Shavuos

On Shavous we lein Megillas Rus. The pessukim tell us Naomi tried convincing Rus and Orpah to go back to their mother’s house. Orpah left whereas Rus stayed together with Naomi. Again Naomi said “go back” and Rus responded, “don’t urge me to return… (because) where you go I will go and where you sleep I will sleep. Your nation is my nation and your G-d is my G-d. Where you die I will die and there I will be buried…”

Rashi explains, from here Raboseinu say: when someone comes to convert we tell him some of the punishments for one who does an aveira, and that if he wants to back out he can. This is learned from Rus’s words.  From what Rus replied we see what Naomi told her. “Where you go I will go”- the issur of techum Shabbos. “Where you sleep I will sleep”- there is an issur of yichud, for a female to be alone together with a male who is not her husband. “Your nation is my nation”- the 613 mitzvos. “Your G-d is my G-d”- the issur of avodah zara. “Where you die I will die”- the four misos beis din. “And there I will be buried”- different burial places for people who were killed by beis din. (One for those who were killed by sword and strangulation, and another for those who get skilah and sreifah.) These are all the different things Naomi told Rus to accept upon herself to become a ger.

The question arises: We understand that Naomi told Rus about avodah zara and the 613 mitzvos. Why, however, did Naomi tell her about techum Shabbos and yichud and burial places? What is the special importance of knowing these mitzovs before geirus?

My Rosh Yeshiva shlita explained b’shem HaRav Hopfer shlita that Naomi was giving a message to Rus: You need to know, understand, and accept a complete Yiddishkeit. You are subjected to the Torah and its mitzvos the entire day and night, every single day, and even after one dies. This includes where to go, where to sleep, and even where to be buried. Naomi told Rus about techum Shabbos hinting that walking needs to be according to the Torah, about yichud to say that one can only sleep where the Torah permits, and about burial places that even after death one is subject to the Torah.

May Hashem help us accept the Torah anew and be completely guided by the Torah and mitzvos in all our actions.