[Avodah] Lifnei Iveir

[Kenneth Miller via Avodah]

After Machlon and Kilyon died, we find in Ruth 1:8-13 that Naami tells both Orpah and Ruth to go back home. Didn't Naami realize that they would return to avodah zara if they'd do that? Even if they had not converted yet, wouldn't this be an example of Lifnei Iveir?

One answer I can think of is that perhaps this eventuality didn't occur to Naami. But several pesukim later, in 1:15, Naami tells Ruth that Orpah has "returned to her people and to her god; go back with your sister-in-law." Naami persists not only in trying to convince Ruth to leave, but she explicitly urges Ruth to return to her former god!

This question is certainly relevant according to those who understand that Orpah and Ruth converted prior to marrying Machlon and Kilyon. But it is relevant even to those who hold that Ruth did not convert until afterward.

It is one thing to dissuade a prospective ger from joining us. But Ruth had been living with a Jewish family for ten years! How can Naami urge her to go back to avoda zara? I know that the meforshim give various reasons why Naami did not want them to accompany her back to Eretz Yisrael, but do those reasons justify this Lifnei Iveir?

Akiva Miller



____________________________________________________________
Fast, Secure, NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband. Try it.
http://www.netzero.net/?refcd=NZINTISP0512T4GOUT2