[Avodah] boaz and rut

[Simi Peters via Avodah]

Boaz knew, liked, and even admired Rut, fully accepted the fact that
she was Jewish and felt protective toward her. She was not a stranger
accosting him on the street, she was not a work colleague (with whom
there are certain professional boundaries) nor was she the girl at the
checkout counter. (Platonic relationships had not been invented yet-yes,
I'm being sarcastic. There is probably no such thing as a truly platonic
relationship between a straight man and a straight woman, which is
why we are enjoined to be tznu'im. En apotropus le'arayot, remember?)
His own wife had died a couple of months before (at the start of the
barley harvest) which probably meant he was lonely and certainly meant
that involvement with Rut would not have been an emotional betrayal of
his wife. It would have been easy for him to see Rut's behavior as the
sexual invitation of a lonely, socially isolated woman, whose feelings
he did not want to hurt. It was highly unlikely that anyone would have
known about a one-time liaison between them, so there would have been
no hillul haShem, and Boaz could easily have justified availing himself
of the 'invitation' instead of waiting to do things through bet din the
next day. I think that adds up to a fairly decent nisayon.

 

Kol tuv,

Simi Peters