Chesed, lovingkindness, is a major theme in the book of Ruth. And yet, the rabbis have little sympathy for Orpah. To the contrary!
Dr.
Barry Dov Walfish
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Boaz’s speech to the unnamed kinsman (Ruth 4:5) is difficult. By interpreting one element as an enclitic mem, as found in Eblaite, and by making use of the alternative textual option known as the ketiv, a new meaning for Boaz’s claim emerges.
Prof.
Gary Rendsburg
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Ruth’s consumption of barley and wheat gleaned from the field of Boaz was an integral step in her transformation from a “foreigner” who arrived from the fields of Moab to a “daughter” in Judah.
Prof.
Cynthia Chapman
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A tale of chesed and chuzpah
Prof. Rabbi
Tamara Cohn Eskenazi
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The mistaken exchange of the letter gimel for a vav corrupted the meaning of a key verse in Ruth.
Dr.
Raanan Eichler
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By comparing the aggressive approach of Nehemiah towards the foreign wives of the Judahites with the positive role of Ruth as a Moabite woman who married into an Israelite family, we can attempt to uncover the core messages about Jewish identity that the two texts have in common.
Prof.
Jacob L. Wright
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Prof. Rabbi
Tamara Cohn Eskenazi
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A look at Naomi’s theology, as expressed in her poem, and how it carries her through her grief and back into productive engagement.
Prof. Rabbi
Jonathan Magonet
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The agricultural allocations for the poor outlined in Leviticus and Deuteronomy are a series of negative commandments, in which God forbids Israelite householders from gathering some of their produce and requires them to leave it for the poor. The rabbis took these laws a step further, granting the poor property rights over the allocations even before they are gathered.
Dr.
Gregg E. Gardner
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The book of Ruth tells the story of David’s great grandmother Ruth, a Moabite woman who attaches herself to a Judahite family. Could this have been designed as a positive spin for a persistent, problematic tradition about David’s foreignness—a tradition so controversial that it was excised from the rest of the Bible?
Dr.
Yael Avrahami
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The book of Ruth presents a different model of justice from that afforded by statute, custom, and precedent, one that seeks restorative as opposed to retributive justice.[1]
Prof. Rabbi
Pamela Barmash
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