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| The story of Ruth unfolds against the background of the barley harvest in ancient Judea...
5 Comments Posted
It appears that in biblical times, lineage of a family went through the father. Ruth never officially converted and yet her child was Jewish, as was king David.. When did religion through the mother's lineage, for Jews, begin as in the present time?
Thank you for an excellent presentation that increased my knowledge of our great religion and traditions.
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Esther,
I don't know when the rule from patrilineal to matrilineal lineage changed.
Although it isn't stated in the text, it is implicit that Ruth did convert, either before/during her marriage or sometime after her entreaty to Naomi.
If you look at the Art Scroll version of Ruth, the commentary on pp. 80-81 details the Midrash and other commentaries of the replies that Naomi made to each of Ruth's statements (e.g., My daughter, Jewish girls don't live in a house without a mezuzzah", and Ruth's responses to her.
As stated in the Chabad article above:
Ruth is the paradigm of the ger tzeddek, the "righteous convert" who with great sacrifice forsakes her or his former life and identity to be born anew as a Jew....
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There's no reason to believe that things ever changed. The Talmud records variant opinions on thousands of subjects---there's hardly an issue that doesn't have more than one opinion. However, concerning the law that Jewishness follows your mother there is no dispute. It's hard to imagine that there was any change in the law with no trace of dispute.
If Ruth converted, why is it not mentioned in the text? Quite simply, because the author felt it unnecessary to write that she had to accept to behave like a Jew and immerse in water in order to marry. If I wrote today that you went to Yale and received a doctorate, would I have to write that you wrote a thesis and successfully defended it?
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Great question Ester, I would like to know too! Perhaps a Rabbi, scholar, or
sage, will provide an answer for us.
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im doing a report on ruth and ive learned sooo much about her now she is one of my fav bible characters
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