Boaz as a Role Model
Boaz as a Role Model
In my family we have made it a tradition to learn the Book of Ruth on the yahrtzeit of our beloved son Jamie, z"l, because shortly before he passed away in 1982, he learned the whole book together with his beloved wife, Marcia. We felt it incumbent on us to continue that shiur (class) for years and years as a sign of his continued life in our midst. This shiur has been held publicly each year, as part of the annual Memorial Meetings in memory of Jamie, which also features the celebrated Memorial Lectures, by a teacher or peer of our son. I will in another article report on the this year's extraordinarily significant and enlightening Memorial Lecture given last Monday by Professor Sid Z. Liman of Yeshiva University and Brooklyn College on the personality and influence of Chacham Isaac Bernays, who lived in Hamburg from 1792 - 1849, and who can rightfully be called the father of all Jewish day schools around the world.
In my introductory speech at the Memorial Meeting, I took up, of course, the topic of the Book of Ruth. This year I focused on Boaz as a role model for Jamie. In the process I believe I discovered Jamie's answer to the question, why do we read the Book of Ruth on Shavuoth, the festival of the Giving of the Torah. Let us now review the aspects of Boaz's character that properly mark him "Jew par excellence," the Jew wholly molded by the Torah, which was given on Shavuoth.
Boaz and G-d
Boaz, the supreme judge of the Jews at the time -- also called Ivtzan in the Book of Judges -- was totally imbued with a desire to serve G-d. Five times he invoked G-d's name in different situations in his life, but his service to G-d was mainly demonstrated in his attitude toward his fellow men. He made no distinction between his duties to G-d and his duties to man -- they were all part of his duties to G-d.
Boaz's Love for Eretz Yisrael
Boaz, according to our rabbis, was a brother of Elimelech, the husband of Naomi. There was a big difference between the two brothers when it came to their devotion to and solidarity with the Jewish Land. Elimelech abandoned Eretz Yisrael when the going got tough, leaving for Moab during the drought. His brother remained in the Jewish Land.
Boaz's total identification with the fate of the Land came to the fore again when the drought was over. In a scene where the Book of Ruth reports that Boaz "ate, drank and felt good at heart," the Targum explains that he was not good at heart because of the food and drink he had consumed, but "because he blessed G-d for having ended the drought in the Land of Israel." In other words, his happiness was tied to the well-being of the Land. He could only be fully happy when the Land and the Jews were happy.
Boaz's Respect for the Humble
Boaz -- who was exceedingly rich, besides holding extreme political power -- was humble to any fellow man, even the lowly field workers. When he met his harvesters, it was he, not they, who first pronounced a greeting. Normally the lowly must show their fear and respect for their lord by greeting him first. No so Boaz. When he met his harvesters he greeted them with "May G-d be with you," where upon they responded, "May G-d bless you."
Boaz's Stress on Decency
In a few instances Boaz showed that he expected Jewish women to follow tzniut (modesty). Thus he admonished Ruth to stay with the "maid servants" in the field. Ruth the Moabite -- and here the rabbis exclaim, "She was still truly a Moabite!" -- did not have that refined background of a Jewish girl. So she promptly mistook Boaz's instructions and stayed with the "man servants." Of course Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law, corrected Ruth quickly, but Boaz's emphasis on tzniut is stressed by the rabbis. We also find him protecting Ruth from misguided gossip and any reflection on her morals.
Boaz's Respect for Naomi
When Ruth returned home with a gift from Boaz to Naomi, she reported that Boaz had said that she should not come to her (Naomi) empty-handed. If Boaz was this respectful to his future wife's mother-in-law, we can imagine how careful he was in honoring and respecting his own parents!
Boaz's Great Legal Mind
Boaz headed the court of his day. He was great enough to carry out significant innovations in Jewish law. Thus -- although Moabite and Amonite men were barred from entering the Jewish people -- it was he who promulgated the law permitting Moabite and Amonite women. He was tolerant and broad-minded enough to practice his own innovation in public by marrying Ruth, the Moabite woman.
His kinsman, Tov, did not have those qualities and could not bring himself to marry a Moabite woman -- even after Boaz had introduced the new law.
Boaz -- the Gadol ha-Dor
No wonder that the rabbis concluded that Boaz was the great Jew, "par excellence," in his generation. If you add up all these character qualities and attributes, you arrive at the ideal of a Torah-imbued Jew, who not only studies the Torah, but becomes a living Torah himself -- a permanent source of inspiration and teaching to generations to come. This is the most compelling reason why the Book of Ruth is read on Shavuoth, the day when the Torah was given. No better day could have been chosen for it.
I concluded my remarks by stating that I can safely say that my late son had chosen Boaz as his own role model and had in truth lived up to that ideal Jew.
The study of the role of Boaz in the Book of Ruth tells us again how rich the little book is, not only in halachah (Jewish law), but also in mussar -- good character. Jamie was right in guiding us to continuous study of this holy book.
Varieties of Commemorations
Each year at the yahrtzeit of Jamie I announce the various manifestations carried out during the past year to commemorate him. These all stress Jewish scholarship, so that Jamie's memory may help others increase their study and knowledge of Torah.
The following works were published in Jamie's memory:
A new edition of one of the most important Torah commentators, Ralbag (R. Levi ben Gershon). This edition is based on manuscript material in our library, which has not been included in previous editions.
Two volumes of Responsa and Novella by Rab Avraham Pinso, who lived from 1740 to 1820. He was born in Sarajevo and died in Jerusalem. The two volumes comprise some 500 pages of never-before published material.
Three volumes of unpublished Dead Sea Scrolls. This series has been of extreme importance for the vast world of scholars dedicated to the fascinating Dead Sea Scrolls. These are the writings that the Catholic Church withheld from the scholarly world for 40 year, for whatever unexplained reasons.
A new edition of the Temple Scroll will soon appear. This is the largest of all Dead Sea Scrolls and contains halachic material of unparalleled importance. New passages, not contained in Yigal Vadin's initial edition, are published in this edition.
Ohel Hayim, the Catalogue of the Lehmann Library, is about to publish three new volumes -- one for rare printed books (1480-1600), one for Yemenite and North African Piyyutim (liturgical poems) and one for Ashkenazic rabbinical work. Each volume comprises about 350 pages, with facsimile pages of every word.
The Jamie Lehmann institute of Jewish Ethics (Beth Hamussar) in Jerusalem, established by the family in Jamie's memory and led by the celebrated mussar authority, Rav Shlomo Wolbe, has produced a number of publications.
David Eisner underwrote, in Jaime's memory, "Parshat Hashavua" weekly commentaries on the Internet through Rabbi Motty Kamenetzky. Karie Eisner sponsored, in Jamie's memory, a unique program, "Great Minds for Young Thinkers," for the Los Angeles Jewish Children's Museum to help youngsters meet great Jewish minds.
Jamie was an inspiration for 11 Eugene and Barbara Siegel sponsored "Daf Yomi" tapes and the weekly Parshat Hashavua publications.
May all these magnificent enterprises help perpetuate Jamie's influence and memory.
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