“Ruth: The First Jew-by-Choice”

   The Book of Ruth is read on Shavuot, the second of the three Pilgrimage Festivals (the first being Pesach, the third Succot). Ruth was the first recorded Jew-by-Choice. She was a Moabite who had married Naomi’s son, Mahlon. Though her mother-in-law encouraged her and her other daughter-in-law, Orpah, to go back to Moab after the death of both Mahlon and his brother, Chilion, Ruth alone chose to stay, saying “…your people shall be my people,” a phrase the sages said indicated her conversion.

   What makes Ruth connected to Shavuot is that her story occurred during the barley harvest, but what makes Ruth herself such an important figure is that she is the great-grandmother of King David. Ruth married Boaz and they produced Obed who was the father of Jesse, David’s dad. Though we liberal Jews believe not in a messiah but a messianic age, David is to be an ancestor of the messiah. Therefore Ruth, a Jew-by-Choice, plays a very important role in the biblical history of Judaism. 

   When a woman converts to Judaism some rabbis insist, they take on the Hebrew name Rute (Ruth) to indicate their status. I, and most liberal rabbis, encourage them to learn about other women in our tradition – past and present – and to choose a name that suits them best. They may also select a name not necessarily related to any person. 

The Book of Ruth is one of the five megillot found in the Ketuvim/Writings section of Hebrew Scriptures. All of them are connected to a holiday or festival…Ruth to Shavuot; Esther to Purim; Lamentations to Tish’a b’Av; Ecclesiastes to Succot; and Song of Songs to Passover.