Lessons from Ruth

By Renee Ravich, WLCJ Vice President and Region Services Chair

As I read the Shabbat messages each week, I’m amazed at how many of my “sisters” have chosen to live a Jewish life, though raised in another faith, as I was.

My journey began in my teens as I looked around for a religion where I felt comfortable. I was raised Catholic, though my parents weren’t very observant at the time. We celebrated Christmas and Easter as secular holidays, surrounded by extended family and friends with lots of food and noise.

So, imagine how I felt at my first seder with my high school sweetheart (now husband) and his family and their friends, with lots of food and noise. It felt strangely familiar. Though I mispronounced “Paschal” for my first reading, I was welcomed back for the second night. I returned for that and many more holiday celebrations.

I converted (the word used at the time) just before we got married. I stood before the beit din (court of three) and explained why I wanted to be Jewish. I dipped in the mikveh (ritual bath). Then I was asked to choose my Hebrew name. I chose Ruth Esther, not because of who these women were, but for being named in Sabbath Prayer, a song from “Fiddler on the Roof” that I find beautiful and meaningful.

My learning continued as I led a tot-Shabbat with my children in tow, had a job as a secular studies teacher in a Jewish day school, and attended Shabbat services on a regular basis. I finally became a Bat Mitzvah on Shavuot, when we read the story of Ruth. How’s that for beshert (meant to be)?

Being required to write a book report for that celebration, I chose Reading Ruth, edited by Judith A. Kates and Gail Twersky Reimer. I thought I should learn more about the person behind the name I chose. The story fascinated me. Elimelech, his wife and sons move to Moab. The sons marry two Moabite women. Some people debate whether the prohibition of marrying a Moabite applied to men and women or only men. Regardless, the women are accepted into the family where they learn about Judaism. Then the three men die. Naomi encouraged the women to return to their families. Orpah went back but Ruth did not. Why? Was Ruth more comfortable living a Jewish life? Did she appreciate that she was included as a member of this Jewish family?

I’m also awed by the simplicity of how Ruth convinced Naomi to let her follow: “For wherever you go, I will go: wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16) Ruth declared that she accepted Naomi’s way of living Jewishly and Naomi took Ruth to her homeland. Once there, Ruth gleans from the fields where Boaz, a relative of Naomi, sees Ruth and orders the men to not molest her, to give her water and to even put extra grain around the edges of the field. Ruth asks. “Why are you so kind as to single me out, when I am a foreigner?” (Ruth 2:10) Boaz replies he has heard all Ruth did to help Naomi and that she came to a people she hadn’t known before. He appreciated that Ruth lived by Jewish values and respected her.

There are many lessons to learn from Ruth. I’d like to focus on inclusivity. Women’s League for Conservative Judaism and Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs’ Inclusion Resource Guidebook defines inclusion as “The process, practice, or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized; a commitment to welcoming, respecting, accepting, institutionally supporting, and valuing diverse identities and communities of people.” (The full guide is available on the www.wlcj.org website).

The guide shares steps on how we can create synagogue spaces where people with differing abilities, interfaith families, people with diverse gender identities and ethnicities and those seeking a Jewish life, like Ruth, are included as full members.

We have the opportunity on Shavuot and throughout the year to share with our family, friends and greater community the lessons learned from Ruth – welcoming, respecting and accepting. May we grow our Jewish world by including all who wish to be a part of it.

Chag Shavuot Sameach

Renee Ravich
rravich@wlcj.org
WLCJ Vice President and Region Services Chair