Israeli Torah educator Sepha Kirschblum takes students through one of the Bible’s most beloved books in a course now available on Bible Plus
With the Jewish holiday of Shavuot just weeks away, Bible Plus is highlighting its video course dedicated entirely to the Book of Ruth, the biblical text traditionally read on the holiday by Jewish communities around the world.
Taught by Israeli Torah educator Sepha Kirschblum, the course offers a verse-by-verse journey through all four chapters of Ruth, examining the story’s major characters, its moral themes, and the historical context of the period of the Judges that frames the narrative.
Shavuot, which this year falls in early June, commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The Book of Ruth is read on Shavuot in synagogues worldwide, and its themes of loyalty, covenant, and return to God are considered central to understanding what the holiday means. For Christian readers, Ruth’s story holds particular resonance as well, sitting at the heart of biblical history as the great-grandmother of King David and a figure in the lineage of the Messiah.
Kirschblum’s course covers the full arc of the book, from the famine that drives Elimelech’s family out of Judah to Moab, to Ruth’s remarkable declaration of loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi, to her fateful encounter with Boaz in the fields of Bethlehem. The course pays close attention to the Hebrew text, surfacing details and nuances that English translations do not always capture.
“Ruth is only four chapters,” Kirschblum notes in the course, “but when a book is that short in the Bible, that’s the author telling you to look at every single word.”
Among the course’s central themes is the concept of judgment, and how the community’s response to Naomi and Ruth’s return to Bethlehem exposes one of the Bible’s sharpest critiques of how people treat one another. Kirschblum also draws a striking parallel between Ruth’s journey and the journey of Abraham, arguing that Ruth’s leap of faith mirrors the founding act of the Jewish people.
Bible Plus is an online Hebrew Bible video platform featuring courses taught by rabbis and scholars based in Israel. The platform currently offers courses across all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible. Subscriptions are available at $5 per month on an annual plan or $7 per month on a monthly plan.
With Shavuot approaching, there is no better time to sit down with this four-chapter book and actually dive deep.
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