D’var Torah – May 30
Loyalty in deed, Indeed!
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach.
I hope this finds you all well.
My wife said something truly powerful to me in the car the other night that she heard from attorney Elica Le Bon: “It’s more important to be good than to appear to be good.” She couldn’t be more right. Think about it- who do you want in your life: the friend who tells you they’ll show up for you and never does, or the friend that says they’ll show up and actually does? The choice is pretty clear.
On the joyous holiday of Shavuot which starts this year on Sunday, we read the story of the Book of Ruth. In it, the elderly and impoverished Israelite Naomi, after having lost her husband Elimelech and two sons Machlon and Chilion, tells her Moabite daughters-in-law Naomi and Orpah to return to their parents as she has nothing to offer them. They refuse to leave her, but when Ruth tells them to depart a second time, Orpah obeys and tearfully leaves. Ruth, in contrast, clings to Naomi and utters the now famous declaration: “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*)
I feel a little bad for Orpah – she honors her mother-in-law by obeying her. However, in doing so, we today read the Book of Ruth and not the Book of Orpah. On the other hand, she’s no Ruth. Ruth, out of loyalty and love, argues, pushes back, and goes against what’s obviously the safer option, the easy choice. I hate to think the worst of Orpah, but I have to ask, were her actions simply performative? Did she secretly breathe a sigh of relief when Naomi scolded her and told her once more to go home to her parents? Or, was she in fact a loving and strict loyalist who did exactly what her mother-in-law commanded her to do, to the letter, regardless of how she herself felt?
And perhaps this is where Orpah and Ruth differ. Orpah is loyal to the word, while Ruth is loyal to the deed. Ruth’s actions go far beyond those of Orpah.
So who are we called to be as Jews?
Ibn Ezra wrote, “My deeds shall both my witnesses and judges be”; Shammai proclaimed, “Say little and do much”; Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel taught, “Not theory but practice is the essential thing”; and the philosopher Baruch Spinoza penned, “We can judge a man faithful or unfaithful only by his works.”[1]
Hence, true loyalty and fidelity means to go above and beyond for those we love and care about.
As an American Jew, when I think of loyalty incarnate, one of the first people that comes to mind is Christopher Celiz (z”l). Chris was both a proud Jew and US Army Ranger who sacrificed his life in 2018 in the mountains of Afghanistan. He willingly and consciously placed himself between an American helicopter and enemy forces so that the aircraft would not be shot down. His loyalty was quite literally embodied by his actions, deeds, and ultimate sacrifice.
Bizrat HaShem, as we approach the holy and sacred festival of Shavuot, may we always remember to be as loyal as Ruth, to be devoted as Chris Celiz, and to be forever mindful that loyalty is far more of a physical act – one that is full of blood, sweat, sacrifice, hard days, and tears than it is a word that simply looks good.
Wishing you a Good Shabbos, a wonderful weekend, and a Chag Sameach!
Bivrakha,
Rabbi Aaron Stucker-Rozovsky
Beth El Congregation | 520 Fairmont Ave, Winchester, VA 22601
(540) 667-1889 (office)