Leaving, Returning, Torah, and Home

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Abraham left home to go to a foreign land. Naomi leaves a foreign land to go home. Both of them travel to Israel. What are the connections between these two stories that lie on opposing ends of our Holy Torah?

Come join me in learning the midrash below from Dirshuni, one of my favorite books, a collection of modern midrash written by Israeli women and compiled and edited by my teacher, Tamar Biala.

As we make our way through, you'll find both the midrash and the sources it pulls from. Let's look into the Book of Ruth and focus ourselves on Naomi.

Who was Naomi? What was her life like?

Naomi had travelled with her family to the land of Moab to find relief from famine in Israel. She left Beitlechem, literally the House of Bread. Once she arrived in Moab, things were fine for a while, but then her husband, Elimelech, and her two sons, Sickness and Destruction (Mahalon and Kiliyon) pass away. Left with no family, Naomi sets out towards Israel, her birthplace.

How can you call me Naomi, the Pleasant one, when so much bad has befallen me?

Naomi has found herself in the gutter. Here, she and her husband had moved their entire family in order to ensure them a good life, one with enough food to go around, and instead, Naomi returns back from their journey with nothing, save for Ruth, her daughter-in-law.

In reading the midrash below, try to answer the following questions:

-What is the source of Naomi's emptiness? What does she lack?

-What fills that space for her? Can you think of a time in your life or from another source (such as pop culture or the story of a friend) that speaks to this type of fulfillment?

Now, let's look to the second part of this series of midrash. Why did Naomi decide to return home? It certainly wasn't easy to move the first time, to come to a land she wasn't familiar with. Yet, now, she has built a life there. She has friends, daughters-in-law, a community. What pushes her to return home?

Naomi returns home in response to prophecy offered by our ancestor Sarah! The words of Sarah echo those offered by God to Abraham. "Get up and go!" Yet, instead of asking that she leave home, Naomi is told to return home.

It should be noted, especially at this time of year, that between Abraham's leaving home to start anew in the land of Israel and Naomi's return home to the land of Israel sits almost the entirety of Tanakh.

Growing up, we must at some point leave home, as Abraham did, to find our path forward in the world, to seek out an ezer k'negdo, a partner who supports us. In our journey forward we will build for ourselves a new home where we and the Shechinah can dwell, our holy mishkan. Here we will receive Torah, and, eventually, like Naomi, we'll be called to return home.

How do you understand Naomi's role as the bookend to Abraham's story?

What can we learn from this powerful pair, both leaving and returning, but both always finding a home in the House of Israel?

In this last part of our midrash we need to be very careful with our grammar. As Naomi gives Ruth instructions for how to approach and make a move on Boaz, the family reedemer, the grammar in our text goes back and forth between the 1st and 2nd person. So, the question must be asked: Who is lying down next to Boaz on the threshing floor?

The rabbis have traditionally asked that we read this section in the 2nd person, that is Naomi telling Ruth what to do. But, perhaps our story here is more like that of Rachel and Leah. The rabbis ask, how could Jacob, who was so in love with Rachel, not realize the error of his marriage during his wedding night? Couldn't he tell their voices apart? The answer offered is that the sisters worked, sharing Jacob's secret handshake, and Rachel even hiding under the bed to speak on her sister's behalf!

Here, too, we have two women who share a deep family bond. How does the story change if, like Rachel, Naomi was there on that fateful night?

God said to Abraham, "Go forth!" and, through Sarah, Naomi was told, "Return!"

Both of them came home to the House of Israel.

How are the commands to "Go forth!" and the one to "Return!" part of our process as Jews to find our way Home, to the House of Israel?

Thanks for learning with us!

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