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Kindness: A Key Theme in Megillat Ruth

Grade Level: 3-5
Time: 30 minutes

Objectives:

  • Students will identify acts of kindness in the story of Megillat Ruth.
  • Students will consider the importance of kindness in relationships.
  • Students will identify the lack of kindness in Megillat Ruth (for older students).
  • Students will apply this theme to their own lives by identifying ways to show kindness to others.

Materials Needed:

  • Notecards or a virtual discussion board (such as Padlet) for the opening activity
  • Video link(s)
  • Chart with columns
  • Slideshow
  • Additional materials may be needed for the optional extension activities. See below.

Introduction

In small groups or on a virtual discussion board (such as Padlet), ask your students to consider and discuss the definition of kindness utilizing the following prompts. 

  • What is kindness? 
  • What does kindness look like?
  • Why do you think kindness is important?

Then, come together as a full class to share and discuss student responses.


Tell the Story

Explain to your students that they are going to learn about kindness in Megillat Ruth. If this lesson is taught in connection with the holiday of Shavuot, explain that the Megillah is read on Shavuot and that one of the key themes of the Megillah is kindness. 

Then, share the story of Megillat Ruth, using the slideshow (linked above) and sharing the main points:

  • There is a famine in the land of Israel. (For students who have learned Sefer Yehoshua or Sefer Shoftim, tell students that this story took place during the time period of Sefer Shoftim, following the time period of Sefer Yehoshua.) (slide 1)
  • Naomi, her husband Elimelech, and their two sons were a wealthy family who moved from Bet Lechem in Israel to Moav (outside of Israel) to avoid the famine. (slide 2)
  • Naomi’s sons marry women from Moav, Orpah and Ruth. (slide 3)
  • Elimelech and Naomi’s sons die, leaving Naomi and her two daughters-in-law widowed. (slide 4)
  • Naomi hears that the famine in Israel has ended and decides to return to the land of Israel. She encourages Orpah and Ruth to stay in Moav and remarry, as she is too old to have more children. (slide 5)
  • Orpah agrees and returns to her people, but Ruth refuses to leave Naomi. (slide 6)
  • Ruth famously says, “Where you go, I will go; where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” (slide 7)
  • When Naomi and Ruth return to Bet Lechem, they are poor and need food. (slide 8)
  • Ruth goes to collect grain in the fields of a wealthy man named Boaz, who turns out to be a relative of Naomi’s husband. (slide 9)
  • Boaz takes notice of Ruth and offers her extra food, making sure she is safe as she collects the grain. (slide 10)
  • Naomi sees this as a sign of kindness and instructs Ruth to approach Boaz and request his protection as a relative who can marry a widow to preserve the family line. (slide 11)
  • Boaz and Ruth establish a connection and an understanding. Boaz then checks that another closer relative does want to fulfill the duty of marrying the widow Ruth. When the other relative backs down, Boaz assumes the responsibility. (slide 12)
  • Ultimately, Ruth and Boaz marry. Their great-great-grandson is David HaMelech. (slide 13)

To supplement the telling of the story, you may want to show a video, such as:

Kindness in the Story

After hearing the story of Megillat Ruth, ask the students to consider where they think kindness appears in this story.

If the students do not come up with them on their own, highlight the following two key moments as examples of kindness. Read aloud the pesukim (in Hebrew and/or English) with the students and explain why these moments are significant to the story.

  • Ruth 1:16-17 – Ruth goes back to Moav with Naomi so that Naomi does not have to be alone. (This was important for the story as it brought Ruth back to Israel and is considered to be the point that she chose Judaism.)
  • Ruth 2:8-9 – Boaz helps Ruth because she is in an unfortunate position. (This was important for the story because it is the first step in the ultimate marriage of Boaz and Ruth.)

After reading through the pesukim with students, create a chart on a whiteboard or using chart paper. The chart can have three columns: Character, Act of Kindness, and Why Was it Important for the Story?

For Older Students: Explain to students that there is also a hint at a lack of kindness in the story. The Midrash states that one of the reasons Elimelech died was because he was a wealthy leader at the time of the famine, and instead of showing kindness to other Jews by sharing his food with them, he left and abandoned his responsibility towards them. Ask students: Based on this Midrash, which highlights the family’s lack of kindness at the beginning of the story, how does the rest of the Megillah showcase what true kindness should look like, and why is this important?

Connection to Shavuot

Ask the students to consider: why is this story read on Shavuot, the holiday of accepting the Torah, if the main theme of the story is kindness? Explain to students that perhaps it is trying to teach us that a key element of keeping the Torah is helping others, and that a primary focus of Judaism is the idea of being kind to other people. In addition, explain that the holiday of Shavuot culminates the time period of Sefirat HaOmer, in which we mourn the students of Rabbi Akiva who died during this time because they lacked kindness to each other. Therefore, the story of Megillat Ruth being read at the end of this period emphasizes for us the need for kindness. 

Ask students to think of examples of mitzvot that demonstrate kindness towards others, such as Tzedakah, Peah, Leket, Bikkur Cholim, and Hachnasat Orchim. In what ways does Judaism emphasize kindness throughout the year?

Conclusion

To further expand on the theme of kindness and to encourage students to act with kindness throughout their lives, consider one of the following extension activities:

  • Kindness Chart – continued: Utilize the kindness chart from the Megillat Ruth story and expand on it, adding examples of kindness throughout Jewish history and/or their own lives by asking the students: Can you identify someone who performed a kindness, what it was, and why it was important?
  • Kindness Reflection: Ask each student to illustrate a time that they performed kindness and then write a short written reflection about why the kindness they performed was important or how it felt to perform the kindness. 
  • Kindness Jar: Launch a kindness initiative where students are given “kindness notecards” in which they can record when they see someone in the class performing a kindness. These can then be put into a jar, which is then looked at each week, and a raffle winner is chosen.
  • Kindness Challenges: Challenge the students to perform specific acts of kindness each week, with the class tallying points for each action of kindness.