Lesser Midrash on Ruth

Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelled there about ten years. (Ruth 1:4)

They took wives of the women of Moab. What was it that caused [men from] the tribe of Judah to marry a Moabite woman [which is prohibited]? Because [those men] acted like Amon and Moab: because they did not greet you with bread and water (Deuteronomy 23:5) [i.e., they left Judah during a famine rather than stay and help their suffering brethren].

Orpah [was called so] because she deserved to have her neck broken, like a heifer whose neck was broken [‘arufah; see Deuteronomy 21:6].

Ruth [was called so] because she agitated herself [merateḥet] against sin to do the will of her Father in heaven.

Another explanation: Ruth [was called so] because she merited that David, who saturated [rivahu] God with songs and praises, was descended from her.

There are those people whose deeds are pleasant, but their names are ugly, and others whose names and deeds are ugly, and still others whose names and deeds are pleasant, such as the twelve tribes of Israel. Those whose names are pleasant and deeds ugly: Esau and Ishmael. Those whose names are ugly, but deeds pleasant: those who came up to Israel from Babylon. Those whose names and deeds are ugly: the spies.

And they dwelled there about ten years: This teaches us that a bad decree can remain suspended for up to ten years.

Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. (Ruth 1:3)

Then Elimelech died: Doesn’t every person die? This [actually] teaches us that a bad decree only comes upon a person who had the power to act and protest and yet did not protest, and that a person only leaves orphans behind if they are miserly with their money, as it says: Let his children continually be vagabonds . . . because he did not remember to perform kindness (Psalms 109:10, 16).

Turn back, my daughters, go your way—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, [would you wait for them till they were grown?] (Ruth 1:12[–13])

Turn back, my daughters, go: [She says it] twice. From here you learn that we refuse a convert twice. R. Ḥiyya says: Don’t believe a convert until twenty-four generations have passed—during which they retain their corruption—but the moment that he accepts God’s yoke out of love and fear and converts for the sake of heaven, God does not turn him away, as it says: And [the Lord] loves the convert, to give him food and clothing (Deuteronomy 10:18). God issued eighteen warnings about the convert, which is equal to the number [of warnings] He gave regarding idolatry.

But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” (Ruth 1:20–21)

But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi”: R. Ḥiyya bar Abba said: All travails are difficult, but the travails of poverty are the worst. All travails come and return to where they came from, and the body recovers to its previous state, but the travails of poverty dim a man’s eyes, as it says: My eye wastes away due to poverty (Psalms 88:10).

There is a tale of a pious man who took it upon himself not to accept anything from any person. He had one piece of clothing and one sheet. He would stand and cry and scream and beg all night. He persisted in wallowing in his misery until he had to sit in rubbish, and his clothes wore away. One time, Elijah revealed himself to him in the form of a certain Arab and stood before him, and [the man] began to sigh. He [Elijah] said, “If you want, I will lend you two coins; do business with them and live.” He said, “Yes.” So he gave him two coins. He bought items and did business with them. He did the same on the second day and again on the third day. Before the year ended, he had become rich and had forgotten his piety and his service in prayer. God said to Elijah, “There was one pious individual in My world, and you turned him away from Me.” He [Elijah] went to him [the man] and found him busy with a great amount of work. He said to him, “It is I who gave you the first two coins; search for them and give them to me, as I want to restore them to their place.” He searched for them and gave them to him. By the end of that year, he had lost his wealth, and all the treasured money was lost. The man returned to the rubbish and would sit and cry. Elijah returned to him and asked what the grandfather had done. He said, “Woe to the creature for whom the wheel has turned. I have lost my wealth.” He said, “Swear to me that you will return to your piety and your prayer service, and I will return the two coins to you.” He said, “Yes,” and so he gave him the two coins. He did business with them and became rich.

In this manner, Naomi said to her townsfolk: Do not call me Naomi . . . I went out full: we learn from this that she was [once] rich and full. What caused her to descend into poverty and her husband and children to die? Their miserliness.

Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.” (Ruth 2:13)

Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me”: How had he comforted her? He said: In the future you will rise to greatness, and your children will be the leaders of Israel. In the future you will wear a royal crown. Even though you see yourself as poor, in the future, a son will descend from you who will dedicate one hundred thousand talents of gold in one day, as it says: See, by denying myself, I have laid aside for the House of the Lord one hundred thousand talents of gold (1 Chronicles 22:14). Would someone poor dedicate all those talents of silver and of gold? But on the day that David killed Goliath the Philistine, the daughters of Israel threw all their silver and gold at him, and he dedicated it to the Temple. And when a famine of three years came, the Israelites asked him to give it [i.e., the silver and gold] to them, and he didn’t want to give them anything. God said to him, “[Since] you did not take it upon yourself to sustain the poor, I swear that you will not build it, but that it will be built by Solomon your son. As it says: The word of the Lord came to Nathan . . . who will come from your body . . . he shall build a house for My Name (2 Samuel 7:4, 12–13).”