Posted on 06/07/16
Three thousand, three hundred and twenty eight years ago we undertook a remarkable mission. It was a daunting one, filled with many challenges. Whether it was the personal difficulties we faced or the national ones of persecution, war and exile. At times the trials seemed insurmountable. Yet, we have survived. Our numbers have diminished though, due to those who succumbed at the hands of our physical enemies as well as those who fell to the forces of assimilation.
Although we still face adversaries throughout the world, especially in our beloved land, Eretz Yisrael, nevertheless we feel relatively secure as compared to previous generations. What we do uniquely face though is the power of temptation, the pull towards a liberal world culture, that at times seem overwhelmingly enticing and often impossibly conquerable. With the barriers of the ghetto removed coupled with easy access to multimedia, we are exposed to vast wastelands of extremely dangerous territory as never before.
How does one gain the superhuman strength we need to overcome these powerful natural forces?
One of our nation’s most brilliant heroes was Rus, the ‘Mother of Royalty’, from whom the Moshiach will descend. We celebrate her greatness on this holiday of Shavuos to serve as an inspiration for our own personal re-acceptance of the yoke of Torah and Mitzvos each year on this day.
What secret power did she possess? How did she ward off the irresistible urge to remain comfortably ensconced as a beautiful and privileged Moabite princess?
After the death of her husband and two sons-in-law, Naomi reveals her intention to return from the fields of Moab to the land of Judah, discouraging her daughters-in-law, Rus and Orpah, from joining her. Despite having initially indicating her willingness to join, Orpah tearfully kisses her goodbye. But Rus remains steadfast in her resolve to continue the journey with Naomi.
ורות דבקה בָּהּ (רות א יד), but Rus clung to her.
The Holy Arizal mystically dissects this phrase translating it as: ורות דבק בְּ 'ה', but Rus clung to the letter Hey.
We are taught that the letter ה, hei, is the letter that G-d utilized in creating this physical world.
אלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם (בראשית ב ד), These are the products of the heaven and the earth when they were created. The word for ‘when they were created’, בהבראם, has a small ה inserted within it, indicating that it was from this letter ה that all of creation stemmed. (רש"י שם)
But it is not only the DNA of creation, it is the letter added to both Avram and Sarai, transforming them from אברם into אברהם and שרי to שרה. The impact Avraham and Sarah had on the world at large, in ‘creating’ converts to a monotheistic belief of G-d, is symbolized in this letter.
Two renowned Tannaim, בן בג בג, Ben Bag Bag, and בן הא הא, Ben Hei Hei, were thus named because they were children of converts, associated with the legacy of Avraham and Sarah, the Patriarch and Matriarch of all converts. The name הֵא הֵא, emphasizing the letter ‘Hei’ and בג בג, not only an acronym for בן גרים, son of convert, but also two letters ב and ג that are numerically equivalent to 2 and 3 respectively, equaling 5, corresponding to the fifth letter in the Aleph Bais, ה! (הרשב"ם)
The word בהבראם also possesses the exact same letters that spell out בְּאַבְרָהָם, ‘with Avraham’, indicating the merit of Avraham in the creation of the world.(ב"ר)
What is the secret of this letter that is the catalyst for all creation? How is it relevant specifically to Avraham, Sarah and all converts? And what is the deeper implication in Rus clinging to this letter?
In the beloved piyut of Akdamus, that we read early Shavuos morning we recite:
ובאתא קלילא דלית בה מששותא, And with a letter that is slight, and does not have substance
זמין כל עבידתיה בהך יומי שתא, He readied all His work in those six days
The ‘slight’ letter of creation we refer to is the letter ה. It is simply the sound of the flowing breath that travels nearly effortlessly through the throat. It is the physical sound most closely related to His pure מחשבה, unexpressed thought that this world contains within it. It not only signifies the ease with which G-d created the world but also the world as the expression of G-d’s, so to speak, ‘life force’, His very essence that is evident in every facet of creation.
One who hears and senses the ‘breath of G-d’ in every aspect of life is one who clings to the power of creation. It is the material world that erects barriers that prevent us from feeling that ‘flowing’ presence. But one who can peer through the darkness and connect to the ever present ‘slight letter’ of creation, the 'ה', can then overcome one’s own personal limitations recreating oneself with newly found strengths.
Didn’t Avraham and Sarah miraculously overcome their natural deficiencies in being able to bear children? A convert too, transforms as a קטן שנולד, like a newborn child. No wonder it is the ‘slight’ letter 'ה' that is the cherished letter of converts.
The key though lies in being able to see that presence constantly. One who ‘clings’, as Rus did, to the letter ה, will be equipped with the power of creation to achieve one’s goals overcoming the natural obstacles that may stand in our way.
Perhaps that is the deeper message in that famous convert’s, Ben Bag Bag, message of, הפך בה והפך בה דכלא בה, ובה תחזי וסיב ובלה בה ומנה לא תזוע שאין לך מדה טובה הימנה (אבות ה כו), Delve in it and continue to delve in it, for everything is in it, and through it you will view, grow old and aged over it and do not depart from it, because there is no greater measure than it.
One must view every detail of life through the lens of Torah, every single aspect and every single moment, for the duration of life. There is no better instrument to perceive G-d’s presence than with the Torah He gave us.
Before Rus fully converted, Naomi presents to her the full gamut of responsibility she must assume. We intimate the exact laws that Naomi laid out before her from Rus’ response when she consented by stating:
כי אל אשר תלכי אלך ובאשר תליני אלין עמך עמי ואל-היך אל-הי באשר תמותי ושם אקבר (רות טז-יז), For wherever you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people are my people, and your G-d is my G-d; where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.
The Talmud says her first acceptance to “go where you go” was in response to being told by Naomi that there are restrictions of how far one may walk on Shabbos, the Laws of Tchum Shabbos.
Her second mention of lodging was her accepting the Laws of Yichud that one may not be in seclusion with another man.
Naomi then told her of the 613 commandments that are incumbent on us, to which Rus replies, “your nation is my nation”.
Rus was then told about the prohibition of idolatry to which she readily accedes by declaring “your G-d is my G-d”.
Hearing about the penalty of capital punishment for certain sins, Rus asserts she is ready to live as a Jew with all its consequences for failing to live up to its requirements, even facing death.
She is informed that even after death one who is executed is buried in separate plots for those types of sinners, to which she promptly accepts as well.(יבמות מז. ורש"י עה"פ)
The order of presentation seems amiss. Why start out with the restriction of Techum Shabbos? If Rus had already accepted all of the 613 mitzvos on her third declaration why question her intent to refrain from idolatry, isn’t abstaining from idolatry one of the 613? Why in general were these specific items spelled out more than so many others?
Perhaps it wasn’t the commandments per se that Naomi was concerned with. Naomi was demonstrating for Rus the all-encompassing ‘measure’ of Torah that defines every aspect of life.
It governs your freedom of movement, symbolized by the law of Techum; you can’t simply go wherever you please.
It restricts your social life, as indicated in the laws of Yichud; dictating who you can easily associate with and with whom it is taboo.
The idea of 613 mitzvos simply reflects on the corresponding 248 limbs and organs with our 365 sinews, blood vessels and nerves, a total of 613, which the Torah encompasses fully, directing and governing each of our actions.
The subsequent assent to the laws of idolatry reflect on the requirement of the Torah to not even possess heretical thoughts, accenting the fact that even our thoughts must be consumed by Torah and are not solely our own.
The notion of courts that impose capital penalties attests to our not even being able to fully choose and are susceptible to being held accountable and punished.
And even after we die, there are laws that determine our fate as well; to where we may be buried.
The Torah and its laws inspire and illuminate every action, moment and being.
It’s not about duty as much as it is about our willingness to immerse ourselves fully within Torah and the word of G-d, living with His presence with full consciousness.
Rus eagerly embedded herself within the full embrace of G-d and His Torah transforming herself into its very essence, The lesson of the letter ה that she wholly absorbed when added to the letters in her name רות, would produce the same letters in the word תורה! (אריז"ל)
When the Jews journeyed in the desert they travelled in four groups. Each division raised a flag that had three letters of the names from the Patriarchs, אברהם, יצחק and יעקב, equally distributed on them with a total of 12 letters. But there are thirteen letters. Rabbeinu Bechaya teaches that the letter ה, hei, was indicated in the Cloud of Glory that hovered over the entire encampment.
We must allow ourselves to be enveloped by G-d’s loving embrace by committing to seek Him in every endeavor through the prism of Torah and meriting in turn to to overcome the seemingly impossible hurdles through the mighty power of creation itself.
באהבה,
חג שמח,
צבי טייכמאן