moshe stempel
shavuos - megillas ruth - seek out peace and help others
Based on a Vaad of Rabbi Bamberger - May 24, 2007
On Shavuos night, Rabbi Bamberger discussed Megillas Ruth. The ideas of the vaad were taken from his sefer Shiras HaLevi. Due to the profound importance of this sefer of Tanach, it is important that we have a basic understanding of what this sefer is about and why we read it on Shavuos.
Megillas Ruth tells the tale of a prominent Jewish family that was destroyed through greed. Elimelech,
the head of the household, was the greatest sage of his generation. He was also fabulously wealthy. He
lived in Eretz Yisroel during a time of great poverty. Every day hordes of needy Jews would come
knocking on his door begging for charity. Elimelech was concerned that his vast wealth would soon be
depleted if he had to support the entire Jewish nation on his shoulders.
In order to shirk his responsibilities, Elimelech fled to Moab. With him he took his wife, Naomi, and his
two sons, Machlon and Kilyon. Machlon and Kilyon wed two Moabite princesses, Ruth and Orpah.
G-d punished Elimelech severely for his lack of compassion on his suffering brethren. Elimelech lost his
great fortune and died from a terrible disease. A similar fate befell his two sons.
There is a powerful lesson that can be gleaned from this narration. When G-d blesses us with wealth or
talents, it is our responsibility to use those blessings to help other people. If we fail to use our blessings
in life properly, G-d may take them away. This was Elimelech's tragic mistake.
When Naomi was about to take leave of her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, she gave them the
following blessing: "May G-d grant you peace and may you find peace" This blessing is difficult to
understand. If G-d will give them peace, why should they have to find it?
Rabbi Bamberger explained that there is a profound lesson to be derived from this pasuk. Many people
make the mistake of thinking that they can be happy only if they win the lottery. However, there is
probably nothing that is further from the truth. Many studies have been done to analyze the lifestyle
changes of lottery winners. The findings were shocking: Nearly all of them divorced their wives
immediately. Many of them got involved with drugs and lost all of their winnings on poor investments.
Some of them got so depressed with how badly they screwed up their lives that they committed suicide.
What we see from these studies is that our happiness ISN'T governed by how much we have. Rather, it is up to us to find peace with the specific circumstances that G-d presents us with.
Moshe Stempel helped edit Great Jewish Letters by Rabbi Moshe Bamberger.