Shavuot was an ancient biblical festival celebrating the start of the wheat harvest and the bringing of the first fruits to the Temple. When examining the timeline in the Book of Exodus, the rabbis of the Talmud calculated that the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai in the third month (Sivan), and that the Torah was given on the sixth of Sivan, coinciding with Shavuot.
This theological consensus imbued Shavuot with a new spiritual depth. It celebrated the moment the Israelites entered into a covenant with God and received Judaism’s foundational laws and teachings.
This identification of Israel with the Almighty is so profound that the festival was transformed into the concept of a spiritual marriage between God and the Jewish people.
This bond between Israel and God, and the people’s vow to adhere to His laws, is given human expression in the Bible in the story of Ruth. The parallel between Israel’s commitment to the word of God and Ruth’s commitment to her beloved mother-in-law, Naomi, and her Jewish faith, is so strong that reading the Book of Ruth has become part of the Shavuot ritual.
What is Ruth’s story? Naomi and her husband, Elimelech, who lived in Bethlehem, had two sons, Machlon and Chilion. During a famine, the family moved to Moab, an area in today’s Jordan, opposite the Dead Sea.
Elimelech died. The sons married Moabite women – Machlon wed Ruth, and Chilion wed Orpah. Then both sons died, leaving the three widows – Naomi, their mother, and their wives, Ruth and Orpah – to fend for themselves.
Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem, but urged her daughters-in-law to stay in Moab among their own people. Orpah remained, but Ruth famously pledged total loyalty to Naomi: “Where you go, I will go; your people shall be my people, and your God my God”.
Ruth’s devotion to Naomi, and her willingness to adopt Naomi’s people and God, is the exemplar of the sincere convert, voluntarily accepting the Torah and Jewish life – just as the people of Israel did at Sinai.
Ruth’s story is not over. She and Naomi return to Bethlehem. While Ruth gleans in the fields to provide for them, she meets Boaz, who shows her kindness. Boaz, though elderly, marries Ruth. According to the Midrash, he dies shortly afterward, leaving Ruth pregnant with a boy, Obed.
Obed becomes the father of Jesse, and Jesse is the father of King David, from whose lineage the Messiah will be born. The Book of Ruth concludes with the genealogy of King David who, according to tradition, was born and died on Shavuot, further tying the story to the festival.
Ruth illustrates the inclusive and universal aspects of Judaism
RUTH, A foreigner who is welcomed and becomes the ancestor of King David, illustrates the inclusive and universal aspects of Judaism and the Jewish community. This final strand of the many-sided festival of Shavuot celebrates the welcoming of the outsider into the Jewish people.
Unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism is not a proselytizing religion. It does not seek converts because it is not trying to persuade unbelievers that it is the only true path to salvation. Non-Jews are encouraged to follow the Seven Laws of Noah, and in Jewish tradition, righteous non-Jews are just as assured of a place in the world to come as Jews are.
Nevertheless, Judaism does welcome those who sincerely wish to accept its teachings and observances. The conversion process, however, is neither quick nor easy.
There is a historical context to the present-day practice regarding conversion to Judaism. In ancient times, Judaism was more open to converts, but over the centuries, especially during long periods of exile in Christian and Muslim lands, Jews were forbidden from attempting to convert others and were persecuted if they did. This led to a strong tradition of not seeking converts.
So Judaism welcomes, but does not actively recruit, newcomers. It calls them “Jews by choice.” Many families will have examples scattered among their members. I certainly do, and I can vouch from close family experience that Orthodox rabbis will initially discourage potential converts in order to determine their sincerity. Only those who persist and demonstrate genuine commitment are guided through the conversion process.
The procedure, which is not just about religious belief, but about joining the Jewish people and adopting a Jewish identity, is intentionally challenging and can take many months, even years. It requires the candidate to study Judaism, participate in Jewish life by perhaps living with an Orthodox Jewish family, and observing a full cycle of holidays.
Men must be circumcised, and both men and women will have to be immersed in a mikveh (ritual bath). The final stage is for the potential convert to appear before a rabbinic court, or Beit Din.
I remember accompanying a dearly loved member of my family to receive their certificate of conversion (shtar giur), legal proof of their Jewish status. This document is essential for many aspects of modern Jewish communal life, including marriage, synagogue membership, and aliyah (immigration to Israel under the Law of Return).
Non-Orthodox strands of Judaism are notably more lenient in their conversion process, but converts may encounter difficulties in negotiating marriage and aliyah to Israel.
According to traditional Jewish law (Halacha), once a person converts sincerely through a proper process, they are Jewish for life. Converts are not only accepted but are often regarded with special esteem, because their choice to join Judaism is voluntary and conscious. Jewish tradition honors converts, citing great sages descended from converts, such as Rabbi Akiva.
Some texts emphasize that converts are especially precious in God’s eyes.
That is not to say that the integration of a newly converted Jew into a community is easy. Very often it is not, and in a close community the person can be regarded with suspicion or even shunned. It can take time and perseverance to gain acceptance.
This is a possible burden that the would-be convert will need to be told about and anticipate, together with the assurance that over time, any social barriers will undoubtedly disappear. After all, the Talmud tells us that one of the reasons the Jewish people were exiled from the Land of Israel and scattered throughout the world was specifically to allow righteous converts to join the community. Many are the sincere converts from a variety of nations who have left their mark on Jewish history.
It is the story of Ruth’s sincere and wholehearted conversion to the faith of her beloved mother-in-law, Naomi, that imparts an extra dimension to Shavuot. It imbues this festival, above all the others, with a special significance, recognizing and celebrating those committed souls who have overcome all the difficulties, real and imposed, and by embracing Judaism, have joined the Jewish family. ■