By Joshua Goldstein
Chairman of Herut North America
It is telling that in Shavuot, we read from the book of Ruth. Ruth’s book embodies the consequences of adhering to Hashem’s commandments, serving as a blueprint for a model society. Societies are built when personnel model good behavior, loyalty, and doing the right thing, even if it is against traditional practices. This fosters community building and good behavior. That embodies one of the ideas of creating a just society by being true to the values of Torah. This is embodied in the story of Ruth, which personifies these ideas.
Ruth, a Moabite woman, an intermarried woman, loses her Jewish husband, but she defies tribal rules of belonging when she dedicates herself to her mother-in-law’s wellbeing. Despite having no formal ties to her mother-in-law, she moves to a conquering nation whose people look down upon the Moabite nation.
She embodies the spirit of loyalty and unwavering devotion to her family. Her words, “Where you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people shall be my people, and your G-d my G-d.”
Her selfless nature and utter devotion to her immediate family.
Boaz, a wealthy landowner, displays concern for Ruth and the other poor by instructing his workers to allow her to gather extra grain from the leftover reaping. His concern for doing the right thing, preserving her dignity as well as providing for her and her mother-in-law without the stigma of labeling her an impoverished person attests to him as a man of compassion and integrity.
Boaz also steps up, performing social justice in redeeming Ruth and her family. Ruth also displays stunning courage when she sleeps at Boaz’s feet, reminding him of this obligation. She risked losing his support. She could have lost her privileges and been rejected by Boaz, but she slept by his feet all night long, wondering if this could possibly be her future husband. When Boaz awakens in the morning, he understands her intention.
When Boaz finds the man, he finds out that he is related to her husband. Boaz, a wealthy landowner, could have chosen an affluent woman but performs his duty of chalizah and steps up to marry her so her family line can continue despite the wide-held belief that Jewish men could not marry Moabite women. Only later was a hidden mesorah revealed, indicating that this prohibition of marriage applied only to the males of the Moab tribe, not the females.
This story about Shavuot shows us that working to improve our community within the Jewish people, as well as with Gentiles in the broader Jewish community, can lead to greater peace and a deeper understanding of Torah principles and their application in our lives. Shavuot is about doing the right thing, whether it is small or large.
One of the best ways to promote peace, despite the hatred and anti-Semitic protests and atrocities, is to continue to do the right thing by promoting peace and modeling good behavior in all areas of our lives.
The best way to deal with this is to counter-protest, learn self-defense, and engage with people who are open to being engaged about Israel. You should also strive to be your best among both Jews and Gentiles. It is more important to make a connection. From that connection, gentiles will judge us.
Shavuot reminds us of what can happen if we apply the Torah’s teachings to foster unity where we can while remaining true to our integrity.
There exists a tension between the needs of the individual’s community as Jews and the needs of the larger community.
I never liked using the term “chosen people” as it smacks of elitism. Why would God create other peoples of the world to live in? Do they not add value to it?
Chosen people means we choose to walk a particular path, follow certain customs, and perform distinct rituals. Being chosen doesn’t mean ruling the world or exalting oneself above others. It means we have chosen, through our deeds and actions, to live as model citizens of the world by upholding the codes of the Torah. Choosing to live this way does not make us special; it simply makes us different.
Two models emerge. One where Jews only immerse themselves in their local community, and the other where Jews look towards the need of others for the larger causes and the movements in the world.
But each has its deficiencies. If we are only caring about ourselves, we can become selfish and even homophobic toward others.
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Conversely, if we are only putting the needs of the world causes first, it is to the detriment of our local Jewish concerns. We inevitably have not helped ourselves.
Rabbi Hillel, a prominent Jewish scholar, captures this dichotomy. From the first century BCE, Hillel stated in Pirkey Avot, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am for myself alone, what am I?”
Living in this dialectic can be walking a tightrope. But we embrace both possibilities simultaneously.
With Herut North America, we discuss things that build up our Jewish pride rather than defining ourselves by our victimhood.
Zev Jabotinsky, a pre-Zionist visionary whom Herut modeled after, talked about creating a “normal Jew.” That is, a Jew who had a State of his or her own could break free of being a weak, scared Jew with the backbone to fight and defend his or herself. Zionism became the Jewish civil rights movement for Jews. He believed that a state could establish a distinct cultural and Jewish center from which Jews could define themselves with strength.
Have we reached the pinnacle of this achievement?
But despite these challenges, we are learning how to emerge from the resurgence of antisemitism. Antisemitism is the lie detector test that forces us to be honest with ourselves. It forces us to see if what we are fighting for is helping or hurting us as a Jewish people.
Shavuot is about ideals. Even as we struggle to reach them, we are transformed positively in the process
