Ruth and Rahab

            Rabbi Tanḥuma commences his elucidation of the Book of Ruth with a comparison of Ruth and Rahab the prostitute:

Rabbi Tanḥuma commenced, "I was sought by those who did not ask; I was found by those who did not seek Me” [Isaiah 65:1] – “I was sought by those who did not ask” refers to Rahab the prostitute; “I was found by those who did not seek Me” refers to Ruth the Moabite.                         Midrash Rut Zuta 1:1

            Apparently, Rabbi Tanḥuma detached the first verse of the penultimate chapter of Isaiah from its simple meaning (p’shat), which is a rebuke of Israel for ignoring the prophets whom God sent to the nation, as Metzudat David writes:

Have I not made Myself available for you to seek Me in times of distress, but to no avail, for it was to a nation which did not ask to seek Me.

            Rabbi Tanḥuma’s comment clearly relates to our Sages’ tradition that Rahab converted to Judaism and married none other than Joshua, [Babylonian Talmud, Megila 14b] and on the simplest level, the common denominator between the two women of the Bible is the fact that they were both converts. However, Rabbi Tanḥuma’s comment carries much deeper levels of significance.

            In my opinion, the true and essential common denominator between the two converts to Judaism is hessed (kindness.)

            Rabbi Zeira (late third - early fourth centuries C.E.) expresses his opinion that the reason the Book of Ruth was written and canonized is “to teach the reward of those who do kindness.” [Yalkut Shimoni, Rut 601] Indeed, Ruth’s primary quality is hessed, as both Naomi [1:8] and Boaz [3:10] comment to her.

            Rahab too did hessed with the spies who came to her home, as she herself said: “And now, swear to me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness (hessed), that you will also show kindness (hessed) to my father's house, and give me a true token.” [Joshua 2:12]

            Ḥessed is the direct link between the story of Rahab and that of Ruth. The word hessed appears three times in three consecutive verses, twice uttered by Rahab and the third time in the spies’ response to her:

And the men answered her, “Our life for yours, if you will not tell this our discussion. And it shall be, when the Lord gives us the Land, that we will deal with you with kindness (hessed) and truth.” [Ibid. v. 14]

Significantly, the word hessed also appears in the Book of Ruth three times.

            By virtue of her hessed, Ruth is privileged to be the “mother of monarchy” [Rut Zuta 1:1], while Rahab was privileged to be the ancestress of eight kohanim and prophets. [Midrash Sifrei, Beha’alothcha 78]. Thus, the two converts, Ruth and Rahab, were partners in establishing the three institutions crucial for the Nation of Israel: monarchy, priesthood and prophecy.

            There is an additional level of commonality between Ruth and Rahab. The Book of Ruth opens with the declaration “And it was in the days of the judges.” The unique aspect of the days of the judges was the fact that “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever he wanted.” [Judges 17:6;21:25] In that period Israel was in a state of anarchy, which included failure to do hessed. Our Sages taught that Elimelech was the leader of his generation and the “caretaker of the generation” [Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 91a] and that he was sufficiently wealthy that he could provide food for the “entire country” for a decade. Yet, instead of doing hessed with his neighbors and members of his tribe, Elimelech ran away to the fields of Moab. In contrast, the person who does true hessed is Ruth herself. It is Ruth who performs hessed, while a leader of the Hebrew nation, who has the ability to do hessed thinks only of himself and his family and abandons Israel. Thus, the Book of Ruth can be seen as pointing an accusing finger: it is not the “caretaker of the generation,” who is expected to do hessed who actually does so, but the daughter of a nation which was ungrateful to the father of the Israelites [Midrash Aggada, Deuteronomy 25:3] who practices hessed. Indeed, “in those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what he wanted.”

            The story of Rahab as well, can be seen as pointing an accusing finger at Israel. Alshikh, in his comments on the verse from Isaiah quoted by Rabbi Tanḥuma, writes:

The intention of the verse is to reprimand Israel, saying “Look and understand how I have made Myself accessible to those who call on Me; to Rahab and Ruth, who came to find shelter under My wings I granted more than what they requested, and if you (Israel) call on Me, (you will be granted) double.”

            The two converts were able to achieve closeness to God, while the Nation of Israel failed to understand that if they but call on God, He will answer them.

            Likely, the major lesson of the comparison between Ruth and Rahab is the great power of repentance (and entering under the wings of the Shechina) to rectify even the greatest evils. Through her hessed, Ruth became the mother of monarchy, and as such the ancestress of Messiah, thereby rectifying the sin of her primal ancestors, Lot and his older daughter [Genesis 19:30ff.]. Our Sages’ tradition is that Rahab’s career as a prostitute lasted forty years, from the time Israel left Egypt until Joshua’s spies arrived at her home, and when she repented, asking God to forgive her [Babylonian Talmud, Zevaḥim 115b] God brought her near to Him [Sifrei, ibid.]

            Indeed, Rabbi Tanḥuma’s comparison of Ruth and Rahab teaches truly significant lessons.