Ruth and Revelation (a Shavuot d'var)

Note: this piece also appears in the Jewish Exponent this week

The liturgy for the holiday of Shavuot showcases three powerful biblical texts: the story of the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1-20:23), a spectacular vision of God by a tormented prophet in exile (Ezekiel 1:1-28 and 3:12) and a tale of love and loyalty between women that crosses religious and national boundaries and quietly prepares the way for the future Davidic dynasty in Jerusalem (the Book of Ruth).

All of these texts tell stories of transformation. But the first two are quite different than the third. The first two involve divine power and presence overwhelming frail humans with terrifying sensory overload.

At Sinai, the mountain trembles, horns blare, God speaks in thunder and smoke surges up from the peak. In Babylon, Ezekiel has a disorienting, spectacular vision of God’s chariot, including impossibly strange four-faced creatures, chariot wheels rimmed with eyes and a heavenly throne with a figure in human form upon it. After beholding these things, E…