Feast yourself this Shavuos on Ziegler’s Ruth

hold in my hands a remarkable work, Ruth: From Alienation to Monarchy, by Yael Ziegler of Israel (Maggid, 2015). The biblical book (or “scroll”) of Ruth is a mere four chapters. Ziegler’s work is 487 pages. What is there to say on a four-chapter biblical book that can take up 487 pages? The initial reaction to this vast discrepancy might be skepticism. Is the author reading into the book of Ruth whatever she wants, exploiting the biblical text to set forth her own agenda on everything from conversion (such as Ruth’s) to continuity (such as Naomi’s) to government (such as Davidic monarchy)? Actually, Jews around the world read the scroll of Ruth at least once a year, on the upcoming holiday of Shavuos, thousands of […]