Deriving Law From the Biblical Narrative: The Book of Ruth

George Dargo

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The Book of Ruth is an idyllic narrative of classical beauty and simplicity. But what has it to do with law? And how can we account for the fact that in Jewish liturgical tradition the annual reading of the  Book of Ruth occurs on the Festival of Shavuoth, the Festival of Weeks, a festival that commemorates the giving of the Torah (Jewish Law both written and oral) to Moses at Sinai? Why this association between pure narrative and the legal foundation document of the Jewish people?

40 New Eng. L. Rev. 351