The idea of Torah learning may not be the original concept behind the holiday of Shavuot, but over the centuries, it has become central to celebrating the holiday. On our Community Calendar, we had nine Tikkun Leil Shavuot events listed. The tradition of the Tikkun — or staying up all night learning Torah —originates with the sixteenth-century kabbalists of Safed, so let’s say a more ‘recent’ custom in the bigger picture of Jewish history.
Like with the Passover seder, we realized that we would possibly have more to say about after the holiday than before; one of the discussions we heard stuck with us: Ruth and the concept of being a stranger/foreigner/outsider. Tradition has it that we read the story of Ruth on Shavuot because her voluntary acceptance of Judaism is analogous to the Israelites’ acceptance of the Torah at Sinai.
But Ruth’s story is transcendent of a particular time and place. Her story of being an outsider within a close-knit community with a unique set of rules, and carries twofold inspiration. The first applies to the outsider himself, with Ruth being the example of a person evolving past his outsider status to become the cornerstone of the community — as Ruth does when she marries Boaz, the community leader, and ultimately mothers the grandfather of the future Israelite king.
It is the second lesson, however, that really stuck. Ruth not only inspires outsiders, but she changes for the better the community she joins. Ruth brings with her vitality, freshness, commitment, charity and inspires the local community.
How often do we welcome newcomers — but only superficially? Are we truly open to their ideas? Do we stick too closely to our accepted practices because we believe them right, or because they are familiar? Ruth’s story demonstrates the importance of paying attention to newcomers. And Ruth’s case is even more stark, for she is a convert. Presumably her knowledge is far less than that of the locals’. Yet it is this ‘stranger’ who inspires the community with her commitment to the Torah and her acts of loving kindness, or hesed.
The Torah instructs us 36 times to welcome the stranger; why so many times? Probably because it not an easy thing to do, yet if we avoid doing so we not only fail our humanity, but also potentially fail ourselves. Sometimes it’s exactly those fresh perspectives that inspire us to develop.
Share your Shavuot insights with us! Did you hear any divrei Torah that you found inspirational?
