The Tanakh Podcast

Despite torturous suffering, the individual of our chapter retains his faith. Ultimately, God saves him. This is a story that gives hope to those who might otherwise despair, sowing the seed of promise even in the bleakest conditions.

Chapter 2 focuses on God's fury. Two victims in particular are singled out:1. The Temple itself2. The children and babiesThis chapter expresses forthright outrage and protest towards God.

Eikhah gives the human angle to the destruction of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is depicted as a woman, forlorn and in tears, abandoned and humiliated.Today we focus on many of the repeated phraseology of chapter 1 which evokes the imagery of ruin and tragedy.

This chapter is quite legal. Today we focus on two key words: the "name" and "geula - redemption" because here in chapter 4, "redemption" is expressed in the restoration of the "name" of the deceased, upon his "land" or ancestral portion. This concept is the backbone of the drama of restoration that reverses the tragedy of Naomi\'s family, and brings personal fulfillment to Ruth.

In this chapter Ruth goes out to the threshing floor at night. Boaz is apparently sleeping there all alone. And she uncovers his feet. The plan, devised by Naomi, seems to have pronounced sexual overtones. And yet it would seem that both Ruth and Boaz's high moral fibre ensure that this becomes the moments in which they reveal their intent to marry.

What attracts Boaz' attention to Ruth?What aspect of Ruth's persona is significant to Boaz?And how does Ruth embody the character of Abraham in contrast to her ancestor, Lot?

This is a story that takes place on the backdrop of the period of the Shoftim. And yet, its message is very different to that book. What is Ruth trying to add that hasn't been said in Shoftim?

In Chapter 8 the couple manage to express their love and to experience their togetherness in the fullest manner.And yet this is a difficult chapter. It is made of sub-units, whose connection is difficult to decipher.We read through the chapter, expressing the questions and offering a possible reading for the end of the book.

Chapter 7 begins with the other women beckoning the woman-lover, the "shulamit" as she is called, to return and dance with them. Rashi and the Midrash reads this as a invitation to integrate and acculturate into foreign cultures. But the "shulamit" insists on her independence. As they describe her physical form, the Midrash sees each detail as an allusion to an aspect of Jewish uniqueness.

After the traumatic separation of the couple, chapter 6 has the "dod", the king proclaiming that the woman is "my only one, my dove, my perfect one."Music. Evyatar Banai. Yafa Ka-levana