Shavuot highlights the Scroll of Ruth, who lived 3 generations
before King David, son of Jesse, grandson of Ovad, the son of
Ruth. The Scroll of Ruth is the first of the five Biblical
scrolls, which are studied during five holidays: Ruth (Shavuot),
Song of Songs (Passover), Ecclesiastes (Sukkot), Book of
Lamentations (Ninth of Av), Esther (Purim). Ruth – a Moabite
Princess and a role model of loyalty and gratitude – stuck by
her mother-in-law, Naomi, who lost her husband (president of the
Tribe of Judah) and two sons, in spite of Naomi’s Job-like
disastrous times, financially and socially. Naomi’s suffering
constituted a punishment for the desertion of the people of
Israel (emigration to Moab) during a most difficult draught.
Leaders do not desert their people when the going gets rough!
Ruth’s Legacy: Respect thy mother in-law(!) and be motivated by
conviction over convenience. The total sum of the Hebrew letters
of Ruth (רות) – in Gimatriya – yield the number of laws granted
at Mt. Sinai (606), which togethe