Character Comparison: Esther and Rut/s (however you want to say it)

     Comparing Esther and Rut/s, it's very interesting how they are so similar, and yet so different. Esther starts out as a quiet, passive girl living with her uncle after her parents' deaths. She follows the rules and does everything as she is told. Mordechai being a leader of the Jews, she is also constantly and consistently exposed to Judaism throughout her life (even with the secular influences of the time).
     Rut/s, on the other hand, is completely different. She grows up around her own people in Moav. Even after she marries Naomi's son, they stay in Moav for another decade. She is not around any real Judaism at all, especially as Elimelech and his family had left the Jews in Beit Lechem and specifically come away from them to Moav. Still, from the first time we hear of anyone actually doing anything, she is already taking initiative. She basically forces her mother-in-law to take her along when she returns to Beit Lechem, even when Orpah goes back and Naomi tries as hard as she possibly can to convince her to stay behind. Not only does she not give up on going with Naomi, she even takes on Naomi's religion as her own, knowing that even still, she will be ostracized and and be looked at negatively by everyone else.
     Once she begins to grow on her own and to take initiative, however, Esther is very much like Rut/s. They both figure out what needs to be done and do it. Esther begins to lead and to tell others what needs to be done, even to the point at which Achashverosh himself looks to her for advice and approval (According to Hazony). Rut/s takes it upon herself to go find food and supplies when she and Naomi arrive in Beit Lechem with nothing, and Naomi is just sitting there doing nothing. She doesn't know a single person there other than her mother-in-law, yet she goes out and does what needs to be done.

Ummm....

     To me, Naomi seems very manipulative and negative in general. I feel kind of bad saying that because I know that she had a hard life and that she went through a lot, but I always thought that she was the sweet, protective mother-in-law who only put up token resistance before welcoming her daughter-in-law to come home with her. Instead, I find that she basically completely ignores Rut/s on the journey back, she rants at everyone there when she gets back to Beit Lechem, she leaves her foreigner daughter-in-law who knows absolutely no one there save for Naomi to go find them food, and she only starts talking to Rut/s again when she hears about Boaz and decides she can get something out of it. Even then, she uses Rut/s and teaches her to manipulate Boaz, the very person from whom they are getting food and support!
Again, I know she had a hard life, but I just think this is ridiculous...

     Naomi continues to shock us. When she returns to the land where she was once the greatest and richest, as a new person her attitude totally changes. When Naomi is greeted she says a few depressing things. First she says that no one should call her Naomi. Naomi means pleasure and since she is no longer able to enjoy life and experience pleasure, she asks that people call her Marah which means bitter. She chooses this name because she says that G-d made her bitter. She continues to say that she left full and returned empty.
     There are a few interesting things about what Naomi has said to the townspeople and how they reacted. Naomi's mindset is very negative and so far we see that she is only recognizing the bad that has happened to her. Also Naomi has not mentioned Ruth to the townspeople, which makes her seem very selfish to us. This also shows us that Ruth does not mean very much to Naomi. But the way the townspeople act is even stranger. When hearing about Naomi's bitter life they do not seem to care. They do nothing about how she has nothing. They should have offered her a place to stay, food to eat, and many other things to help an old member of their community.

     In the first few Pasukim of megiilat Ruth we see that the main characters are very selfish. They are wealthy and when there is a famine, they go to Moab not for food, but so that they will not have to stay and help out. They end up staying in Moab and marrying women from Moab, Ruth and Orpah. When Naomi says that she is leaving and going back to Israel, she tells her daughter-in-laws, Ruth and Orpah, that they should go back to their people. Naomi says this because in Israel they would be the lowest of the cast system.
     But surprisingly Ruth says that she will not leave Naomi. Ruth is giving up her life and any opportunity to have children so that she can go with Naomi. This is something that should surprise Naomi and Naomi should thank Ruth for coming with her, but instead Naomi acts very differently. Naomi decides to ignore Ruth and be very rude and ungrateful.

Rut, Esther, and Orpah

        In תנ"ך we see people have been chosen by Hashem and they often have a destiny to fulfill. Each of these people have a big responsibility and they can chose to go about it in many different ways. They can either do everything they can to their best ability without thinking twice or questioning themselves and Hashem, they can fight themselves about it and might think they aren't the best person for it, or they can neglect it all together. While many people in תנ"ך have chosen different options we can easily see this from three women in כתובים, רות, אסתר, ערפה.
        רות is a unique hero in Jewish history. Even though she was not a Jew, she was still worthy of saving everyone. Nobody had to tell her to go to Israel, in fact נעמי was trying to discourage her from coming, but she knew she had to. Once she set her mind to it, she was going to Israel and once she was there, she listened to everything נעמי said without hesitation. She was determined and because of this she saved the Jews.
        אסתר on the other hand, was not as sure of herself. Not to demean her in any way, she just wasn't as determined as רות. At the beginning אסתר didn't quite understand her mission, and once she did she was a little unsure about doing it. However, once she realized what she had to do, she made her plan and executed it successfully. She was able to save the Jews and fulfill her destiny, it just took her a little longer.
        ערפה is a whole different story. First of all, I am making the assumption that ערפה had a mission to fulfill because she was in the same position as רות so it seems likely that she could have also been chosen by Hashem. ערפה, unlike רות, did not go to Israel, she didn't even explore the thought that she might have a role in this world. She didn't do something inherently bad by leaving, but she did miss out on the opportunity she would have had. It could be that she was not as insightful as רות and she didn't see the situation like רות did. Maybe, she wasn't as equipped as רות, but who knows what she could have accomplished if she would have seized the opportunity.
        We are not given roles as big as the people in תנ"ך, but that doesn't mean we don't have rolls in the world. Everyone is here for a reason and once you find what you think you can do to help the world, it is up to you to go at it with everything you can, because if you don't, and you let opportunities pass you by, who know what kind of impact you could have left on the world.              

Mitzvote on Shavuot

        Since מגילת רות  does not tell the story of שבועות like other מגילות tell the holidays we read them on, it is sometimes hard to incorporate the מגילה into what we do on the holiday. On שבועות we have a big focus on doing מצוות that bring us closer to Hashem, like learning תורה. Obviously learning תורה is an extremely important מצוה to do especially on the anniversary of when we received the תורה, but when we incorporate מגילת רות more into the holiday, we add a whole new layer of  מצוות.  
        When we first meet בעז he isn't doing anything to help his relative נעמי. He isn't doing anything horrible wrong, but he also isn't doing anything good. Later, he meets  רות and is amazed by the wonderful things she does.  רות also explains to בעז that he needs to redeem her and after that, we see בעז change his life a bit as he acts with kindness.
        Personally I think this shows how great of a couple בעז and רות are, because she is able to help him and bring out his great qualities. Even though they were a couple, and all couples can look at them as a role models for a good relationship, you can also use this lesson to bring out the good in many people.
        In addition to the מצוות we do on שבועות that bring us closer to Hashem, we can look up to רות and do מצוות that bring us closer to other people in out lives. When you do things for other people, you may not even notice how your actions are helping them become better people too.    

G-d as the puppet master

There are many clues in the Megillah that provide strong evidence that G-d is behind the scenes. Firstly, the chiastic structure of the Megillah illustrates how everything get turned around so perfectly in the story to allow the Jews to come out on top. In the first half of the story, Haman is in control. He plans the destruction of the Jews, and everything seems to be going his way. The second half of the Megillah is a complete turnaround, and Mordechai, Esther and the Jews ultimately win out. A perfect example of this is that in the beginning of Perek 4, Mordechai was at the gates of the palace wearing sackcloth, and every Jew was mourning Haman’s decree. In Perek 8, the Jews are all rejoicing over their victory in war, as it says:
"יז. בְּיוֹם שְׁלוֹשָׁה עָשָׂר לְחֹדֶשׁ אֲדָר וְנוֹחַ בְּאַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר בּוֹ וְעָשֹׂה אֹתוֹ יוֹם מִשְׁתֶּה וְשִׂמְחָה:" 


According to Sanctuaries in Time, by Rav Eliyahu Dessler, the fact that everything gets turned around shows the hand of G-d and his hidden miracles. The story wouldn’t have worked out the way it did if it weren’t for G-d controlling the events. Similarly, Worldmask says that G-d was intentionally hiding from the people. The series of “coincidences” weren’t really coincidences - it was really G-d controlling the story. His name is left out to teach us a lesson - we are supposed to uncover G-d’s mask and seek him out. This is where the custom of wearing masks on Purim comes from. In relation to today, a time where G-d doesn’t perform outright miracles, our goal is to try to see how He is pulling the strings in our everyday lives.