If you are a fan of Oprah’s, you are familiar with her book club. With the festival of Shavuot coming up, I thought it was very interesting that Oprah had not one, but two books with the name Ruth in the title …“Drowning Ruth” and “The Book of Ruth.”

Don’t get me wrong, her Book of Ruth was not the one from the Bible. But why is it that Oprah seems to have this penchant for books with a character named Ruth?

Well, I don’t know Oprah, although, if she ever reads this, I would love to meet her, but let me take a stab at answering the question from a Rabbinic viewpoint.

You see, on Shavuot we read the Biblical Book of Ruth and, while many think that Ruth is the only woman in the story, there are others. One of those others is another Moabite who, like Ruth, weds a Hebrew and her name just happens to be Orpah.

No, that is not my dyslexia turning the letters around. The name is Orpah, but you should know that the name Oprah, as in Oprah Winfrey, is a variant spelling of that name.

Now, you might be wondering what the name Orpah means. It refers to a deer or a fawn. Have you ever had anyone “fawn” all over you? It can be a wonderful feeling or it can be a real pain in the “you-know-what.”

And as to the word deer, while I know they are beautiful creatures, I much prefer another spelling of the word … D-E-A-R! When someone fawns over you, it lets you know that you are very dear to them. In the Book of Ruth, we learn what is, or at least, what should be, very dear to someone. The love of your life should be very dear. The love of G-d should be very dear. The love of G-d’s Commandments should be very dear. The love of Torah should be very dear. And, if you think those are difficult, then let me remind you that through Ruth, we even learn that our Mother-in-laws should be very dear to us, that we should not desert them.

Speaking of dessert, okay, I toyed with the spelling again, there is a tradition to eat dairy product on Shavuot. This comes from the concept of Israel being the land of milk and honey … and it reminds us that the Torah … that G-d’s Word should be sweet and nourishing to our bodies and our souls.

And, just as G-d’s Word is nourishing to us, we should do what we can to nourish others, which brings us right back to the Festival because Shavuot falls in the harvest season. There is a wonderful commandment about the barley harvest where we are told that we are to permit the poor to glean the stalks that fall to the ground during the harvest.

Of course, the Book of Ruth’s main focus is Ruth herself. Ruth converts to Judaism. The other day, someone asked me if they could convert to the Jewish faith. I told them that it was a very lengthy process. And I used another meaning of the word glean in my talk with her. I told her that Judaism is not an instantaneous thing. It must be gleaned. Even after the conversion process is over, you must continue to learn, bit by bit. In fact, I am still gleaning. My mentors drop some of the stalks of their wisdom, permit me to pick them up, and those stalks nourish my soul. May you glean from my words and may they nourish you.

Shalom My Friends,

Rabbi Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is a Hospice Chaplain and member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains. He also provides Professional Pastoral Care Services to a number of health centers in Broward County.