[Avodah] Boaz's nisayon with Ruth

[Marty Bluke via Avodah]

On Wed, Jun 15, 2016 at 12:10 AM, Ilana Elzufon <ilanasober at gmail.com>
wrote:
> So what is the nisayon? He woke up and found the woman with whom he was
> deeply in love (had he admitted this to himself already? did he realize it
> only at that moment?) lying at his feet. And she asked him to "spread his
> wings" over her. Would it not have been the most natural thing in the world
> to invite her to come under the blanket next to him, rather than staying at
> his feet, and to let one thing lead to another?

The idea that Boaz was deeply in love with Ruth is probably a case of us
projecting our Western sensibilities and feelings of romantic love onto a
situation where they almost certainly don't apply.