16 May WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME – PART ONE

One of the special
features of the wonderful
Yom Tov of Shavuos is the
reading of Megilas Rus.
While it is a fascinating
and delightful story, its
linkage to the celebration
of matan Torah, the giving
of the Torah, is not at all
obvious. Why we read
Megilas Esther on Purim
is a slam-dunk for it’s the very story of Purim.
So too, Eicha, Lamentations, on Tisha b’Av, for
it is the mournful dirge of the destruction of
Yerushalayim and the Temple. But the Megila
of Rus doesn’t mention the Torah at all and it
seems to be disconnected from the Shavuos
spirit.
One school of thought is that Shavuos is the
yahrzeit of Dovid HaMelech. Therefore, we lein
Megials Rus which reveals to us the wonderful
beginnings of Dovid HaMelech. But, there is
another reason given which is more central to
the very essence of Shavuos. In Rus Rabbah,
the question is asked, “HaMegilah hazeh ein bo
lo issur v’heter, v’lo tumah v’taharah. Umipnei
mah bah? L’lamedcha schar gadol shel gomlei
chasodim – This megilah does not contain
information about that which is prohibited or
permitted, that which is ritually contaminated
of pure. If so, why is it taught to us? To teach

us the great reward for acts of kindness.” The
megilah is replete with heroic kindness. The
dedication of Rus and Orpah to their dying
husbands Machlon and Kilyon, then to their
mother in-law Naomi after the death of their
husbands.The kindness of Boaz to the Moabite
convert Rus; these are all hallmarks of Megilas
Rus.
This is the reason why we read Rus on Shavuos
– to accentuate one of the core essences of the
Torah HaKedoshah which is chesed. Indeed,
the Medrash at the very beginning of the
Torah says that the Torah opens with an act of
kindness and closes with an act of kindness.
Namely, it starts with Hashem clothing Adam
and Chava when they were naked (Besides the
creation of the entire world which is the most
monumental act of kindness. As it says, “Olam
chesed yiboneh.”), and it finishes with an act of
kindness when Hashem Himself buries Moshe
Rabeinu, to teach us that the entire Torah is
full of chesed. This is why we say the phrase
Toras chesed in Eishes Chayil for the Torah is a
compendium of kindness.
Thus, one of the great lessons of Shavuos is
for us to reaffirm our commitment to be a kind,
loving people. Indeed, it is one of the three
national traits that mark a person as a Torah Jew:
rachmonim, baishonim, v’gomlei chasodim, we
are a people who are compassionate, we have a

sense of shame, and we do acts of kindness.
The word gever, which means a man and also
is the Hebrew word for strength, is an acronym
of rachmonim, baishonim, v’gomlei chasodim!
There is a scary thought shared in the sefer
Chemdas Eliyahu. He cites the Gemora which
asks a historical question. The First Temple
was destroyed because we were guilty of
three cardinal sins, idolatry, immortally, and
bloodshed. However, during the time of the
Second Temple, we had Torah, mitzvos, and
kindness. So therefore, why was the Second
Temple destroyed? The Gemora gives the
grim answer: we were awash in the sin of
sinas chinam, senseless hatred for each other.
The Chemdas Eliyahu comments about the
phenomena that it is possible for us to be
saturated with kindness and at the same time
to be guilty of sinas chinam. This points to
a sobering reality. We are ready to do plenty
of kindnesses on our own terms. Still, it isn’t
necessarily so that loving kindness permeates
our very beings. For if that would be true,
it would be virtually impossible for us at the
same time to be guilty of sinas chinam. This
is a tough question which we need to confront
about ourselves. Is much of the kindness that
we do truly for others or is it more about
feeling good about ourselves or for our own
aggrandizement? When Rabbi Akvia said,
“V’ahavta l’rei-acha k’mocha; Zeh klal gadol

baTorah – Love your fellow man as you love
yourself. This is a great principle of the
Torah,” he was emphasizing this battle against
being self-centered.
This Shavuos, let’s turn our thoughts to
waging this all important battle against our
own self-centeredness and in that merit may
Hashem bless us with long life, good health,
happiness, and everything wonderful.
To be continued…