The Rambam and Megilat Ruth | Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz | May 19 2026

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

Today, I'm going to take a little bit of a break, but it'll be connected to the Rambam, but not the letter that we're looking at. I want to share with you a thought from the Brisker Rav using the Rambam to explain some passages in Megillat Ruth. So, I think I think it would be interesting. Um as you know, uh the minhag Yisrael is to read uh the story of Ruth on Shavuot. And there are many different reasons why that is given. Number one, uh Ruth is of course the great-grandmother of David Hamelech, and great-grandmother of David Hamelech, and the end of the story of Ruth traces the lineage all the way from Yehudah through Ruth, Boaz and Ruth uh to David Hamelech. And Chazal have a mesorah that David Hamelech died on Shavuot. So, it's his yahrzeit, so we honor David Hamelech this way. Uh another reason is that the story of Ruth actually happens around Shavuot time, the time of the harvest of the wheat. Uh a third reason, which is probably the the best reason, is that on Mattan Torah, all of us became converts. All of Torah, all of us became converts. All of us converted to uh by accepting Hashem's mitzvot. And therefore, on the day that we accept Hashem's mitzvot, we want to study about a role model of a totally sincere, righteous woman who accepted God's Torah, and that should be the model that we follow in our own lives. And the uh fourth reason the Midrash gives is that uh Ruth uh was exemplary in the loving kindness that she had for Naomi. Remember, Ruth and Orpah were both the

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1. 0:00Today, I'm going to take a little bit of a break, but it'll be connected to…
2. 5:08the son of Salmon, are first cousins. Everyone understands that they are cousins, they are not…
3. 10:12Boaz gathers a minyan, and Boaz says the following. Now, he starts off not even talking…
4. 15:52same way there would be a mitzvah to keep the field in the family, to redeem…
5. 21:02are going to be tainted because they come from forbidden Moabite blood, and they themselves will…
6. 26:37mental image of a chalitzah ceremony, but this is not a chalitzah ceremony. What this is,…
7. 31:47permitted. Boaz is saying it's permitted. So, basically, Ploni Almoni says, "Okay, you think it's okay,…
8. 36:52that even a Sanhedrin can theoretically be rebellious if it rejects the psak of an earlier…
9. 42:28back and forth. And that is the Chachamim said to Doeg, "The Torah The Torah gives…
10. 47:32bizarre as it sounds, according to the Rambam, if an Amaleki doesn't even become Jewish, if…

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