article on megillat ruth in jpost 20 Jun 06
Posted by רות in Megillat Ruth.1 comment so far
By way of MO Woman I found this article, The challenge of Ruth by Dr Berel Dov Lerner.
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.
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!
