[Avodah] Elimelech's land

[Ilana Elzufon via Avodah]

>
> Why was is so important for Naomi to find a goel/redeemer for
> Elimelech's land? Why didn't she just move back there and start
> farming?


They came back on Pesach, at the beginning of the barley harvest. Nothing
was growing on their land, presumably. Planting is after Sukkot, at the
beginning of the rainy season. If they planted, it would be a full year
until they could harvest the first barley. As we see from Megillat Rut, the
barley then had to dry and wasn't threshed or winnowed until after the
wheat harvest (early summer?).

When they come back, they have nothing. They need to eat. And two women
alone will not be able to do all the work of planting and cultivating in
the fall. They would need money to hire workers and probably buy or rent an
animal to help with plowing. And to buy seed. They didn't have the capital
to go back into farming, or the means to support themselves until the first
crop.

Kol tuv,
Ilana
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