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SPIRITUALITY

Spiritual Enlightenment

Scholar reveals power of Book of Ruth at Young Israel event.

Rita R. Schreiber
Special to the Jewish News

E

ach year on Shavuot, we
read the story of Ruth,
an unlikely heroine
born into a nation known for
spite and unsociability. But Ruth
is loyal, loving, and brave, and
she is rewarded for her modest
greatness.
This is the tale of undreamed-
of possibilities, of grinding pov-
erty and easy wealth,of grief and
joy. On the surface, it's a simple
story, but — says Dr. Avivah
Gottlieb Zornberg — it is much
more.
At 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 16, Dr.
Zornberg will speak at Young
Israel of Southfield about Ruth,
discussing the aspects of Jewish
law the book clarifies as well as
its narrative style. She will use
midrashic, psychoanalytic and
literary methods to help deepen
understanding of this beloved
story. The talk is open to the
community.
Dr. Irving Goldfein, YIS mem-

ber and organizer
of the event, says,
"Dr. Zornberg is
extremely excit-
ing intellectually
and spiritually. Her
background in
English literature
[including a Ph.D.
from Cambridge
University, England]
Dr. Zornber
gives her expertise
in so many fields,
including linguistics, psychology,
sociology, history and anthropol-
ogy. She brings all this knowl-
edge into her Torah study. She is
absolutely mesmerizing."
For the past 20 years, Zornberg
has taught Torah in Israel. She
holds a visiting le . ctureship at the
London School of Jewish Studies.
In addition to Cambridge, she
studied at Gateshead Seminary
and Michlala Jerusalem.
She won the National Jewish
Book Award for Genesis: The
Beginning of Desire. She also
wrote Rapture: Reflections
on Exodus. She is preparing a

volume of essays on
the concept of the
unconscious as a
dynamic component
in midrashic and
Chasidic exegesis.
The story of Ruth
is fairly straight-
forward. Elimelech,
his wife Naomi, and
their two sons leave
Bethlehem because
of famine and settle
in Moab, where the sons marry
Moabite women. Tragedy befalls
the family. Elimelech and his
sons die.
Naomi decides to return to
Bethlehem, advising her daugh-
ters-in-law to remain in Moab.
Orpah agrees, but Ruth leaves
with a destitute Naomi, aware
that the future is bleak for a wid-
owed Moabite woman.
Ruth gleans fallen grain in the
fields of a prosperous landowner,
Boaz, who happens to be related
to Elimelech. Boaz protects Ruth,
making sure she gets sufficient
grain, and eventually they marry.

Elimelech's lineage is re-estab-
lished and, in fact, the son of
Ruth and Boaz is the grandfather
of King David, leading ultimately
to the Messiah.
'There are many halachic
[Jewish law] implications in
the events of this book:' says
Zornberg. "We learn how to do
things, even such things as how
to be kind. The landowner learns
how to share his resources with
the poor. These are abstract prin-
ciples in Deuteronomy, but here
they are fleshed out. You almost
hear the tone of the voice in
which`Boaz speaks to Ruth.
"On the other hand," she con-
tinues,"a great hidden tension
exists in the form of a law that
absolutely forbids a Moabite
woman from marrying into the
Jewish community. This law
makes Ruth's position untenable
and gives the story its bite. The
question becomes what society
can do with such an atypical
Moabite." ❑

Ann Arbor Appearance

Before speaking Tuesday,
May 16, at Young Israel of
Southfield, Dr. Zornberg will
be the scholar - in - residence
Sunday-Monday, May 14-15,
at Beth Israel Congregation,
2000 Washtenaw, Ann Arbor.
She will present three free
lectures to the general com-
munity. The 8 p.m. Sunday talk
on "The Pit and the Rope: The
Story of Joseph and Judah."
will be preceded by a kosher
dinner for which there is a
charge.
At 10 a.m. Monday, she
will present And I Did Not
Know: The Secret of Prayer,"
which will use the original
Hebrew text to study the dar
moments in Jacob's life.
At 8 p.m. Monday, Zornberg
will present "Through the
Looking Glass: Women in the
Exodus Narrative."
The Zwerdling Fund of Beth
Israel underwrites the program.

Harvest Season

Lag b'Omer signals haircuts, festivities and weddings.

their 3-year-old sons their first
Why We Celebrate:
spring harvest could be used.
haircuts (another kabbalistic
Jews are of different opinions as
In verse 15, God commands
tradition).
the Jews to begin counting, start- to why this holiday is observed.
In Israel, Jews gather in the
Some say it celebrates the end
ing with the omer offering and
What We Celebrate:
northern
Israeli town of Meron
of the plague that killed Rabbi
continuing for 49 days. On the
Lag b'Omer is the 33rd day of
for
prayer
and festivity at the
Akiva's students (see below).
50th day came Shavuot.
the counting of the Omer (lag is
tomb
of
Shimon
Bar Yohai.
KabbalistS observe the day
After the Temple was
an acronym formed by the two
Others
go
to
the
tomb of another
because of Rabbi Shimon bar
destroyed, the Jewish people
Hebrew letters that make up the
ancient
sage,
Shimon
Ha-Tzadik,
Yohai, traditionally regarded the
could no longer bring sacrifices,
number 33), which this year falls
in
Jerusalem.
the
main
author of the Zohar,
but they continued to perform
on Tuesday, May 16.
For unknown reasons, some
book
of Kabbalah. Lag b'Omer
the
counting
commandment.
In Parshat Emor
light
bonfires and children play
marks important moments in the
To this day, we count (usually
(Leviticus:23), God designates
with
bows
and arrows on Lag
yahrtz-
rabbi's life including his
within the daily evening service)
the festivals of the Jewish year,
b'Omer.
They
also commemorate
eit, the time he was ordained
the days between Pesach and
including Pesach (Passover).
Bar
Kokhba
and
his rebellion
by Rabbi Akiva, and the date
According to rabbinical interpre- Shavuot. A blessing is recited,
against
the
Roman
occupation of
he emerged from a cave where
then the relevant day's count
tation of verse 9, on the second
Israel
(132-135
C.E.).
(Why Bar
he had been hiding from the
announced. The count includes
day of Pesach Jewish farmers of
Kokhba
is
associated
with
Lag
Romans.
Israel should bring to the Temple both the day and the week of the
b,Omer
is
a
matter
of
scholarly
an offering of an omer (about 2.2 omer; thus, one says,"Today is 19
debate.)
How We Celebrate:
days, two weeks and five days of
liters) of barley flour, along with
Despite the celebrations, this
Lag
b'Omer
is
enjoyed
with
wed-
the omer."
gifts of meat, flour and wine.
time
also is associated with a
dings as well as by parents giving
After this, the new grain of the

Elizabeth Applebaum
Contributing Editor

number of painful events in
Jewish history.
During the first 33 days of
the Omer, 24,000 of Rabbi
Akiva's students died in a plague
because, the Talmud says, they
did not treat each other with
respect.
Later, Jewish communities in
the Rhineland were massacred at
this time during the Crusades in
1096 and 1146; the Chmielnicki
massacres of 1648-49 also
occurred during this time.
Consequently, except on Lag
b'Omer, observant Jews refrain
from haircuts (some men also do
not shave), do not have weddings
and other celebrations, and do
not play or listen to live music
during the period. ❑

May 11 . 2006

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