ruth + naomi
biblical book: ruth
feast: 50 days after passover,jewsih festival of shavuot
Patrons of:
loyalty, devotion
Bio
Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their sons Mahlon and Chilion, Israelites living in Bethlehem, immigrate to Moab when famine strikes. Elimelech does not live long, but Mahlon marries Ruth and Chilion marries Orpah - Moabite women. After ten years, both sons die, and Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem, where the famine had ended. She asks both women to return to their families, but the daughters-in-law clearly love Naomi greatly and want to go with her. Orpah leaves reluctantly, but Ruth says, "Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus and more may the Lord do to me if anything but death parts me from you." (Ruth 1:16–17 NJPS).
Ruth and Naomi arrive back in Bethlehem just as the people there are beginning to harvest barley. The women recognize Naomi, but she tells them of her tragedies and asks to be called by a different name because of these tragedies.
When Ruth goes to the fields to gather the leftover grain so that she can support herself and Naomi, she meets a kind man named Boaz, who had been a relative of Elimelech. Boaz owns the field and hears of Ruth’s devotion to Naomi. He provides a job, protection, and sustenance for her, and she gathers the grain the rest of the day. She brings it home to Naomi, who is grateful for Boaz, and she is able to work in his field for the rest of the season.
When Naomi decides it is time for Ruth to move out of her own home, she requests that Ruth go to Boaz, and it is in this presentation of herself that Boaz announces he will marry her as dictated by law since he is a close family relative. He lets her know there is one man that is even more closely related, however, and so he will give this man a chance to marry Ruth. Boaz leaves early to meet with this man, who is wealthy and does not want to marry Ruth in case it could affect his wealth. Boaz marries Ruth, and they have a son they name Obed; the entire town celebrates. He is handed to Naomi who is blessed by the women of Bethlehem, saying Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” Obed becomes the father of Jesse who is the father of King David.
wHAT wOULD they CARE ABOUT TODAY?
Kvinna till kvinna
Gaza's widows camps
Prayer
When we experience change or displacement and seek love, wisdom, and companionship, be with us as we find and create our own non-traditional family structures. These connections are so necessary for the human support and encouragement we all need. Guide us in loyalty, acceptance, and growth to navigate both incredible loss and day-to-day struggles. Amen.
Art Reflection
The irises that the women hold are what decided the color scheme - I really read this story as one of home and displacement and non-traditional family, and I was amazed to find that both the official flower of Jordan (modern Moab) and Palestine (modern Bethlehem) are irises - one black and one purple. They hold these tightly as they hold each other. The wheat pattern on Naomi’s scarf comes from Ruth’s story with Boaz, and Ruth looks up to Naomi as Naomi guards her chosen daughter, saddened by loss but still fiercely working to protect her. The key she holds was inspired by the stories of Palestinian families still owning keys to homes that were taken from them, since Naomi was actually able to return to her land and be celebrated there.