Who doesn鈥檛 love a good mystery? Starting tonight Jews celebrate Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, marking seven weeks since Passover that Leviticus instructs us to count. Here鈥檚 why I think of Shavuot as a whodunit.
Shavuot originated as a summer wheat harvest festival but, in the post-Biblical diaspora, it became associated with the Israelites鈥� acceptance of God鈥檚 Torah at Mt. Sinai. The dual origins of the holiday 鈥� responsive to both the natural cycle of agrarian time and the narrative cycle of the redemptive biblical epic 鈥� are crystalized in the Book of Ruth traditionally read on Shavuot.
The Book of Ruth鈥檚 narrative is a tangled story of kinship and inheritance, but its themes of communal continuity and redemption are clear. Despite obvious appearances to the contrary, it reads like a mystery novel whose meaning is revealed through hints provided in arcane historical and legal details.
In the narrative, the Israelite husband and wife Elimelech and Naomi emigrate from Bethlehem to Moab to escape famine. Elimelech leases out his land in Bethlehem but dies in Moab before he can reclaim it. Their sons, Mahlon and Chilion, marry Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah, but within a decade the sons also die, leaving Naomi a widow without heirs. She decides to return to Bethlehem, telling her daughters-in-law to go back to their people. Orpah reluctantly departs but Ruth refuses, famously declaring her abiding allegiance to Naomi: 鈥渨hither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God鈥� (Ruth 1:16).
Naomi takes Ruth back with her to Bethlehem, where she is supported by Ruth鈥檚 crop gleanings. When Boaz, a close relative of Elimelech, approvingly notices Ruth gleaning in his fields, Naomi crafts a plan to marry off Ruth to this kinsman in keeping with the levitate obligation of near kin to marry a relative鈥檚 widow. Ruth publicly enacts the plan by uncovering and submissively lying at Boaz鈥檚 feet while he sleeps amongst other farmers on the threshing floor. Boaz, who accepts but defers Ruth鈥檚 entreaty, must in turn negotiate with another nearer kinsman for Ruth鈥檚 hand. This accomplished, Boaz and Ruth redeem Elimelech鈥檚 leased land; their son Obed is revealed to be a grandfather of King David. The text establishes Ruth鈥檚 legitimate place in the Israelite royal lineage, despite her Moabite origins, and also rewards Boaz with inclusion in the concluding genealogy.
What are the Book鈥檚 thematic connections to the Shavuot holiday?
The agrarian setting of the story, of course, recalls Shavuot鈥檚 agricultural origins. Ruth鈥檚 conversion and the redemption of Elimelech鈥檚 land similarly parallels the Israelites鈥� acceptance of the Torah without conditions at Mt. Sinai, in exchange for God鈥檚 promise of landed nationhood: 鈥淎ll that the Lord hath spoken, we will do鈥� (Exodus 19:8).
Like a good mystery novel, revelatory discovery is crucial in both stories. We follow Ruth鈥檚 narrative uncertain of what its twists and turns portend. The mystery theme is highlighted in Naomi鈥檚 climactic question after Ruth returns, as yet unwed, from the threshing floor: 鈥淲ho art thou, my daughter?鈥� (Ruth 3:16). We realize only at the end that Ruth鈥檚 story legitimizes an unexpected royal genealogy which includes the convert.
Shavuot鈥檚 countdown from the nadir of exodus to the zenith of the Torah鈥檚 transmission at Sinai emphasizes the mystery of divine revelation. The foundational authority of the Torah for Jews paradoxically endows mere words with divine import. God鈥檚 will, the scripture鈥檚 enigmatic inspiration, can be apprehended only indirectly 鈥� mysteriously, we might say 鈥� through human words. Just so, Ruth鈥檚 unexplained faith is that of the People with whom she allies herself.
Lincoln Z. Shlensky is an associate professor in the Department of English at the University of Victoria; he is a member of Congregation Emanu-El synagogue in Victoria.
You can read more articles from our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking
*This article was published in the print edition of the sa国际传媒 on Saturday, June 11 2016
