;.c5/24/92; retyped from Beggars' Gazette; Shavuot, Ruth
;.l1,4,60,66,1,0,10,75,192,3,15,20,25,127,15,0,

Taken from the Holy Beggars Gazzette
   [Vol. 1 No. 3 Sivan 5732; as editted from tapes

		Shavuos, the Revelation on Mount Sinai, is also the dayof the passing away of King David.  On that day we read thestory of Ruth, his grandmother.  Elimelech, a descendent ofour father Judah, and a very rich Jew, was the high judgeduring a famine in Israel.  He took his wife Naomi, and histwo sons, Mahlon and Chilion, and went to Moab.  There Mahlonand Chilion married the two daughters of the king of Moab,Ruth and Orpah.  Then Elimelech, Mahlon, and Chilion all diedand the fmaily lost all their money, so Naomi decided to goback to Israel, where the famine had already ended.  Her twodaughers-in-law walked with her, and both of them said, 'Iwant to go with you', but Ruth meant it, and Orpah just saidit.  So Orpah stayed behind, and Ruth went with Naomi.

		In Israel, in former good days, the four corners of thefield belonged to the poor.  The law is very strong.  It'snot that you cut off the corners of the field and give it tothe poor, because then it is yours, and you are giving itaway.  You can't cut the four corners; they don't belong toyou.  It is the poor man's field. 
		Another law is, when you harvest from the field, if youforget something you are not allowed to go back.  Ifsomething falls it also doesn't belong to you. 

	 	So, when Ruth and Naomi came back to Israel, Ruth wentto gather food.  And by divine providence she went to thefield of Boaz, who was actually a cousin to her husband. Boaz came to look at his field, and he saw a very, verybeautiful woman.  Not just beautiful, in every way shining. He asked who she was, and his workers told him she was aprincess of Moab who come to Israel, poor now.  He said tothe workers,  "Please make sure that a lot is forgotten, anda lot falls down.  And during lunchtime when you eat, giveher some olives, some bread."

		The Torah says that the Moabite is not to be acceptedinto the congregation of Israel.  Only if a Moabite converts,then after three generations he can become part of Israel. Why?  It says, `Because he did not bring you bread and waterwhen you went into the desert.' 
		Who was the tribe of Moab?  Moab was the daugher of Lot. Lot was the nephew of Abraham.  Abraham rescued Lot fromSodom by his prayers.  That means Moab owed its wholeexistence to Abraham.  Moab had a chance to pay back to theJews what they owed them, what they owed Father Abraham, bybringing them bread and water in the desert. 
    
		In those days who was supposed to bring bread and water? Only the man.  In those days women wouldn't go out of thehouse to bring bread and water to the desert.  Suddenly onthe very day, the very instant that Ruth and Naomi crossedthe border, the High Court in Jerusalem started discussingthe law which says a Moabite cannot come into thecongregation of Israel.  They said this means only the maleMoabite, not the female.  Because she cannot be accused ofnot bringing bread and water.  
		In former good days the law was that if someone died,leaving a wife without chidren, someone in the family had tomarry her.  The day after the court decision Boaz said,"Someone has do do something for this girl.  Someone has tomarry her."  
		There was one man who was a closer relative than Boaz,but that man was super-holy, and he said, "No, I couldn'tmarry a girl who was converted.  I know the holy courtdecided the woman Moabite is Okay, but I am not so sure aboutthe Holy Court."  Boaz said, "Then, I am next." 
		Boaz married her, but the very sad thing is that Boazdied the next morning.  That means he was only married toRuth for one night.  The Zohar says the reason Boaz came intothe world was for just that one night.  Ruth had a son, Oved.Oved had a son Yeshai.  And Yeshai had a son David, the Kingof Israel, the ancester of Messiach.

		And who was Ruth?  Our father Abraham had two starpupils.  One was Lot, his nephew.  And the other wasChedorlaomer.  Abraham was really giving; that was hismessage to the world.  Suddenly his star pupil, Chedorlomer,turns around and becomes the king of Sodom, where the law wasthat if you were caught giving something to the poor you werekilled.  If you killed someone, you were rewarded.  If youhit somone you got paid.  Everything completely perverted.And Cherdorlomer became the king!  
		A few months later the second star pupil of Abraham,Lot, took off also and became the high judge of Sodom.  Thiswas the end for Abraham.  The Zohar says that after Lot left,was the first time Abraham really prayed for a son, becauseall the time he had thought, `I have two sons, maybe notphysically my sons, but they are spiritually my sons.'  Afterthey left he realized he had to have a son who would reallycontinue.  
		Listen to this.  Who was the real star pupil of Abraham? The real star pupil of Abraham was a little girl, the daugherof Lot.  She really absorbed all of Abraham's teachings. When her father went to Sodom she didn't want to go along,but what could she do?  After she came to Sodom the mosthorrible thing happened.   The poor didn't die in the streetsanymore.  The Sodomites couldn't find out who was feedingthem.  This went on for a long time.  
    		If you remember the story, two angels came to Abrahamand one of them said, `God sends word to you:  Her cryingreaches me, and I am going to destroy Sodom.'  The otherangel told Abraham he would have a son, Issac.  The Zoharasks what's, `Her crying'  Who is this `Her'?  
		The answer is, that one day in Sodom the little girl wascaught giving a piece of bread to a poor man.  The Sodomitespoured honey over her and then put her on the roof and shewas eaten by the bees.  This is the most painful death anyonecan be subjected to.
    
		When the time is right, G-d works fast.  The next daySodom was destroyed, and Abraham needed another star pupil,Issac.  Although Issac was very holy, he was ready to die forG-d, he doesn't compare to that girl.  That girl died forgiving a poor man a piece of bread.  The Zohar Kodesh saysthat the soul of that girl came back to the world, and shewas Ruth.  So Messiach is the descendent of those two starpupils, Issac, who was ready to die for G-d, and Ruth, thesoul that really died for people.  That's the story.
