Jewish Inspiration Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Jewish Inspiration Podcast.

Good morning, everybody. It is so wonderful to be back here this morning. We're going to do today a special program Joining the rest of our Complete Bible Crash Course. We're going to do the book of Ruth Why are we doing the book of Ruth? First is before we begin I want to dedicate today's class to a dear student of ours, Aliza Ruth. Her name is Ruth. I want to dedicate all of our inspiration all of our growth that she should have complete healing. She should have complete success she should find tremendous happiness and Security in her life and everything should go well for her. Amen.

Okay, so let's talk about the book of Ruth. We're gonna get into All of the details we'll jump right in the first we need to understand the summary the big picture Ruth She was a Moabite princess
She rejected idolatry she leaves her royal privileges and converts to Judaism becomes the great-grandmother of King David We know that the Messiah comes from King David and The book of Ruth is part of the writings We have three sections of the written Torah the Torah the prophets and the writings The book of Ruth is part of the third section the writings of Tanakh and was written by the Prophet Samuel it takes place during the period of the judges
There are no new laws written in the book of Ruth However, our sages tell us we learn a lot from it that later Provides law for us. So there's no laws and it is there's a great emphasis on this in the writings About the book of Ruth, there's very limited laws That can be learned and we're gonna we're gonna point them out soon included in Tanakh This book was included. There are many many many many books of prophets that were not included in
Tanakh, in fact, they say it's close to a million different books of prophets that were not included Why because what was included in Tanakh was only things that will be for eternal Lessons for the Jewish people. We don't just want something which was in its time It was important to know this is important for us to know today This is important information for each of us to connect with today in our generation 2026 here in Houston, Texas as well Also, it is to validate King David's legitimate rulership
In King David's time there was for example Doeg who was questioning David's right to the kingship. He was questioning David's lineage therefore it was specifically included in Torah that you should be no doubt of exactly how we got to King David Additionally, it was written to teach the reward for performing acts of kindness Ruth had Tremendous dedication to Naomi her mother-in-law and Boaz provided for Ruth We see that there's constant kindness and we'll see an amazing thing
The Gona Vilna says that the essence of a book can be seen in the beginning and the end of the book Just read the first page the last page. You can tell what the essence of the book is He says when you look at the beginning of the Torah, you see that God Acted with kindness to Adam and Eve he got them clothes God took care of them We look at the end of the Torah. What do we see God buried Moses?
So the entire book of the Torah everything that Hashem wants us to learn is about kindness Everything you see in this book of Ruth is about kindness Hashem never forgets acts of kindness and he and he rewards the Actions of kindness and in this case was three four generations later Rewarded King David came from Ruth because of her kindness The 400 year span of the judges was a difficult time with many spiritual ups and downs
That began with the death of Joshua who conquered and divided the land of Israel and ended with the establishment of the monarchy of King Saul the judges and sages failed to keep the people elevated and inspired after conquering the land and they would slip back into their old idolatrous habits and Adapt the culture and behaviors of their neighboring nations erasing their own identity meant to be a light they were supposed to be a light to the nations and
sometimes they would fall prey to the enticements of their neighboring nations and The book of Ruth has four chapters now there are four main characters That we need to introduce before we go into the into the book of Ruth Elimelech He was a leader of the Jewish people. He was a very wealthy and influential man, and he lived in Bethlehem He leaves Bethlehem because as we'll see there was a famine and he was like fed up
With dealing with the Jewish people and inspiring them trying to get them to come back to their ways He says I'm out and he checks out. Naomi was his wife. He was the wife. She was the wife of Elimelech She was a very pious and holy woman and she was the mother of Machlon and Chilion who married Ruth and Orpah Ruth was the daughter of Eglon the Moabite king and the wife of Machlon Boaz
Was the nephew of Elimelech and he was a judge and he was an elder statesman and he was Ruth's second husband so Why is the book of Ruth read in the festival of Shavuot? We know we're going to read the book of Shavuot a book of Ruth every year We read it during the holiday of Shavuot. Why are we reading it during the holiday of Shavuot? There are many reasons given and I've listed as many of them that I can find
Prior to today's class so that we can we can understand this The first is to teach that the Torah is acquired only through difficulty of an affliction Not through luxury it is not possible. Our sages, the Ramchal Ramchal says you have a choice. You can either be immersed spiritually or you can be immersed physically Materialistically you can't have both One comes at the expense of the other if you want to grow spiritually
You're gonna have to let go of the physical of the materialistic if you want to grow physically Materialistically, it's gonna come at the expense of your spiritual pursuits and this we see here in our book of Ruth Second reason it's read is That the story of oh So what does that have to do with Shavuot because we receive the Torah in Shavuot and this is an introduction to learning How to receive how to be a recipient of the Torah
Additionally the story takes place during the harvest season. Shavuot is called Chag HaKatzir the Holiday of harvesting and Therefore it's also read at this time on this holiday Additionally, it describes Ruth's conversion to Judaism Which is also the birth of the Jewish nation on the holiday of Shavuot when we all all the Jewish people Quote converted to a new Jewish nation and accepted the yoke of Hashem by accepting the Torah at Mount Sinai So we were all converts on Shavuot
So Ruth is not anything of an exception She is part of the Jewish people just like we converted on Shavuot. We accepted the yoke of Hashem and the yoke of the Torah on Shavuot so did she We also know that King David was born and died on the holiday of Shavuot And this book is about King David's lineage with the final words and Yishai bore David that's how that the whole book of Ruth concludes and
Then to underscore the necessity of the oral Torah the Torah prohibits Jews to marry Moabites So the oral Torah, however teaches us that the prohibition refers to their men and Not to their women the oral and written Torah are eternally linked It is impossible to understand to attain to Absorb the written Torah without the oral Torah one is required for the other additionally the numerical value of the name Ruth of Rus is 606
Plus the seven Noahide laws is the six hundred and thirteen Commandments and our sages bring that Ruth was able She was born ready for conversion because in her name plus the seven Noahide laws made her worthy of receiving the full Torah and Finally Ruth lived a very long life and even witnessed the greatness of King Solomon her great Great grandchild she was the embodiment of the proclamation that the Jewish people made at Sinai and
We renew every year on the holiday of Shavuot. We will do and we will listen we will do and we will hear We started our Relationship with God with a commitment. We're all in we're all in as Jewish people with no barriers with no boundaries We're in what it's going to entail that we'll listen later. We'll find out later what it's going to entail Okay, so that is the introduction to the book of Ruth and now we're going to go in chapter
Number one is about leaving the land and returning during the reign of Afton who's actually Boaz it was another name of his a Famine hits the land of Israel Elie Melech a leader and a wealth a very wealthy influential man leaves Bethlehem for Moab with his wife and their two sons Machlon and Hylion rejecting his opportunity to help his people who were sinners and As the land is hit with a famine. He wants nothing to do with them Elie Melech Important I put the small little points
There's the bullets Elie Melech did not want to help the poor or awaken the people to repent This is seen by our sages as a terrible thing You have a responsibility You have the ability of influence and you don't use it You're held accountable. And what do we see? He's criticized and he's punished for leaving the land of Israel with no intention of returning. He's like I'm out. I'm out I have my money. He was very wealthy. He takes his wife. He stakes his children
He says I'm out you guys so long you guys can figure this out on your own I'm not gonna awaken the people. I'm not gonna support the poor people. I'm out and this was a Devastating error on Elie Melech's part Elie Melech died and his sons Machlon Married Orpah and sorry Hylion married Orpah and Machlon married Ruth Both Moabite women and the daughters of Eglon the king of Moab now There's a big question in the Talmud whether or not they possibly converted for marriage or unwillingly or by force
which is seen to be as not a worthy cause not a worthy reason for conversion and As we mentioned previously the biblical prohibition to marry Moabites is not to marry their men But it does not apply to marrying their women After 10 years Machlon and Hylion died Naomi heard that the famine in the land of Israel ended and she returned with her daughters-in-law to the land of Israel
The famine ended due to the people's repentance and absence prayers. We see that what did Boaz do? Boaz didn't run away as well Boaz prayed Boaz beseeched the heavens on behalf of his generation The people did repent and the famine was taken away So there's another point here, which is important for us to know God communicates Very clearly we see this throughout the Torah We see this throughout the prophets that when the Jewish people did good they got good when they didn't do good
They got no good We see this Throughout our history look in the Torah. You'll see it by the generation of Abraham. You'll see it with Isaac We'll see with Jacob. You'll see what the prophet with with the with the tribes of Israel We see it with the Jewish people in Egypt. We see it throughout our history when the Jewish people were in the desert There was constantly ups and downs when the Jewish people did good they got good When they did no good They got no good
Okay, so the famine ended due to the people's repentance Naomi tells Ruth and Arpah to return home to Moab in peace for I am a bitter woman now From here our sages learned that converts are Supposed to be dissuaded. We're supposed to tell them down. Don't do it. Don't do it. Why why would you do it now? What was she telling her children on a very her daughter's-in-law in a very practical level Naomi was telling Ruth and Arpah
I'm not I'm too old to have children. You're not gonna be able to marry my if I have a child now Till you're able to marry that child is gonna be too many years from now, you're not gonna be able to have children She says just go find another husband give up on me and now, you know create a family That was her way of dissuading them Naomi was more bitter because she lost a husband and two children While they just lost a husband
So she says I am more bitter because they could say well we're also bitter we lost the husband she says yeah but I lost the husband and two children and Therefore she was saying to them just go Arpah kissed Naomi and returned to her home to her family and The Talmud questions whether or not Arpah was an insincere convert Arpah comes from the term Oreph which is turning which is the neck the Oreph is the neck She turned her neck away from Hashem
Arpah is that also the same letters as Pharaoh? What did Pharaoh do? He also turned his neck away from Hashem many years later though a battle erupted between their great-grandsons who was David and Goliath Goliath was the great-grandson of Arpah and The David was the great-grandson of Ruth and these were sisters originally their great-grandchildren was the fight of David and Goliath Ruth pledged loyalty to Naomi her mother-in-law and to the Jewish people and remained with her She said I'm with you and what did she say?
These are the words do not entreat me to leave you where you go. I will go where you lodge I will lodge your nation is My nation and Your God is my God Only death will separate us is what she said if you look at the words in the verses of Ruth They they come to life when we understand the genuine Sincerity that Ruth had to the Jewish people and to her mother-in-law Naomi the two arrived back in Bethlehem during the harvest season as paupers and
Now to travel to Israel is Not simple. It's a spiritual elevation more than a mere physical transport It's not just we get on a plane and go I have been with dozens and dozens of people in Israel on a trip from Houston, Texas and something remarkable happens when you Reach the hills leading up to Jerusalem for some reason you look around the bus and everyone is teary-eyed and everyone's getting Emotional I'm like what's going on?
What's happening? We're on a trip. We like nothing happened when we landed in in Turkey and We had a stopover Nothing happened when we landed in Tel Aviv nothing happened when we visited the Golan Heights, but we come to Jerusalem There's something unique that happens Why because our soul? our soul is coming to its home our Soul says that the channel from heaven is Jerusalem. So people feel so connected in Jerusalem they feel like they're on a different plane
When we travel to the land of Israel in general Israel is not just a place that we go for tourism Israel is a place of tremendous holiness. It's not a physical experience. It becomes a spiritual one The people were astounded that Naomi once young and wealthy returned so poor now the Midrash says Rashi brings this that the day they returned was also the funeral of Boaz's wife and Everyone attended the funeral and who walks in that day
Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi. They're like what what's going on here? Who are you? And they look at her They're like, oh my goodness. This is you you were that young Beautiful wealthy woman and now she was impoverished poor to nothing What did she tell everyone? She says don't call me Naomi rather. Call me Mara. Call me bitterness Naomi means pleasant But now I'm bitter because God punished me This was this was measure for measure as they didn't help the poor they became poor
This also begins the salvation because from now Now they became known to Boaz who provided for them and eventually marries Ruth We see that sometimes what looks to be the most humiliating most challenging experience is actually the entrance way for salvation we see that it becomes the pathway for the growth of Messiah of King David So sometimes we don't realize this but the point where we're at our lowest The point where we feel so broken is actually the beginning of our growth
Never give up Never give up. I can't even tell you how many people I spoke to Who have told me that they were destitute. They had no money in their wallet They had nothing left. They were broken. They were riddled with addictions. They were riddled with the worst ready to give up on life and That was just the beginning of a beautiful life ahead of them Sometimes we feel down we feel that it's difficult and it's unattainable for us Never ever give up
Chapter number two is when Ruth meets Boaz now. I want to turn before we go Into the chapter number two. I want to just preface this chapter with the last page here page number four and Look at a few important things. Number one the laws of agriculture distribution to the poor Agricultural distribution of the poor. This is from Leviticus 19 verse number nine and up so we have three Important things that we need to know about this
Number one is Leket when the harvesters would cut stalks of grain if one or two stalks would fall to the ground They could not be picked up. They needed to be left for the poor Why? Our sages tell us because the poor people are looking and they're seeing oh, they dropped the stalk Oh, we can we'll have food for tonight They're so excited if you turn around and pick up that food now You took you you you dropped their heart falls right Hashem recognizes the plight of the poor
Of the destitute and therefore there's a special mitzvah of Leket do not pick up if it's a stalk or two Do not pick it up. Let the poor people take it Shikra when gathering the bound sheaves of grain if one or two sheaves are forgotten They must be left for the poor at harvest time the poor would follow after the harvesters to glean whatever they could not and then finally Peah was
Allotting a corner of the field for the poor which the poor could choose to either divide equally or everyone grab Whatever they could get so this is important to know these laws. These are biblical laws Which we will see Ruth was very knowledgeable in Second the laws of land inheritance Jewish land received in Israel may not be sold unless in Case of great need
So when the Jewish people you had the tribe of Judah and you tribe of Benyamin everyone got their their inheritance of the land of Israel There weren't a lot of sell it unless it was a very very important reason a great need now the sellers relatives have an obligation as the Torah tells us to redeem the field if the seller himself could not afford to and And then finally if a widow inherited her husband her husband's land It was customary for the Redeemer to marry the widow
So that the name of the original owner would be remembered on the land as well So it shouldn't be she just married. He just married the widow, but he also bought purchased the field so they're able to revive the name of the deceased and Then two more important things that we need to discuss the laws of marriage with a convert divorcee or Widow a convert as well as a divorcee or widow must not remarry until three months have passed so I've been in in
Situations where a person converted to Judaism or where a couple sadly got divorced They're not allowed to remarry and they're very clearly told us you're not allowed to get married within 90 days Why in order to determine that she was not pregnant beforehand? Right thus we're able to identify who the father is After three months the fetus is visible. And at that point we can assume that she is not pregnant already now there are times where a woman would get married immediately after
Conversion, but that's where her husband she was already civilly married and she was already with her husband who is Jewish there was actually a story here in Houston. A woman was in her conversion process got pregnant with her husband and She was under the chuppah and During the wedding she went into labor During the wedding she went into labor and she was taken to the hospital had a baby that baby's Jewish, by the way
It doesn't have to be conceived as a Jew. It has to be born as a Jew Okay. Now additionally the background of Yibum and Halitza. We're gonna see this in a minute This might be a new concept for some but I want to just talk about this clearly Yibum means a lever at marriage a childless childless widow is Commanded to marry her deceased husband's brother to perpetuate his legacy through children Yibum is not practiced nowadays
Now when Yibum is not performed Halitza happens. What is Halitza? It's a release an Alternative ceremony where the widow and the brother-in-law formally declined to marry So what's the process? Number one is the betin provides a special shoe with straps a leather shoe with straps And then there's a declaration both declare that they do not wish to marry one another Then there's the removal the shoe is removed the widow Using her right hand unties and removes the shoe from the right foot of the brother-in-law
Then she spits on the floor or directly in the shoe in front of him and Declare so shall be done to the man who will not build his brother's household And finally, there's a release the widow is then issued a document called a get Halitza which officially frees her to remarry The widow is not permitted to marry anyone unless and until Yibum or Halitza occur and Similarly a field's Redeemer would marry the widow so that the field would still be remembered as relating to its original
Owner, okay. So this is the introduction here to chapter number two Chapter number two. Let's go back to page number two Ruth collects sheaves Leket from Boaz's field with Naomi's consent now again This was her nephew Boaz was her nephew She tells Ruth you go and you collect sheaves there you can go collect the Leket Boaz noticing Ruth's uniqueness Asks about Ruth Demands she not be mistreated By Jewish law part of the harvest goes to the poor Ruth
Meticulously observed these laws by collecting only two stalks at a time Ruth was also modest. She demonstrated get great modesty in How she bent down to collect the grain Bending only her knees and not from her waist which would cause her dress to inappropriately ride up says the Talmud This was the first harvest after years of famine. The women were desperate to feed their hungry children they grabbed in an immodest matter only one woman modestly bent over and
Was strict on how many grains could be taken and that is what Boaz said to whom is this maiden? The reply was that she was the daughter-in-law of Naomi who taught her modesty We see that the great impact that was made by Naomi on her daughter-in-law Ruth She learned from her ways Boaz was very impressed by Ruth on page number three By her kindness towards Naomi and the commitment to the Jewish people Boaz said Hashem will repay Ruth. Hashem will repay you for your kindness and
This comforted her greatly now. You have to know a couple of things here. Number one The kindness towards Naomi. Why didn't Naomi go to the fields herself? Why did she collect her own? Sheaves, why didn't she go collect her own? So we have to understand something a great sensitivity We discussed recently in our thinking Talmudist series about how we need to be sensitive to a person when we give charity It's not only about the amount you give it's how you give it's feeling an empathy for their level of poverty
Why because you have two people come to you asking for Charity one person was always poor. So you give him what you give him But one person may have been a CEO of a fortune 500 company He used to have a chauffeur. He used to have it's a very different kind of charity because he's not just that He has a dignity that's been lost. Where did Naomi come from? She came from great wealth. Her husband was the Go-to guy the big boss of town
She comes back impoverished, you know, what a humiliating thing it would be for her to go to the fields to collect sheaves of grain so that she can feed herself Naomi understood this Naomi says you stay home. I will collect for you. I Am NOT embarrassed to go. I'm poor. It's okay. Yeah, even though she came from royalty, but nobody knows me here You everybody knows for you would be devastatingly embarrassing
For you to go and to collect like this and therefore it's a very special act of kindness that Ruth did for her mother-in-law Additionally she was committed to the Jewish people She says I'm in I'm all in no matter what comes my way And this is something that we need to understand is so critically important in our journey of our own personal growth We're always going to have darts thrown at us. The Yetzirah is not gonna let us
Have an easy ride ever. There's nobody as we'll see soon. Nobody has a free ride We said oh if I only was married to that person I wouldn't have that issue you'd have other issues if I only had that kind of money I would have wouldn't have that issue You would have other issues if I only lived in this place if I only lived in a busy only had children like this if I Only went like that
Everybody is thinking about all the ways my life would be perfect if if if if that's not the way it is You with your life with exactly your circumstances can succeed because this is the life Hashem gave you this is the challenge you're in right now because Hashem Taylor made this for you you can overcome it you can become great Don't run away from who you are Naomi saw this she saw that being part of the Jewish people includes challenges. Yes, it's going to be difficult
It's not always going to be Roses and lilies and everything is going to be perfect. It's going to have its difficulties She embraced it and she said I'm all-in Boaz fed Ruth and gave her grains which she gave to Naomi and reported his tremendous kindness Naomi encourages Ruth to continue gleaning wheat from Boaz's field throughout the harvesting season and with this concludes chapter Number two chapter number three Naomi encourages Ruth to meet Boaz meet him now We mentioned the laws of Yibum and Chalitza
Naomi encourages Ruth to dress in her finery and lay at the feet of the righteous Boaz in the field to offer him the first rites to Elimelech's fields again Naomi's husband and To marry her and to marry Ruth Boaz was Elimelech's nephew and would sleep in the fields to deter the thieves Because it was crop season. It was harvesting season He used to sleep in the field to ensure that the thieves wouldn't steal his wealth
So Ruth went to Boaz in the field and as Naomi told her to make these requests Now the Midrash says that she changed into her finery When she arrived in the fields Because she was very modest. She didn't want to call attention to herself the whole way to the field So when she got to the field she modestly changed her clothes to Dress in her finest Boaz awoke to Ruth at her feet
Impressed by her desire to have Yibum performed. All right. Now is a very interesting thing Boaz was an older guy. She was a young woman go with some spring chicken. What do you need me for? What do you need Boaz for? because she saw That there would be a descendant King David that would come from Boaz and Ruth She said I'm not here for me. I'm here for the future generations and Uncovering the feet was a hint to Halitza an act performed when Yibum is rejected, right?
Will you take off the shoe? She was specifically by the feet hinting either Yibum marry me or Halitza set me free With the widow removing the shoe of the man Boaz sent her home before daybreak with six grains of barley in a kerchief and Enough for one meal and he says by the time you finish breakfast, I'll figure out I'll have this matter settled what happened Boaz sent her back early to avoid creating rumors. It's an important thing that we learned from this as well
Don't be in a situation where there can be a Thought that you're doing something inappropriate an example for this the halacha says That if you borrow money from someone who is also the The gobbite stucco now in every community there used to be the person who would distribute money for the poor So he would have on his right pocket. He would have the community funds his left pocket. He would have his own wallet You can't confuse them
So it says that when you return money that you borrowed from this person don't return it in the marketplace Why not so people shouldn't think he's stealing money from the community From the community pocket that he's pocketing it for himself It means you have to take an extra measure to ensure that people's don't have the wrong idea That people don't suspect because sometimes people say I saw I saw he put it in his pocket he took it It's not his money. He's the community
It's gonna become a place of doubt where people are now not gonna trust you. You have to always avoid a questionable situation Always avoid a questionable situation don't put yourself in doubt All right. There's a halacha for example that a man and a woman who are not married Cannot be alone in a room together a Man and a woman who are not married cannot be in a room together. Are you suspecting? Yes, we're suspecting the halacha suspects
Everyone doesn't make a difference how old it doesn't make a difference how pious how righteous how long of a beard you have you have It doesn't make a difference No one is trusted So if someone is going to have a meeting it should it should be in a public place In a public place where there's no questions Right if it's absolutely necessary It's one of the reasons in the Torch Center. We have cameras in every room
We have windows in every door for this reason specifically there is no privacy. There is no privacy never always remove doubt there should never be a questionable Situation where someone can be questioned About whether or not they were appropriate or not and here we see this from Boaz. Boaz sent her back early He says people are gonna be waking up shortly. I don't want them suspecting us of having an inappropriate relationship Before any of this is taken care of additionally he gave how many grains six grains
Why six grains? Our sages tell us that this was hinting to The offspring Their offspring that would be the Redeemers of the Jewish people as it says in Isaiah that the Messiah will possess six Specific traits they are wisdom understanding counsel might strength knowledge and fear of heaven These are the six that were represented in these six grains that were given to Ruth then Boaz says one second There's a closer relative Elimelech's living brother named in the in the book of Ruth as Plony Almoni
Which is basically like saying John Doe Right Torah doesn't want to say his name to keep his privacy and to not humiliate him who takes precedence from the fields for the fields and Yibum and If he refused Boaz says I will perform both Purchase Elimelech's fields from Naomi and marry Ruth with Yibum and then we begin chapter number four Boaz together with ten elders approached the relative this Plony Almoni and offer the first rights to the estate of Elimelech and to marry Ruth
But he refused to do both He says to marry a Moabite and depreciate my lineage I'll do the field but to marry her also. No Some say that this wasn't his real name But used Sona to embarrass him Boaz immediately redeemed the estate and took Ruth as a wife in front of the ten elders as witnesses because we know that every marriage you need to have a minimum of two witnesses that Are there to testify on this marriage the people present blessed Ruth
to be like the matriarchs Rachel and Leah and Boaz died the next day But not before Ruth became pregnant from him Ruth had a baby. His name was Oved Naomi remained with Ruth and served as a nurse for that baby Oved. Oved had a son named Yishai Yishai had a son named David and that is King David. This concludes the book of Ruth now I Want to give you some background on Moab We know that Ruth came from Moab. We know that Orpah came from Moab
We know that Elimelech and his wife Naomi and their two children Malchun and Chilion ran away to Moab. What was Moab? so we know that Lot was Abraham's nephew and his prime disciple Abraham Evicted him and Lot went to Sodom. You remember then they came to save him the angels came to save Lot after the destruction of Sodom Lot committed incest with his daughters and the older one the older one had a son named Moab. Why Moab? Because the word Moab is may of from my father
And if you look in Genesis, you'll see this Genesis 19 verse 37 The Kabbalists explained that a spark of holiness from Lot Returned to the Jewish people many generations later like a recessive gene in the form of Ruth This spark was the Messiah hidden from view. So we don't always understand why things happen But it turned out that this needed to happen with Lot and his daughter to bring the spark of Messiah Through Ruth and then later to King David
In the eyes of God Elimelech was guilty of deserting his people in the time of need This is something we mentioned a little earlier, but it's important for us to reemphasize that when we have an Opportunity coming our way. We're not to turn a blind eye. We need to embrace Challenges we need to embrace don't run away from them. Don't wave the white flag and I'm done We don't resign We face our challenges
Face it because Hashem gave it to you because he loves you. He believes in you He knows you can overcome it. There is no challenge you cannot overcome You know how we know that? Because God doesn't give us challenges. We cannot handle God you hear this Carla? God does not give us a challenge. We cannot overcome It's important to remember this Get the strength God gave me this that means that he believes in me. He believes I can overcome this
He believes that I can I can elevate myself to this challenge And we're not always gonna win all challenges, but we're not running away from our challenges You'll fail once you'll fail twice you feel three times You know one of the we have behind you here on our magnificent Don Leavitt family library We have books of righteous sages great Sadiqin and Sometimes it does a tremendous injustice By having these books because we look at them and we're like wow these are such incredible sages
Right they were they were holy from the womb. They were like they were saints when they were children. It's not true It's not true. It's not fear They face challenge after challenge after challenge anybody who thinks that the Chavetz Chaim never spoke Lashon Hara is wrong The Chavetz Chaim became great because he did fault Lashon Hara and he overcame it Once and another time and another time and then became the great Chavetz Chaim. They don't write the challenges
They don't write all of the stumbling blocks that were in front of him that he overcame that made him great It wasn't that he was born great. It was because he had times that he fell Sheva yipol tzaddik vikam we fall and that's how we become great That's how you become a tzaddik not because oh I fell. Oh woe is to me. Goodbye. I'm out No, we don't give up We push forward the challenge is there to tell us Hashem is here. He's saying you could do this
Because when you do you're gonna be so much greater When what do we do to for our child our child is trying to walk take their first step So we're standing there and we let go and we're like come come come come to mommy come to mommy They take their first step and then they fall forget it. Forget it done. No more walking for you Do we say that no get up and let's try again. You got this
And they fall after a second step forget it. No, we don't stop That's the way we are we're a little bit bigger children a little bit bigger babies and when we have stumbling blocks don't Stop continue because the next time you'll take another step the next time you take another step before you know it. You'll be running You'll trample over your Yetzirah. This is what Elie Melik ran away from he said there's a challenge here. I'm out We don't run away from our challenges
This generation that we're in is a disposable generation Everything you you have a problem with your car. Just just get rid of it. Goodbye new car. There's no repair shops anymore There's no auto body shops anymore. Just throw it out buy a new one and It's like that with a lot of things and sadly people do that in relationships We are a relationship between a husband and wife Runs into a difficulty that's normal. That's natural. You're two different worlds colliding. Oh
But I don't want it to collide. I want it to just be peace and harmony. Well, this is not a movie It's real life. We're going to have challenges. We're going to have things that don't work exactly as we expected Work it through It's not a disposable cup. You just take a new one It's not a this this whole This whole world of like everything is just like no problem. Just buy a new one. It's not a big deal
It's the mr. Mr. Beast world. It's okay another hundred hundred thousand dollars. No problem It's not reality You have a challenge deal with the challenge Embrace the challenge strategize and how to overcome that challenge Okay. The next thing I want to point out from this is that life is a journey We go from place to place from challenge to challenge Everyone has their own journey. If you notice in the words of Ruth, I didn't include it here
but if you look and they journeyed and they went and they came and they went and they gone and this and that the Place the place that it says and they went and they came and they went and they came there's so much traveling We see that the Jewish people from Egypt To Mount Sinai to the Land of Israel. Do you know how many times they traveled how many times they camped? disembarked camped again disembarked 42 times the Torah tells us
42 times they kept on settling their selves. Okay. Now we're this is our new home a week later. Let's go Pack your bags. We're going where we going now. Well The last place before they entered the Land of Israel was Arvo's Moab the Land of Moab That was the last challenge We all are traveling through life. We all have different stops along the way and Each person has their own unique journey
And if you look at the person sitting to your right sitting to your left, you're like, well Why don't I have a life like them they don't have problems like I have why don't I have a life like them? They don't have a spouse like I have why don't I have like a life like them? They don't have children like I have why don't I have life like them? What and we're busy trying to compare don't compare you have your own journey your own unique journey that you
Have all of the skills and abilities to handle We're all on a journey was called the wandering Jew the Jewish people. How many travels do we have to travel? We're all the way now 8,000 miles away from our homeland and We're not the furthest right? We pray for this every single day. They kept saying no Yeah, had me are back on force or it's a sham bring us back From all four corners of the world. We're all on a journey. We're all looking for something
We're all trying to connect Embrace your journey Okay Now I'm Ella Ellie Malik has Sons and they lose their wealth Why do they lose their wealth they lose their wealth in order to awaken them to repent our sages tell us Hashem communicates with us We don't have affliction. We don't have pain For no reason it's a message from Hashem Hashem is talking to us. Hashem is Communicating with us as we recently learned
that affliction comes to a person for one of two reasons either as a cop era as an atonement or Because Hashem loves you and wants you to have more reward in the world to come We don't understand We don't understand from stubbing our toe to heaven forbid being in a car accident or to having any type of illness or God forbid losing a child or a parent These are devastatingly painful things Why should a child who's four years old lose a parent?
Why should a parent lose a child? He's a devastatingly painful things Hashem gives every person a challenge That's uniquely tailored for them so that they can become the greatest they can be When I went with my son-in-law after he lost him and my daughter lost the baby a year ago We went to my rabbi and my rabbi the first things he said He said clearly Hashem believes that you're far greater
Because Hashem gave you a challenge that most people don't have that means God believes in you you're up here You're not up here like ordinary people. You know, we think we're like just like everybody else God gave you such a big challenge He thinks you are mighty great people Each one of us with all of our challenges everyone has unique challenges You're unique you're special. I can't reiterate this enough I can't reiterate this enough We need to wake up. We need to wake up
to our own messages God sends very direct Very clear messages and sometimes we're like no it can't be that's why God gave Yes, our sages tell us you bump your head. There's something with your head You you hurt your arm. It's something with your arm. You hurt your leg. Maybe I didn't run to synagogue Maybe I didn't run to a mitzvah fast enough. Maybe I didn't do something I should have done Our sages tell us God Took away prophecy
You know what God gave us instead of prophecy We don't have prophets anymore What we do have is affliction Affliction our sages teach us is prophecy pain is Prophecy when you experience any form of pain whether it be physical emotional It's a pain that Hashem is communicating with us We need to garner the strength to overcome to investigate to evaluate to analyze seek advice About how the message needs to be interpreted. It's a very personal thing It's a very personal message. Okay
next converting to Judaism converting to Judaism it must be real and It's not an easy path converting to Judaism is a Challenging task why because Judaism has one thing that no other religion has it has no interest in numbers It's not about winning the numbers game. We're not about having more than the Christians or the Muslims Look the Jewish people what we're maybe 20 million Jews in the world. We have 2 billion Christians 2 billion Muslims I Mean get your act together Jews
Which we're not about numbers when we never were about numbers We're about quality that means we need to be all in when someone is coming to convert They need to be it needs to be real It needs to we need to be all in what does that entail a challenging path You're gonna come to the rabbis. You can say hey, I want to convert. I want to connect to Hashem more
I want to be part of the Jewish people and the rabbis will probably ask you what's wrong with you Don't you see anti-semitism? Don't you see how many challenges the Jewish people have fallen to? Have you not been to our class where we list all of the different pogroms and all of the different annihilations? Where's our list? Here we go. Here's my favorite list, right? This reminds us that we're special Book burnings forced conversions state burnings. Yeah, I didn't see Islam suffer this I didn't see Christians suffer this
I did see Jews. This is three full pages in small text three double-sided pages of Expulsion after one purgatory another purgatory mob attacks public hangings in England in England I'm asking you all was so proper, right and In England there were public hangings of Jews Why would someone want to join the Jewish people it needs to be real it needs to be because I want a Connection with God, which is not only seven channels of the Noahide laws. It's 613 channels of connection
Yes, it includes Shabbos. I'm not gonna be able to drive but I want it. We have to be all in Converting to Judaism is never going to be an easy path. It's conversion of if you ever take a an outlet of 210 and you plug it into a 110 or 110 in a 220 right the British or the the the Israeli and the European and the American you put it in the wrong without a converter You know what's gonna happen it's gonna it's gonna blow up
It's not the right voltage to change and Become a Jew you have to change the whole voltage So what is the voltage? What is the voltage our sages teach us that the pillar of? Ruth was kindness what we learn from Ruth is Kindness now, it's very interesting that the term Ruth comes from thirst in Hebrew Rivaya, okay is thirst David was thirsty and longing for song to Hashem It says that in his ancestry coming from Ruth was already a longing of David
Wanting to sing the songs to Hashem, but the pillar of kindness We find in Ruth and this is the key. We have to know that Jewish people. It's unbelievable You've never seen anything like this in Jerusalem, there is a book a book this thick like the New York City Yellow Pages of Chesed organizations of Kindness organizations of gamach's, you know what a gamach is gamilut chasadim Gamilut chasadim that's what a gamach is. You know, what does that mean? It's a free loan organization
Private my own home. I could have my own let me explain to you You won't find this anywhere in the world This is what the Jewish people are about for any type of Device that you will ever think of there is an organization that will have a loan for it For example, you need any anything medical for sure. You need a walker They have it. They have a gamach for it You need to borrow a pair of tefillin because you're traveling they have a gamach for it
You need to borrow a Torah scroll because you're traveling. There's a gamach for it You need a pen in every yeshiva. They have a pen gamach so you can write they have a paper gamach Anything you they have anything on my wife. I remember when she was pregnant. They have special amulets That's against ayin hara against an evil eye and it's for an easy labor You call up the gamach you say hey, can I borrow it? They're like no problem. When is your ninth month?
We'll give it to you for the ninth month because they have it's all checked out for the next you know And they learn why one person had it they said, you know what I spent money for it. Why should someone else spend money? I'll loan it out and it goes from person to person to person Well, it's just acts of kindness. My brother had a gamach that he ran listen to this a cardboard box gamach
You move right you have all of these boxes you're gonna throw it to the recycling bin Give it to the gamach when someone else is moving. Why should they buy new boxes? They can borrow it from you and pass it on to the next Everything that you can think of that you can help another person we have in our home We have a table and cheers gamach people come all the time. Cheers are always out coming going Right. It's unbelievable. That's what we're about
We're about acts of kindness being selfless being there for somebody else when they need we have in Houston many many many different gamachs Again, it's gmilut chassidim acts of kindness for another person. We learned this from Ruth Another thing we learned from Ruth modesty Modesty plays a central role in Judaism Women need to know their role and their power in this world have unbelievable power Ruth understood this Ruth understood the power the influence sometimes women want to make call attention to themselves and
It can be devastating for other people I was once listening to a lecture and This was from a very very very prominent rabbi. He has since passed away for Mattis yo Salman and Rabba to see how Salman was talking to about a thousand women in Lakewood, New Jersey, and he said to them ladies, please I'm begging you I Speak to the men. I am the head of he was the spiritual leader of the Lakewood yeshiva till he passed away several years ago
He says I speak to the men. He says you're causing so much damage To your friend's husband. He says tone it down Please I beg you Tone it down You don't have to dress to the nines every time you leave your home You don't have to poke out your neighbor's husband's eyes every time you leave your home, it's it's an amazing thing to say That a woman should understand the responsibility yes to your husband be drop-dead gorgeous. No problem
But be careful how other people see you there's a responsibility here of modesty right? I'm dressing. I'm fully dressed. I'm Modesty in other ways a Modesty in other ways of every person needs to make their own calculation every person needs to know Yes, I Have a role. I have a responsibility But where is it not my responsibility? Where do I not need to? make an impact and To balance that very very carefully Ruth understood my job here is to attract the attention of Boaz
not other people Where does she change? Not before she leaves her home so that everybody can see in fact one of the sages daughter It says that when she walked by all of the guards She took an extra stride To get their attention She was punished for it Why are you enticing other people? You have a role you have a job. It's a very powerful role Know it you have to know your place and finally
Hashem made all of this occur the entire story of Ruth so that Boaz and Ruth can get together and they can have a child who can bring about the Messiah King David All of this you wonder she has to travel to Moab to meet the Moabite Princesses so that Ruth can then become attached to her mother-in-law Naomi so that they can travel back impoverished so that all of these things We sometimes can't see and understand the future
But if we look back we see wow, this was such a perfectly woven Story how Hashem brings us about exactly how we need to go to travel to attain our own greatness my dear friends Shavuos is a very very powerful time. It's a powerful time for us to reassess our commitment our dedication our devotion to the Torah It's a time for us to re Pronounce our Nasev Nishma. We're all in whatever it takes Hashem should succeed away and Hashem should bless us every day
Have a beautiful Yom Tov!

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