Page 25 - Harlem Shavuot Companion 2020

He takes notice of Ruth, a defenseless stranger, and he speaks kindly to her. Ruth responds to him
by asking (Ruth 2:10), “Why have I found chen in your eyes, even though I am a stranger?” Boaz
explains that he has heard of her devotion to Naomi and then he blesses Ruth. She responds, (Ruth
2:13) “May I find chen in your eyes sir because you have comforted me and spoken to my heart.”

Ruth understands Boaz’s behavior to be motivated by chen. He is showing her kindness above and
beyond expectation. Boaz replies that his acts of chen are directly in response to Ruth’s
extraordinary behavior.

Boaz uses Abraham-like language to describe Ruth, saying to her, (Ruth 2:11) “It has been told to
me. . . how you left your father, your mother, and the land of your birth to go to a nation that you
did not know.” Abraham is the first and most potent example of a person leaving their expected
life to go forth on a spiritual journey. By veering from the norm, Abraham is the model for all of
his spiritual descendents, converts who leave their former lives to follow the God of Abraham. As
Maimonides says in his letter to Ovadiah the Convert, “Whoever converts . . .is counted among
the disciples of Abraham our father.” How does a person make these choices and acquire this state
of grace? The Gra explains that chen comes from the language of chenam (free). One cannot buy
chen. Rather it, like the Torah, is a gift from G-d, for those who choose to exert themselves. By
giving freely of ourselves to others and offering more than is expected of us, we emulate G-d and
are imbued with Divine Grace.

The medresh observes that in the Book of Ruth, except for 8 verses, every verse begins with the
Hebrew letter “ו .“These eight non-vav verses highlight Ruth’s connection to the number 8 and her
journey to the supernatural. She goes above and beyond the physical, for the sake of the spiritual.
Even her name תור ,with a numerical value of 606, alludes to this. Ruth chooses to add 606
additional commandments to the basic 7 Noahide laws, so that in the end she accepts the 613
commandments of the Torah.

Men are often taught that to be responsible one must respectfully follow the rules, but in truth, it
is not nearly enough. Systems are maintained by people continuing to do what people have done
and expected in the past. Societal constructions of gender and their roles perpetuate assumptions
as norms that actually limit and distort our true purpose and potential. We must expect more if
things are ever going to improve.

It is especially challenging to strive for chen because it feels amorphous. Every year, Shavuot
invites us to re-experience the beyond. By adopting a stance of generosity, and pushing above
standard expectations, we can all experience and emerge from Shavuot in a heightened state of
grace.

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