[Avodah] Would Ruth's conversion be rejected today?

[Daniel M. Israel]

On May 31, 2012, at 6:56 PM, kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:
> I acknowledge that at that point in history, Yibum was not only a halacha, but a social practice as well, and I've heard the argument that Boaz was not halachically obligated to Ruth, but acted as her goel merely as a chesed. But I'm very uneasy with that - I'd think that a tzadik like Boaz would much sooner have sat shiva over Machlon's intermarriage, and not been so quick to support his widow.

Furthermore, Ramban apparently sees this as a real case of Yibum as far as the spiritual effects are concerned.

> I have heard that a resolution to this conundrum can be found in the idea of Gerei Arayos -- that's Arayos with an Aleph, meaning "lions". (ArtScroll 50-52 uses the term "eimas baaleihem" - the fear of their husbands.) They say that both Ruth and Orpah did indeed convert prior to marrying, but because of the social situation, their Kabalas Ol Mitzvos was tenuous and tentative, so much so that when the family situation changed, they were able to retract the conversion, much as a child can retract it on adulthood. And while Orpah went back, Ruth used "amech ami" to confirm her prior conversion. In this manner, Machlon married a Jew, and Boaz was a real goel.
> 
> But I have big problems with this too. Regardless of how tentative that original conversion was, it was enough to allow Elimelech's sons to marry them. And if so, how could Naami ENCOURAGE them to go back to their Avoda Zara? To tell the truth, this is what I had *thought* this thread was about.

As far as your first point, who says that what Elimelech's sons did was right?  Perhaps they married after a sham conversion.  We know this happens today.  Notice that they didn't marry until after their father died, perhaps he kept them from stumbling to that extent.  Certainly they are criticized for the actions.

Regarding encouraging them to return to A"Z, this would be a problem whether they converted or not; I suspect the A"Z of Moav was assur for b'nei Noach as well.

--
Daniel M. Israel
President, Kol BeRamah Torah Learning Center
daniel at kolberamah.org