Referred to as Japan's Thomas Edison, Sakichi Toyoda
invented a variety of weaving machines, including an automatic power loom, and founded
Toyoda Automatic Loom.
Sakichi Toyoda grew up in the late 1800's in a remote
farming community outside of Nagoya, Japan. As a boy, Sakichi Toyoda watched
his mother and grandmother weaving cloth by hand. He was disturbed that his
mother, grandmother, and their friends had to work so hard spinning and
weaving. The weaving process required them to thread the material through the
weaving machine, a long and tiring process. One of the problems they faced was
when a thread broke, it unwound through the entire machine, and the women would
have to start all over again and rethread – an extremely time consuming process
- before continuing to weave.
Learning carpentry from his father, Toyoda eventually
applied that skill to designing and building wooden spinning machines. In 1894
he began to make manual looms that were cheaper but worked better than existing
looms.
He invented a series of weaving machines which speeded up
the process enormously. Among his inventions was a feature that was a special
mechanism to automatically stop a loom whenever a thread broke, catching the
thread before it unwound completely, relieving the operator of the punishing
labor of having to rethread the machine.
Eventually, Toyoda went on to found a car manufacturing
company, and the name of the company was changed from Toyoda to Toyota,
preferring the fewer brushstrokes required to write the 't' in Toyota.
This invention impressed me as an 'mashal' for
something we can apply to our lives. When we create a mechanism in our life our
own automatic stop mechanism, it can be used to hold us in check. This
mechanism can be contact with a friend, a regular shiur, a relationship with
your rabbi. These experiences not only can keep us on a straight path but
create a platform for continued growth.
On Shavuot, there is the
custom to read Megilat Ruth
·
Question #1: Who wrote
Megilat Ruth?
·
Question #2: Why was
Megilat Ruth written?
·
Question #3: What need did
Shmuel see in writing this book?
·
Question #4: Why include
the book of Ruth in the canon of the 24 books of the Tanach?
·
Question #5: What is the connection of Ruth to 'Atzeret' (Shavuot?
Kedushat Levi on Why we Read Ruth on Shavuot
Reb Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev, the great advocate of
Israel, was known for putting his love of G-d high, and calling Israel, His
children, saying that the Torah is the soul of Israel. A story that I saw about
Reb Levi went:
On Simchat Torah, Reb Levi Yitzhak was given the honor of
leading the first round of dancing. He went up to the bima and put on a tallis,
then he took it off, then he put it on, then he took it off. As if talking to
the air, he said, "If you are such a scholar and pray so well, then you lead
the dancing!" and he stepped off the bima and left.
Later at dinner, his father in law said, "Tonight you
embarrassed me tremendously, can you explain?"
"Yes I will explain. When I went up to the bima, I put on
the tallis and I saw the Yetzer Hara. 'You,' I said. 'Yes,' he said,
'surprised? Why are you so worthy to be here?'
'Yes,' I told him, 'I am learned.'
'So am I,' he said.
'I learn with a great teacher, the great Maggid from Mezrich.'
'So do I.'
'How can you?'
'I am with all the time, when you go to the beit midrash, I go with you, when you go to see your Rebbe, I go with. I am with you all the time.'
'If that's so, if you are such a scholar and pray so well, then you lead the dancing!' and that's why I left.
'Yes,' I told him, 'I am learned.'
'So am I,' he said.
'I learn with a great teacher, the great Maggid from Mezrich.'
'So do I.'
'How can you?'
'I am with all the time, when you go to the beit midrash, I go with you, when you go to see your Rebbe, I go with. I am with you all the time.'
'If that's so, if you are such a scholar and pray so well, then you lead the dancing!' and that's why I left.
Reb Levi Yitzhak was passionate and a holy man of integrity.
His seminal work is the Kedushat Levi.
The Kedushat Levi explains the reason that on Shavuot we read
the Book of Ruth by bringing the Holy Zohar, focusing on the verse:
"He [Moshe] said: HaShem came
from Sinai and shone forth from Seir to them; He appeared from Mount Paran and
came with some of the holy myriads; from His right hand was a fiery Law for
them"
וַיֹּאמַר: ה` מִסִּינַי בָּא וְזָרַח מִשֵּׂעִיר לָמוֹ הוֹפִיעַ מֵהַר
פָּארָן וְאָתָה מֵרִבְבֹת קֹדֶשׁ מִימִינוֹ [אשדת] אֵשׁ דָּת לָמוֹ
Devarim 33:2
Devarim 33:2
Rashi comments:
·
and shone forth from
Seir to them: [Why did He come from Seir?] Because HaShem first offered
the children of Esau [who dwelled in Seir] that they accept the Torah, but they
did not want [to accept it].
·
from Mount Paran: [Why
did G-d then come from Paran?] Because He went there and offered the children
of Ishmael [who dwelled in Paran] to accept the Torah, but they [also] did not
want [to accept it]. Avodah Zara 2B
Continues the Kedushat Levi from the Zohar: first Hashem
came to Esau to present the Torah, and Esau said that he didn't want it and
said that this should be given to Israel. To further substantiate this
position, Esau also admitted that the firstborn birthright rightfully belonged
to Israel and gave a present to Israel, in that Israel should get the Torah.
Likewise Yishmael didn't want to receive the Torah and said
that it should be given to Israel. Also to boost this position, Yishmael
admitted that he is not the true heir to Avraham that only Yitzhak is the true 'zerah Avraham,'
the legitimate heir to Avraham and also gave a present to Israel.
Nations of the World Praise Israel
How could these two nations, so traditionally at odds with
Israel, praise Israel? This helps to explain passage from the Gemarah, in
Mesechet Zvachim 116A,
For when the Torah was given to Israel the sound travelled
from one end of the earth to the other, and all the heathen kings were seized
with trembling in their palaces, and they uttered song.
They were afraid that Hashem had
launched another cataclysmic flood, or other world apocalypse. Then they
understood that the sound was the giving of the Torah at Har Sinar, they knew
that He desired to give the Torah to His children, as it is said, "The L-rd
shall grant strength to His people."(Tehillim 29:11. — The Torah is the
strength of Israel.) Then the nations all exclaimed:
"the L-rd shall bless His people with peace."
ה' עוז לעמו יתן ה' יברך את עמו בשלום
Tehillim 29:11
Tehillim 29:11
Why were the nations of the world praising
Israel? Because they heard that Israel is actually receiving the Torah, and the
Holy One, blessed be He won't come back to them to present the Torah to them
again.
Giving Presents to Israel?
What were the presents mentioned that
the nations of the world gave to Israel? In order to ensure that Israel would
get the Torah, they gave presents to Israel. What were these presents? They
were the holy souls that were imprisoned amongst the nations. They were
returned to Israel and converted. These are the presents that were given by the
nations to Israel, holy souls like Ruth.
Greatness of Ruth
Ruth was a great soul, that out of
her will come the Moshiach. This is one of the souls that the nations gave to
us, so that we would get the Torah, as well as many other holy souls. The main
soul is Ruth since from her will come the Moshiach. That is why we read the
Book of Ruth on Shavuot, the day that we receive the Torah, the day that we
commemorate standing at Har Sinai. This serves as a reminder to us, how when
the other nations refused the Torah, we were given the Torah, and how her soul
was set free from its place amongst the nations in order for the Torah to be given on Har Sinai to Israel on
this day.
Why Read the Book of Ruth
In the book of Ruth, the author is not mentioned. Who is the
author of Megilat Ruth? According to tradition, Shmuel HaNavi is the author of
the Book of Ruth.
To understand how Ruth
is connected to Shavuot, we have to go back and see how the treatment of Ruth.
Was Ruth a Kosher Convert? Allusions in Megilat Ruth
We see in the Gemarah that
in the days of the Judges (Shofetim) in the generation of Boaz, there was a
dispute, there was doubt about the lineage of David's family – whether they
were kosher to be accepted into the Jewish people. Allusions to the controversy
surrounding the legitimacy of accepting Ruth into the Jewish people comes up in
Megilat Ruth.
Boaz went to the gate of the city and waited for his
relative, the brother of Elimelech, Naomi's dead husband. When the relative
came, referred to only as "Ploni Almoni", Boaz brought him in. Boaz
also gathered ten elders.
"Naomi is selling the property of our relative
Elimelech, who died. As his brother, you are the closest relative. Will you to
redeem (purchase) it? If not, I am the next eligible relative."
"I'll take it," Ploni responded.
Boaz continued. "The one who buys this property must
also agree to marry Ruth. Will you?"
And the close relative said, "I
cannot redeem [it] for myself, lest I mar my heritage. You redeem my redemption
for yourself for I cannot redeem [it]."
ויאמר הגאל לא אוכל לגאול [לגאל] לי פן אשחית את נחלתי
גאל לך אתה את גאלתי כי לא אוכל לגאל
Ruth 4:6
Rashi explains the word
'heritage' (נחלה) according to the pasuk in
Tehilim (127:3) "Behold, the heritage of the Lord is sons" (הנה נחלת ה` בנים שכר פרי הבטן).
This shows how even here there was concern that Ruth was forbidden to join the
community of Israel. He would not be ready to marry Ruth, and risk the impact
to his descendents, barring them from remaining with the Jewish people.
Shmuel Bar Nachmani says in the Yalkut Shimoni that the
anonymous relative is 'ignorant' of true Divrei Torah, as the relative says 'I
will go and take her for me and bring a disqualification on my children?' For
he was not aware that the halachah had been renewed in respect to 'Amoni and
not Amonite, Moabi and not Moabite.'
וימר סורה שבה פה פלוני אלמוני, אר"ש בר נחמני אלם היה בדברי תורה שאמר ראשונים לא מתו אלא בשביל שנטלו אותה אני אלך ואטלה לי שאני מערב פסול בבני, ולא היה ידוע שכבר נתחדשה הלכה עמוני ולא עמונית מואבי ולא מואבית
Yalkut Shimoni Ruth Chapter 4
What was the source of
doubt? What ignited the dispute?
Since David's family
was descended from Ruth the Moabite, as it is written in Megilat Ruth. Yet we
have an explicit pasuk saying that we don't accept anyone from Moab as a
convert:
An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter
the assembly of the Lord; even the tenth generation shall never enter the
assembly of the Lord.
לֹא יָבֹא עַמּוֹנִי וּמוֹאָבִי בִּקְהַל יְ־הֹוָ־ה גַּם דּוֹר עֲשִׂירִי לֹא יָבֹא לָהֶם בִּקְהַל ה` עַד עוֹלָם
Dvarim 23:4
Dvarim 23:4
It would seem that
Ruth's conversion would not be valid and she should not brought into the Jewish people. That was the basis for
the questions surrounding the suitability of David's family.
Disputed Lineage of David
The controversy surrounding
the suitability of David takes place in Gemarah Yevamot (76B), describing how this
was questioned in the time of Shaul HaMelech.
And
when Shaul saw David going out toward the Philistine, he said to Abner, the
general of his army, "Whose son is this youth, Abner?"
And Abner said, "By your life, O King, I know not."
Shmuel A 17:55
The Gemarah is
surprised by Shaul's question about David, as if he doesn't know who David is,
considering the earlier pasuk:
And David came to Saul, and stood
before him, and he loved him very much, and he was his weapon bearer.
ויאהבהו מאוד, ויהי לו נושא כלים
Shmuel A 16:21
Shmuel A 16:21
Rather the gemarah suggests he made the inquiry concerning the
father of David, as it says:
And when Shaul saw David going out
toward the Philistine, he said to Abner, the general of his army, "Whose son
is this youth, Abner?" And Abner said, "By your life, O King, I know
not. And the king said, "You ask whose son this youth is."
וְכִרְאוֹת שָׁאוּל אֶת דָּוִד יֹצֵא לִקְרַאת הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי, אָמַר אֶל אַבְנֵר שַׂר
הַצָּבָא: בֶּן
מִי זֶה הַנַּעַר, אַבְנֵר? וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְנֵר: חֵי נַפְשְׁךָ, הַמֶּלֶך, אִם יָדָעְתִּי. וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ: שְׁאַל אַתָּה, בֶּן מִי זֶה הָעָלֶם
Shmuel A 17:55-56
Shmuel A 17:55-56
The gemarah is also surprised by this inquiry, for Shaul was
already familiar with David's father, Yishai. Yishai was one of the king's
servents, as it says:
The son of your bondsman, Yishai the
Bethlehemite.
בן עבדך ישי בית הלחמי
Shmuel A 17:58
Shmuel A 17:58
To understand Shaul's concern we have to look inward to
Shaul see his circumstance. In those days, Shaul was facing tremendous
insecurity, feeling like his kingship was threatened and he was losing his
hold. He saw that David acted and behaved with royal attributes, putting fear
into the heart of Shaul, asking himself that perhaps in the future he will take
the kingship from him as Shmuel had said.
Following the episode at Gilgal, where Shaul didn't wait for
Shmuel HaNavi and on his own accord prepared an offering, Shmuel came can
criticized Shaul.
And Shmuel said to Saul, "You
have done foolishly; you have not observed the commandment of the L-rd your G-d,
which He commanded you, for now, the L-rd would have established your
kingdom over Israel forever. But now, your kingdom shall not continue; the
L-rd has sought for Himself a man after His heart, and the L-rd has appointed
him to be a ruler over His people, for you have not kept that which the L-rd
commanded you."
Shmuel A 13:13-14
So when Shaul asks, "Whose
son is this" he is not asking about the father but about the lineage.
Shaul is asking whether David was descended from Perez, or
from Zerah. If he was descended from
Perez, then David would be king, for a king breaks for himself a way and no one
can hinder him. Peraz was the line with kingly qualities. If, however, he is
descended from Zerah he would only be an important man.
Questioning David's Suitability
Doeg, a leader in the Sanhedrin, then said to Shaul, 'Instead
of enquiring whether he is fit to be king or not, enquire rather whether he is
permitted to enter the assembly or not'!
'Because he is descended from Ruth the Moabite.'
Said Abner to him, "An Ammonite or Moabite shall not
enter the assembly of the Lord;" and 'We learned: An Ammonite, but not an
Ammonitess; A Moabite, but not a Moabitess! There
was no intention by the Torah to entire nations of Moav and Ammon, rather just
the males.
Doeg answered back, 'in that case if we are to take this
level of scrutiny, then we should apply this principle to other cases of those
not permitted to enter the assembly of Israel, like a mamzer would
imply: But not a female bastard? — It is written mamzer [Which implies] anyone
objectionable. And also for an Egyptian, this would exclude the
Egyptian woman?'
Avner answered back 'Here it is different, since the
reason for the prohibition is that the Torah explicitly stated: "Because
they did not greet you with bread and water on the way, when you left Egypt"(Dvarim
23:5). Who was expected to come with bread and water, just the men, not the
women, so was the custom for a man to meet travelers, while not the custom for
a woman to meet them. While for the other cases, mamzer and Egyptian, the Torah
did not attribute any explicit verse to keeping them out, making that
prohibition all inclusive.
Doeg responds, the men should have met the men and the women
the women! And this would have made the women of Moav unacceptable as well!
Avner was silent.
Doeg's question remained, throwing doubt on the suitability
of David to enter the community of Israel.
Here the King said, "Whose son are you, young man (עלם)?" And the
gemarah focuses on how Shaul changes his language in how he refers to David. Previously he calls David a youth (נער). Why the change in
language? This was an effort by Shaul to hint to Doeg that he is wrong. The
gemarrah explains the word according עלם according to the meaning 'overlook',
saying 'You have overlooked a halachah,' go and enquire at the beit
medrash!'
Doeg went to the Beit Midrash and upon enquiry, he was told
the interpretation of the verse as: An Ammonite but not an Ammonitess; a
Moabite, but not a Moabitess.
Doeg presented to the Beit Midrash all the objections he
brought to Avner, yet the Beit Midrash eventually remained silent. So Doeg
wanted to make a public announcement against him the suitability of having a
king from David, as a descendent of Ruth the Moabitess.
Now Amasa girded on his sword like an Ishmaelite and
exclaimed, 'Whoever will not obey the following halachah will be stabbed with
the sword; I have this tradition from the Beth din of Shmuel: An Ammonite but
not an Ammonitess; A Moabite, but not a Moabitess'!
Answers
·
Why did Shmuel see it necessary to write Megilat Ruth?
·
Why is Ruth included in the canon of the bible?
·
What is the connection of Ruth to 'Atzeret' (Shavuot?
R' Shlomo Alkabetz: Legitimize David
Shmuel saw that the
halachah for 'Amoni and not Amonite, Moabi and not Moabite' was becoming
unstable among the Jewish people, facing disregard, raising issues about the
legitimacy of David, so Shmuel wanted to strengthen and publicize this
halachah. Perhaps Shmuel even felt that he was obligated to do this since by
his own very hands David was anointed King over Israel. And so was motivated to
write Megilat Ruth to provide strength
to this act, and to establish and publicize the legitimacy of the
David's lineage – 'al pi din'.
R' Shlomo Alkabetz wanted bring attention to this approach
about the purpose of Megilat Ruth, in his essay 'Shoresh Yishai' – Root of
Yishai. In his commentary of R' Shlomo Alkabetz, author of the Lecha Dodi and a
contemporary of Rav Yosef Karo, the Mchaber, writes on Megilat Ruth, "Megilat
Ruth was written to legitimize David and to teach that it is acceptable to
bring a Moabite into the community of Israel. And this is the ruling of Shmuel,
to remove the questions surrounding the anointment of David."
This also answers our other questions of why we read
Megillat Ruth on Shavuot, and why Megillat Ruth is included in the Tanach.
Since Shavuot celebrates receiving the Torah, and we are
commanded to believe that all the Torah that is in our hands today was given to
Moshe on Har Sinai, the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, that they both came
down to us bound as one.
Ruth and the Oral Torah
So as to remove from the hearts of the doubters of the
authenticity of The Oral Torah, like Sadduckim and other groups, Chazal saw a
need to establish the custom of reading Megilat Ruth on Shavuot, since it comes
to strengthen the validity of The Oral Torah. How?
In Megilat Ruth, it relates how Boaz was a Judge and a gadol
HaDor, he went out and risked his reputation and took Ruth the Moabitess for
himself to be his wife in front of the elders, despite that this may appear to
be a blatant violation of a written verse, "An Ammonite or Moabite shall not
enter the assembly of the Lord." Anyone reading the megilah may ask themselves,
how could Boaz transgress an explicit verse from the Torah? And to add to this
shock, one could ask how could Moshiach Ben David come out from a Moabite,
unfit to join Israel?
We are compelled to accept the halachah and interpret the
verse as "Moabi and not Moabite" and to come to accept that together Moshe
received the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, which includes halachot and
interpretations. One of those interpretations is "Moabi and not Moabite."
Kings and Ruth
Why did it have to come about that in spite of it all Jewish
Kingship is descended from a Moabite? This is because our kings are commanded
that Torah should go out and come in with them.
And it will be, when he sits upon his
royal throne, that he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah on a
scroll from [that Torah which is] before the kohanim of Levy. And it shall be
with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may
learn to fear the Lord, his G-d, to keep all the words of this Torah and these
statutes, to perform them,
Dvarim 17:18-19
So that it should enter the heart of the king to
embrace only the written Torah and abandon the Oral Torah. Hashem turned about
circumstances so that kings of Israel were descended from Ruth the Moabite,
that she is the guarantee that holds the kings for all time bound to the Oral
Torah, that if they should neglect the Oral Torah, then they can raise
questions about the own legitimacy to rule.
Explaining the Essence of Ruth
The midrash asks,
why was Megillat Ruth written?
R. Zeirah said: "This scroll contains
neither laws of purity or impurity, neither what is permitted or forbidden. Why
was it written? Answers the midrash, to teach us how much of a reward is
granted for Gemilut Hasidim (Acts of Kindness).
These are the
actions of Ruth, she displays acts of kindness that go against the inherent
nature of man. This is an elevated level of Chesed, when a daughter in law
connects so tightly with her mother in law. The Alshich HaKadosh adds to this
in his commentary on Ruth, Ene Moshe (The Eyes of Moshe). R' Moshe Alshich
(also spelled Alshech), was a prominent rabbi, preacher, and biblical
commentator in the latter part of the 16th century. He moved to Safed where he
became a student of Rabbi Joseph Caro.
He writes: this is a
characteristic that is contrary to nature "since all daughter's in law despise
their mother in law" and despite this Ruth connected with Naomi. And it is possible to say that her actions
were a fix – a tikun – for the sins of her forefathers, whose behavior showed
ingratitude towards the kindness of Avraham.
What was the 'chesed'
of Avraham showed to Ruth's forefathers? In the war of 4 kings and 5 kings,
Lot, Avraham's nephew was taken captive.
And Abram heard that his
kinsman had been taken captive, and he armed his trained men, those born in his
house, three hundred and eighteen, and he pursued [them] until Dan. And he
divided himself against them at night, he and his servants, and smote them, and
pursued them until Hobah, which is to the left of Damascus. And he restored all
the possessions, and also Lot his brother and his possessions he restored,
and also the women and the people.
Breisheit 14:14-16
Avraham helped the
entire family of Lot, who would become the progenitor of the families of Amon
and Moab.
And Lot's two daughters
conceived from their father. And the elder
bore a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of Moab until this
day. And the younger, she too bore a son, and she named him Ben-ami; he is the
father of the children of Ammon until this day.
Breisheit 19:36-38
Yet despite this
history and legacy of kindness shown to the nations of Moab and Ammon. They did
not show kindness in return when the Jewish people were in despair.
An Ammonite or Moabite
shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even the tenth generation shall never
enter the assembly of the Lord. Because they did not greet you with bread
and water on the way, when you left Egypt, and because he [the people of
Moab] hired Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim against you, to
curse you.
Dvarim 23:4-5
That in despite all
of these factors, Ruth strived to show kindness, making her chesed is even
greater. From he we can take away from the Book of Ruth, not only a renewed
commitment to the entirety of Torah both the written and the oral and all the
interpretations, but also the essential message of striving to do good, be
kind, and overcome a natural inclination to do otherwise.
