Whereas Ploni Almoni in the Book of Ruth explains that his objection to
redeeming territory of Naomi that he had the right to gain
was based on fearing that he might destroy his own, Vladimir Putin’s point of view
appears to favor the destruction of the territory he claims, Ukraine.
The Bible stories’ morals never have a sell-by date,
and here’s the moral of the one that’s quoted in the first quatrain:
Redemption is a process that all people with good morals hate,
if it involves destruction that collaterally causes dreadful pain.
Ruth 6:1, 6 states:
א וּבֹעַז עָלָה הַשַּׁעַר, וַיֵּשֶׁב שָׁם, וְהִנֵּה הַגֹּאֵל עֹבֵר אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר-בֹּעַז, וַיֹּאמֶר סוּרָה שְׁבָה-פֹּה פְּלֹנִי אַלְמֹנִי; וַיָּסַר, וַיֵּשֵׁב. 1 Now Boaz went up to the gate, and sat him down there; and, behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by; unto whom he said: ‘Ho, Ploni Almoni! turn aside, sit down here.’ And he turned aside, and sat down.
וַיֹּאמֶר הַגֹּאֵל, לֹא אוּכַל לגאול- (לִגְאָל-) לִי–פֶּן-אַשְׁחִית, אֶת-נַחֲלָתִי; גְּאַל-לְךָ אַתָּה אֶת-גְּאֻלָּתִי, כִּי לֹא-אוּכַל לִגְאֹל. 6 And the near kinsman said: ‘I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I destroy mine own inheritance; take thou my right of redemption on thee; for I cannot redeem it.’
Gershon Hepner is a poet who has written over 25,000 poems on subjects ranging from music to literature, politics to Torah. He grew up in England and moved to Los Angeles in 1976. Using his varied interests and experiences, he has authored dozens of papers in medical and academic journals, and authored “Legal Friction: Law, Narrative, and Identity Politics in Biblical Israel.” He can be reached at gershonhepner@gmail.com.
