Shavout Week - Day #3
Main Reading: Ruth 2:14-23
2:14 She sat beside the reapers, and they passed her parched grain. She ate, was satisfied, and left some of it. 15 When she had risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and don’t reproach her. 16 Also pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave it. Let her glean, and don’t rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah[a] of barley. 18 She took it up and went into the city. Then her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned, and she brought out and gave to her that which she had left after she had had enough.
19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? Where have you worked? Blessed be he who noticed you.”
She told her mother-in-law, with whom she had worked, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by Hashem, who has not abandoned his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Naomi said to her, “The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.”
21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “Yes, he said to me, ‘You shall stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’”
22 Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, and that they not meet you in any other field.” 23 So she stayed close to the maidens of Boaz, to glean to the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and she lived with her mother-in-law.
Today’s Meditation:
In this story, we are continuing to learn that people are watching out for Ruth. Boaz seems to be keeping her in his field, with trusted workers and also maidens there for her to associate with. It seems like this is a reward for her faithfulness to Naomi, her mother-in-law. Ruth has developed a reputation for being dedicated and hard-working. The community around her respects her for this. Notably, we should be the same.
The whole story of Ruth reflects Hashem’s commandments coming alive in His people and in those who want to be part of Israel. The instructions Hashem has given through the Torah, and the way to live, are evident in the characters. This is an example of how Hashem wants us to live, and the reason He has given us His rules for doing so. We must be aware and attentive.
