Don’t worry.
You didn’t lose a day. It’s not Thursday night yet.
I am reaching out a day early as Thursday evening we will begin celebrating the holiday of Shavuot, the commemoration of receiving the Torah on Mt Sinai.
There are no specific mitzvot connected to the upcoming holiday (although there are many customs including eating delicious dairy foods and adorning our synagogues and homes with flowers and greenery to remind us that Mt Sinai bloomed with vegetation prior to the giving of the Torah and since we did not understand the dietary laws that had just been established, we ate dairy). There are no Mitzvot because we want to focus on the Torah itself. Therefore there is a custom to stay up all night studying Torah and of course you can combine that with eating delicious cheese cake…
On the second day of the holiday we read the Book of Ruth.
It too has no specific laws and rules. Instead it is a treatise of loving kindness.
Ruth was a princess. She was the daughter of the King of Moab, and she married into a Jewish family who had run away from their home and responsibilities in the Land of Israel and moved to Moab.
Ten years later, after a series of calamities, the Jewish family was decimated. Only the matriarch, Naomi, and her two daughters in law were left. One daughter in law was named Ruth. The other daughter in law was Ruth’s sister Orpah. Naomi realized there was no future for her in the land of Moab and she decided to return to her home in the Land of Israel.
Her two daughters in law were desperate to accompany Naomi on her arduous journey home.
This is a testimony to the deeply loving and caring relationship Naomi had created with her daughters in law.
(Or in the words of a beloved friend and mentor, daughters in love!)
Despite the fact that they were royalty, these young women were willing to give up their fame and fortune to follow the destitute Naomi.
Naomi fought them long and hard.
Finally, Orpah capitulated. She decided to turn her back on Naomi and go back to her previous life.
Ruth did not relent.
She clung fiercely to Naomi and insisted on continuing the journey with her.
Our Sages teach us that each of these women made a specific choice which had a significant impact on their future.
Orpah chose not to accept the invitation to meet her higher self and returned home to a life of degradation and dissolution. She ultimately gave birth to a child of great physical stature, the famous Goliath who fought and cursed the Jewish people.
And what of Ruth’s choice?
She clung to Naomi because she recognized the spiritual greatness of Naomi and she wanted to emulate her elevated behavior. At that juncture, Ruth chose to become a part of the Jewish people. Her offspring was none other than King David, small in physical size but a spiritual giant and the progenitor of Mashiach, The Messiah.
These two women came from the same home and the same background. Each made a choice that affected the course of their future offspring, and indeed the course of history, as it was ultimately David who triumphed when he slew Goliath. (And they were related!!)
The Book of Ruth teaches us that we are not defined by our beginnings. Each person has the opportunity to rise above their circumstances and recreate themselves.
Everyone can answer the invitation to meet their higher self by engaging in Torah study and using the teachings and wisdom therein, to help find the tools to achieve an elevated path.
In Ruth’s case, the path she took had an eternal impact on her world.
She might have started life as a Moabite princess, but she is now known as the Mother of Royalty, as her future children are the Kings of Israel, David and Solomon.
Ruth teaches us to never underestimate ourselves.
Her actions drive home the point that what we do for others and the choices we make, can affect eternal change.
Chag Sameach!
Happy Shavuot 💐🌺🌸🌹🥀
And Shabbat Shalom and so much love!