Rabbi Frand on Shavuos
This dvar Torah was adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: Tape # 240, An Early
Start for Shavuos? Good Shabbos!
The Preface to the Story of the Moshiach
I saw an insight on the book of Rus (which is read on Shavuos), in a
commentary called Nachlas Yosef. The second chapter of Rus is quite
eventful. The Navi begins by introducing the main players. History is about
to occur. Which history? The beginning of the history of the Messiah. We
are about to learn of the first meeting between Boaz and Rus -- the union
that would eventually produce King David, from whom the Moshiach (Messiah)
will descend.
Each pasuk [verse] is laden with great symbolism and significance. When Boaz
first arrives "on stage," we learn "Behold, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem. He
said to the harvesters, 'Hashem [G-d] be with you!' And they answered him
'May Hashem bless you!' [Ruth 2:4]". Why is this exchange of greetings
necessary to the plot? If, L'havdil [in extreme contrast], we were writing
a play about this great historical event, would it be so crucial to insert
the line "And Boaz came in and greeted his workers and asked, 'How are you?'
and they responded 'Fine. How are you?'" This does not make for good script!
And yet the Navi found it necessary to include this exchange of "Shalom
Aleichem" in this historic chapter.
The Talmud [Makkos 23b] adds significance to this event by telling us that
they were performing an enactment of the Court of Boaz. Early in Jewish
history, it had not been the case that friends would greet each other with
the expression "May G-d be with you," using the 'real' name of G-d (rather
than the substitute generic name 'HaShem,' meaning 'the Name'). A specific
judicial enactment was required to permit this form of greeting. Prior to
the time of Boaz people never greeted each other in this way, and subsequent
to the time of Boaz we no longer perform this enactment. This was a short-
term "emergency" enactment.
What was the reason behind this enactment? At this particular time, the
Jewish people were in a sorry state. There was a terrible famine. The times
were so bad that a leader of the people, like Elimelech (husband of Naomi)
could forsake his people and go off to, of all places, Moav. This was
symptomatic of what was wrong with the Jewish people at the time.
What did the "Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah" (Council of Great Torah Sages) of
that era decide to do to remedy the situation? They decided that everyone
should greet other people with the actual name of G-d. The import of this
enactment was that every single Jew is so important and so holy that it is
worthy for him to be greeted with none less than the actual name of G-d.
This is a whole different way of greeting a person than merely saying "Hi".
This enactment changed the mood. It reestablished the easily forgotten
concept that every person is created in the Image of G-d (Tzelem Elokim).
This enactment emphasized, "All Jews are princes" and they deserve to be
treated as such. The psychological impact of greeting someone with the Name
of G-d had an entirely different meaning than that of just saying hello.
The enactment hammered home the idea that we must be careful of how we treat
people. People are not merely intelligent animals. The recognition that
people are a b'Tzelem Elokim suggests an entirely different approach as to
how to relate to others. This was the enactment of the Court of Boaz.
The Medrash tells us that when our time comes to move on to the next world
(after 120 years, G-d willing), we will all be asked two questions: 'Did you
make G-d your King?' and 'Did you make your friend your King?' In other
words, did you treat everyone like you would treat the Queen of England,
l'Havdil?
A new era was beginning. It called for a new era regarding how we must deal
with each other. That is why this chapter is the introduction to the story
of the Moshiach. The story of Moshiach must begin with greeting our friends
with the Name of G-d, indicating their importance and prestige, indicating
that they deserve to be treated like Princes. This, too, must be our preface
to the coming of Moshiach so that after 120 years, we will be able to
respond in the affirmative to that question 'Did you anoint your fellow
man?'
This week's write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tapes on the weekly Torah portion (# 240).
The corresponding halachic portion for this tape is: An Early Start for
Shavuos? The other halachic portions for this parsha from the Commuter
Chavrusah Series are:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
and is available through your local Hebrew book store or from Project Genesis, 1-410-654-1799.
