The Book of Ruth
By Anita Diamant

It is traditional to read The Book of Ruth on Shavuot, the holiday that celebrates the giving of the Torah, the raison d'etre of the Jewish people. Not that you really need an excuse to read Ruth. It's such a crowd-pleaser: dramatic, poignant, sexy, happy ending.

But linking the revelation at Sinai to the most famous Jew-by-choice makes a powerful statement; this is more than just a nice story. It is a promise and call to action. The Book of Ruth is the Outreach Manual of the Jewish people.

Twenty-five years ago, Rabbi Alexander Schindler spoke of Ruth as he challenged the Reform movement to "reach out" to the non-Jewish spouses of Jewish men and women (among others.) Rabbi Schindler, then president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, asked for us all to behave like Naomi, who in treating her daughter-in-law as one of the family, created the possibility of King David, whose name is associated with the greatest dreams of the Jewish people.

The Jewish world was not able to live up to Naomi's example for a very long time. Ever since the first Roman edicts limiting conversion to Judaism (around 200 C.E.), Jews-by-choice were viewed with a mixture of curiosity and fear. The rabbis insisted upon respect for the ger tzedek, righteous proselyte, but the ger-ness, the other-ness, of converts actually grew over time as the gulf between Jews and non-Jews widened behind ghetto walls and shtetl (small village) boundaries. For centuries, Christian authorities executed converts to Judaism for the crime of apostasy and killed Jews for the offense of accepting them.

That danger is utterly alien to the American Jewish experience today, where more people are choosing Judaism than at any other point in history. And yet, our embrace of new Jews is hesitant, even tepid. We tend to treat conversion the way we used to treat adoption.

A generation ago, adoption was a closely guarded family secret – as though there was something strange or wrong about loving and rearing a child who was not born to you. Today, of course, adoption is not only more common, it is viewed as an honorable and even holy way for people to complete their families. Temple bulletins list adoptions right next to news of births, which is where the conversion announcements belong, too.

Conversion is a normative part of Jewish life. It is, as it has been even in times of terrible persecution, one of the ways that God makes more Jews. There is hardly an American Jew who does not proudly count Jews-by-choice among his or her nearest and dearest. Converts are not only members but also leaders of synagogues, sisterhoods, and the whole alphabet soup of Jewish organizations.

Jews-by-choice are, by their very existence, messengers and teachers whose presence reminds the community that Judaism is an open religious culture. That in the world today, being Jewish is not a label but a choice. That neither Abraham nor Sarah was born to Jewish mothers. That Ruth is not a quaint Bible story, but an ongoing part of creation.

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For additional reading

• Holidays: Shavout
• Holidays: Shavout: The Book of Ruth
• Holidays: Shavout for Kids
• What do we celebrate? A Shavuot reflection
• Seven Complete Weeks: A Shavuot reflection