וְאִם לֹא תִפְדֶה וַעֲרַפְתו יג יג If you won’t give a sheep to redeem your donkey, then the donkey gets his neck chopped off, Davka from his: עורֶף back. Why? We can suggest that: ע ורֶף the back symbolizes rejection and not wanting, like we find by Rus and Orpah. When Orpah rejected her sweet Naomi mother-in-law, whose name “Naomi” means: דְ רָכֶיהָ דַרְ כֵי נֹעַם משלי ג יז “sweetness” of the Torah way, she was: פָּ נְ תָ ה עו רֶף showed the back of her neck. (Medrash).
And that very night she fell into the worst Arayos and was lost forever. (Medrash). If a person doesn’t eventually give up his fake Olam HaZeh in favor of true Olam HaBah pleasure, he will eventually lose everything. Old people have problems with their taste buds, and they lose their Ta'ava drives; a real: וַעֲרַפְתו losing your entire Olam HaZeh fun, which indeed has no Kiyum (continued existence).
עורֶף The back is probably a symbol of rejection, when you turn your face away, like the K’ruvim which always faced each other, to symbolize Hashem’s love for us, until the years before the Churban when they turned away. עֶגְלָה עֲרוּפָה is perhaps the same idea, since we assume that the dead person was rejected, and not treated with ample kindness.
Notice how Yaakov blessed Yehuda with: יָדְ ךָ בְעֹרֶף אֹיְבֶיךָ ויחי מט ח You will smite your enemies on the back of their heads. Yehuda means thanking and recognizing and appreciating; that’s why he is the opposite of those who reject and don’t appreciate. That’s why he wins wars against their evil Midda of: בְעֹרֶף אֹיְבֶיךָ showing the back of their necks.
And indeed, Rus is a name which means the extreme opposite of Orpah. It means that she was the Bubby of Dovid, who: שֶרִ וָּהוּ לְהַקָדוש בָרוּךְ הוּא בְשִ ירות וְתִשְבָחות ברכות ז ב satiated Hashem with song and praise.
