learning Ruth – part I – intro 27 Jan 06
Posted by רות in Megillat Ruth.2 comments
Some housekeeping first:
First, I’m amazed at the dearth of information on the web (and in print) on Ruth. Perhaps I am not very good at searching, but I find lots on Purim and Malka Esther, but very little in comparison for Ruth.
Please note that I’ve never had formal learning outside of my kallah and conversion classes. I taught myself to read Hebrew as an adult (I can’t speak very well at all, though I can read out-loud with fewer errors as the experience increases) and have not been able to take as many classes (in anything) as I wish. My husband is patient with my desire to learn and helps me out as he can. A five year old probably can learn better than I. I struggle with Rashi script and sometimes forget what certain letters are called (tet or tav? arg!)
I’m including the “English” names of people and books as I remember for those of you who might not be familiar with the Hebrew names. I’ll try to add them to the glossary (maybe make a “people” list? hmmm.) Moshe=Moses and Chavah = Eve are two good examples.
This is the first time I’m attempting to “learn” in public. I’m nervous. I appreciate any guidance you may offer. Ok, I’m jumping in now…
I hope to answer the following two questions:
1. Who wrote Ruth?
2. Why is it placed in the ‘canon’ where it is?
We know from Bava Basara 14b that the prophet Shmuel (Samuel) wrote Ruth. He also wrote Judges. Who is he? What are some differences between these books? Why didn’t he just “include Ruth within Judges” ?
Shmuel is the son of Chanah and Elikana. Chanah was tormented by Peninah, who had many children, while she was without child. Chanah davened for a child and the High Priest Elimelech told her that haShem heard her prayer. (From her prayer we gain the silent sh’monei esrei). Shmuel means “borrowed from gd”. Shmuel was raised by Elimelech and became the last of the Judges and the first of the prophets.
Judges was written as a history of Israel. It was written as a history of what occurred before Shmuel’s era. No private indivual is singled out for attention. It was written for kol (all) Israel. It is similar in style to that of the chumash. The first of the group of prophets actually pick up where Devarim left off.
Ruth by contrast is a narrative on one individual. When David became King he found that Ruth was already written illuminating his heritage and assisting in his establishment of rule.
in Bava Basara 14b, the Rabbis note that the seder (order) of the Ketuvim (Writings) is: Ruth, Sefer Tehillim (Book of Psalms), Iyov (Job), Mishlei (Proverbs), Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), Shir ha-shirim (Song of Songs), Eichah/Kinot (Lamenations), Daniel, Megillah Esther, Ezra, Divrei Hayomim (Chronicles). [it's toward the bottom, 9 lines from the bottom]. However today we generally group the megillot together. The order has apparently not been fully “set” and may differ slightly in different printed editions. Ashkenazi (German) have a minhag of a different sedra as: Sifrei Emet (poetic books) {Tehillim, Mishlei, Iyov}, Hamesh Megillot (5 megillot) {Shir ha-Shirim, Ruth, Eichah, Kohelet, Esther}, and other historical books {Daniel, Ezra, Divrei Hayomim}. It is this Ashkenaz tradition which we find most often in a printed tanach.
Please see also my source list.
busy! 26 Jan 06
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I’ve been quite busy b”H. Bli neder, I will try to post some things I’ve learned reacently on Ruth. Mostly just “housekeeping” things about why she’s placed where she is and things of that sort. things I find fascinating that you probably learn only if you go to yeshivah or day school. Does it count if I live next door to one? 
bought something 24 Jan 06
Posted by רות in Books, Megillat Ruth.add a comment
Despite my better budgeting judgment (let’s just say I completely blew it today) I purchased a sefer on megillot Esther, Ruth, and Shir HaShirim. I chose this particular volume because it included the text of Rashi (in Rashi script) along with others such as Ibn Ezra, Sforno, and some other commentators I had not encountered before. I doubt I’ll jump into the Rashi any time soon, but just having this in my collection makes me happy. I want to add solid pieces to my library. I want to have a volume I can pull lovingly down from the shelf and use for many years. I hope that I will grow into all this volume has to offer.
Iy’H i’ll try to post a bit on the history of this megillah. I have only read three pages of (English) introduction today and learned a good deal. Yay! I’m excited to be learning again!
conversations 23 Jan 06
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Why is it that any conversation I have with friends (who are not orthodox; ok, let me include my immediate family in there) they can’t understand at all why I’m orthodox.
The general argument I get:
Boys are bigs; girls are dirty.
I shoot back best I can. Maybe it’s been most difficult because I’ve been in a funk lately. Davening isn’t where I’d like it to be (or where it’s been for the past few years). I’m questioning a good deal why I’m living where I do — the “community” isn’t there and I’d like some support (and neighbors who think similarly). I’m having problems with some parts of tznius. I can’t understand how a wig can count for kisui rosh (or not violate all of tznius) when it a) often looks better than her own hair and b) often brings about questions of is she or isn’t she — aka marit ayin. I’m having some tznius issues. In my community — well — I’ll leave it as there are posters for tzi-knee-us in the lobby of the mikveh. I’m no longer sure why pants are quite so forbidden. And I find a pair of trousers much more modest than some of the skirts I see those who claim they are super observant wearing.
A goal I have for this blog is to do an in-depth (at my level anyway) learning of Megillah Ruth.. something I’ve been meaning to do for ages and just haven’t. Why does Esther get all of the attention and we rarely hear about Ruth? My husband’s guess is because school isn’t in session at shavous time. I’m not quite sure that is true but I’m determined to at least learn Ruth instead of saying I will. So, bli neder, after I visit a bookstore and buy some commentary watch out for some cheder-level learning …
kisui rosh 17 Jan 06
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Shanna is having a debate about how (or more specifically, with what) she’s covering. Sephardim and Ashkenazim have many different minhagim and pshat on kisui rosh. It’s completely different than men wearing kippot (or hats, but more on that later, I’ve been collecting quotes/ideas/posts from Dov Bear). This mitzvah is based on verses in parshat Naso.
Hide and Seek by Lynne Schreiber is a wonderful collection of essays and personal reflections on kisui rosh (much like a much loved-by-me anthology Total Immersion by Rivkah Slonim.
I’m not going to delve further into this topic until I have the time to put together some decent references. Please be patient.
Why I’ve Not Been Posting… 15 Jan 06
Posted by רות in Uncategorized.4 comments
I’ve not been posting because I say one thing, the meaning of which I believe to be perfectly clear, and the individual to whom I am talking does the complete opposite. Once I get that straightened out I hope to be posting.
e.g.
me: Hi Honey
dh (dear husband): Hi dear
me: Could you please give me the password to the database? Is it blah?
[dh Spends 20 minutes installing a program he wrote to his specs to interact with the database in question then gets up to leave ...]
me (confused and tried to ask this the entire 20 minutes): honey, I just asked for the password, is it blah?
[dh gets up annoyed...]
That’s the most recent example. I have a laundry list of others. I’ll just stop now. It will be safest.
