of the lessons we should learn from that story?
A: We learn how great is the middah of loyalty. Here’s a queer situation. There’s a Jewish woman, Naomi, whose husband decided to go away from Eretz Yehuda because there was a famine. And so they went to Eretz Moav to wait until the famine would end in Eretz Yehuda.
In the meantime, the husband died and you know, when the father dies, it’s like a sefer where one of the covers falls off. The cover falls off, so the pages start falling out too. So now his two sons took gentile wives.
And finally Hakadosh Baruch Hu took away the two sons because they married gentile women and they died and now she was left alone with those two women.
Then she heard that in Eretz Yehuda ﬠַמּ וֹ ̇∆‡ 'ה „ַ ̃פָ יƒּכ – that Hashem had pity on His people, לָח∆ ם לָה∆ם ̇≈ ̇לָ – He gave them food once more (1:6). So she said, “I’m going back to Yehuda.”
Everybody knows the story, how these two young women were so much in love with her that they said, “We’re going with you.” And they both set out together to join her.
And she said, “Please, don’t go with me. Stay here. It won’t be good for you. You’ll be strangers. Go back to your people, to your father and mother. Stay here in Moav.”
But they didn’t want to listen. And as they walked on the road, Naomi was begging them to go back and she was arguing with them. You can picture that.
Nobody was present except Hakadosh Baruch Hu and He was watching the proceedings. These three lonely women were on the country road, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu was listening. And finally Orpah broke down and she wept and she kissed Naomi and she turned back to Moav.
Then Naomi turned to Rus and said, “Look what the other one did. You do the same. Go back home.”
And Rus said, “Nothing doing. Nothing doing!”
And Naomi starts begging her. Rus says, “Nothing doing! יƒכ¿≈ לּ ̇ ׁ∆ ר ֲ̆‡¿≈ל≈ך‡ – Wherever you go I’m going to go, ָּ̇מו‡ יƒ ָּ̇ מוּ ̇ ׁ∆ ר ֲ̆‡ַּב – I’ll die wherever you die, יƒﬠַמּ¿ﬠַמּ≈ ך – your people will be my people!”
When Hakadosh Baruch Hu saw that Rus was exercising her free will, her bechirah in the middah of ne’emanus, of emunah, loyalty, that she wanted to stay together with Naomi no matter what, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu pushed her tongue to say one more thing. And she added, “ָי ֹ̃ל¡‡¿ךƒַי ֹ̃ל‡ו≈ – Your G-d is my G-d.” Ooh wah! That’s already something else! That was siyata diShmaya. Hashem said, “I’m going to give you a gift,” and her tongue said these words. That was Hashem’s gift to Rus, her schar for being a ne’eman, for being loyal.
And we know what happened. When Moshiach will come, he won’t deny that he came from his Bubbeh Rus.
And it’s only because of the middah of loyalty that she was zocheh to it. That’s a big lesson for us, that Hashem loves those who are loyal. That’s why we say those words in the Akdamos on Shavuos: ‡ָ ָּ̇ נו ̇¿∆מ‡ ¿ּב רַ ם¿ּב - but because of our emunah. Hakadosh Baruch Hu despite everything, because of our emunah, that’s why sof kol sof He’s going to give us all the things. He’s describing Olam Haba, the happiness of the tzaddikim in Olam Haba, and he says, ‡ָ ָּ̇ נו ̇¿∆מ‡ ¿ּב רַ ם¿ּב – it’s all because of emunah, ‡ָ ּ̇ה≈מָ נו וֹף ̃ ¿ּ ̇ – because of the strength of their loyalty.
We have to know that this is the middah because of which the Am Yisroel is a nation forever. We belong to Hashem forever. 'ַהּב יםƒ ̃ב≈¿ּ„הַ ∆ םּ ַ̇‡ ¿ו≈ יכ ∆ם ֹ̃ל¡‡ – Because you’re loyal to Me, because you’ll stick to Me, כ∆ם¿ֻּלּכ יםƒּחַ יוֹםּהַי – you’ll be forever. It’s a covenant, a bris Hashem made. If you’re daveik in me, then just as I am forever, then you’ll be forever too. Because of your loyalty to Me, because you never forget what happened that day at Har Sinai when you became My people forever, that’s why you will all be with Me forever – in this world and the next.
