Ruth – Transforming Vice to Virtue
by Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher
How can we understand the fact that
our Mashiach, King David, descends from sullied and problematic lineage? His
paternal ancestors, including his great grandfather Boaz, were the result of an
act of incest between Yehuda and his daughter-in-law Tamar. She deceived Yehuda
by posing as a harlot in order to have his child. Yet Yehuda is the father of
the tribe from whom the Mashiach will emerge (Bereshit 38-39, Ruth 4).
What is Judaism teaching by having
the Mashiach descend from incestuous acts? The Midrash states that this
Messianic ancestry was purposely designed, the proof-text being the strange use
of the word ZERA (seed) rather than BEN (son), in reference to Boaz and Lot.
When Boaz married Ruth, the Jews
blessed the couple at the gates of the city of Efrat, saying, "May your
house become like the house of Peretz, whom Tamar bore to Yehuda, from the ZERA
(seed) which G-D gives you from this NA'ARA, (young woman)" (Ruth 4).
It is strange for the text to refer
to Ruth, a widow for at least a decade as a NA'ARA, and the reference to Lot's
act of incest with his daughter which seems like a bizarre blessing. Based on
this verse in Ruth, the Midrash interprets the verse in Bereshit 19, "And
the elder daughter said to the younger, 'Come let us make our father drunk with
wine and let us be with him, so that we may enable our father to give life to
his ZERA (seed)." The Midrash continues that this ZERA in the Book of Ruth
is the SAME ZERA that comes from Lot and his daughter (Midrash Ruth Zuta).
The idea that good can emerge from
evil is built into the Jewish concept of the Mashiach. Just as the
grand-daughter of the cruel and immoral King of Moab could become the loving,
modest, and gracious Ruth, all sinful people can rehabilitate and re-Jewvenate themselves
and bring the Mashiach. As the Mishnah in Avot states, “According to the effort
and the pain is the gain.”
Rav Soloveitchik understood this
idea from this Midrash. The Rav explains that this idea is precisely the lesson
that Lot's daughter wanted to impress on her younger sister in Bereshit 19,
"The elder sister said to the younger, 'Our father is old and there is no
man on earth to come to us in the manner of all societies.'" The Midrash
Bereshit Rabba states that Lot’s daughters believed the entire world had been
destroyed as in the days of Noach's Flood.
Thus, Rav Soloveitchik explains,
the elder daughter suggested that they each deceive and seduce their father
through intoxication, so that they could repopulate the earth. The younger daughter
hesitates at the act of incest, and she sees no point in attempting to restart
the world. After all, G-D attempted to establish a perfect world, first in Eden
with Adam and Chava and again with Noach and the Covenant of the Rainbow
(Bereshit 9). Both ended in failure, for humanity sank repeatedly into
immorality and corruption. This daughter felt it would be absurd and in this
case of incest, immoral, to begin humanity once again.
The elder daughter would not give
up, said Rav Soloveitchik. She argued that G-D would never have created the
human being in the Divine Image if evil were to triumph, and if human civilization
would destroy itself.
No, she insisted, there must be a
way to transform Vice into Virtue. Because we must have faith in the
possibility and the awesome power of Teshuva. As the verse in Mishlei states,
"The Tzaddik will fail and fall 7 times, but he keeps rising up." The
Baal Shem-Tov explains this verse as ONLY after a person fails and falls 7
times, and doesn't give up, but continues to try to better himself, only then
is he a Tzaddik!
One of the Rambam’s 13 Principles
of Faith is belief in the coming of Mashiach. Rav Soloveitchik explained that
this faith and belief in Mashiach is based on faith and belief in the power of
Teshuva!
*corrected per Rabbi Sprecher after my conversation with him during the week of Parashath Pinchas. - HDG
*corrected per Rabbi Sprecher after my conversation with him during the week of Parashath Pinchas. - HDG
I Did It My Way!
by Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher
Our Holy Torah, G-d’s most
treasured possession, which He gave us on Shavuot, contains exactly 304,805
letters. There is not even one extra letter in our Holy Torah, let alone an
extra verse. So why does the Torah in Parshat Naso repeat the Tribal Princes’
offerings which they brought to dedicate the Altar in the Mishkan 12 identical
times? The Torah could have simply given the details of the first prince’s offering
and then stated that this same identical offering was also brought by all 12
leaders.
The Ramban explains that the repetition
is necessary to teach that each and every Jew is unique and special. Even
though we all perform the same identical Mitzvot but in the words of the famous
Frank Sinatra song, “No one can do it MY WAY!” Every Jew has a unique and
special contribution to the Torah that is only revealed thru his personal role and
mission in life.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe expands on
this idea. He explains that each and every Jew has a unique and different way
of elevating the physical world and drawing a different type of spiritual
energy into the world.
We all recite the same words in our
prayers and perform the exact same Mitzvot. Yet we are all individuals. We are
not only permitted to express our own individual feelings in our prayers and in
our Mitzvot, but the Rebbe says we are REQUIRED to do so!
Furthermore, just as the Torah
repeats the same words but each time the meaning is different, so must we bring
new meaning to the Mitzvot and prayers that we repeat daily.
Each and every day’s prayers and Mitzvot
should reflect the unique spiritual accomplishments we have achieved since the
last time we prayed or performed that specific Mitzvah.
This is some of the food for
thought that we should ingest on the Holy Yom Tov of Shavuot along with the cheesecake!
***
Shabbath Shalom and Hag Sameah ! שבת שלום וחג שמח
Would like to correct the wording where it says that Ruth was maternal great grandmother of Dovid Hamelech. Actually, it was from the father's side. The mothers, David's mother, grandmother from that side (maternal) were all Jewish. Ruth married Boaz who is the grandfather of David's father, Yishai. Ruth is the great grandmother who was married to Boaz, the great grandfather of David, all from his father's side.
ReplyDeleteRuth was not Dovid's maternal great grandmother but his paternal great grandmother!
Anon, you may have a great catch there! I have to speak with the Rabbi, since it's his article and not mine. BE"H I will post any corrections that result.
ReplyDeleteNo one else has noticed what you did until now. Many thanks for taking the time to comment.
Shabbat shalom umevorah.
HDG
Anon 12 July, 2019 00:33, you DO have a great catch there, thank you!
ReplyDeleteI spoke with the Rabbi and he told me that he meant Ruth's great grandmother, and gave me permission to correct the mistake here. You may not find this elsewhere where it's published because the editors may not have realized it needs to be corrected and may not have asked permission.
By the way, Anon, R' Sprecher's first language is not English. It's Yiddish. So, please kindly forgive his mistake! Apparently, until we discussed the matter, he was not aware that he had the ideas mixed up!
ReplyDelete