Shavuos 5785

Kindness can be Risky

Kindness can be Risky

In the Book of Ruth, Ruth visits Boaz in the middle of the night. Boaz agrees to attempt to redeem Naomi’s fields and to marry Ruth. At the end of their encounter, Boaz tells Ruth (3:15) “Bring [me] the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” The narrative continues: “He measured out six barley grains and he placed it upon her.” This raises a question: Why was Boaz measuring out barley grains in the middle of the night and why did he give them to Ruth?

The Malbim explains that Boaz wanted to provide food to Ruth and to Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law. But in doing so we see that Boaz risked a chillul Hashem (desecrating G-d’s name). Someone who observed the scene might have mistakenly assumed he was paying a prostitute before morning. (See Lipowitz, Megilas Ruth with the commentary of the Nachalas Yosef, Feldheim 2001, p. 119). Despite this risk of chillul Hashem, Boaz prioritized doing chessed (kindness) for Naomi. He felt that Ruth should not return home to Naomi empty-handed.

Boaz went even further. The pasuk concludes “… he placed [the barley grains] upon her and went to the city.” The text does not say that “she” went to the city but instead uses the masculine gender. The Medrash explains (Ruth Rabbah 7:7) that Boaz accompanied Ruth back to the city, again risking a chillul Hashem that people would think that Ruth was intimate with him. He did this in order to do chessed, to safely accompany Ruth towards her home.

How could this be? The transgression of chillul Hashem is one of the most serious sins one can commit. (See Rambam, Hilchos Tshuvah 1:4). How could providing a few meals to Naomi and Ruth and accompanying Ruth back to the city outweigh the terrible consequences of potentially desecrating G-d’s name and bringing suspicions of impropriety upon him and Ruth?

Nevertheless, the Midrash approves Boaz’s action, saying that Boaz merited that six righteous men would descend from him, including the Moshiach. (Ruth Rabbah 7:2). The Midrash emphasizes the tremendous value  of chessed. If someone of Boaz’s stature, who the Talmud (Bava Basra 91a) identifies as Ivtzan - the greatest leader of his generation (See Shoftim 12:8-10) - is willing to undertake such risks in order to do chessed, how much more so should we seek every opportunity to perform acts of chessed.