Your God Is My God
On the road from Moav, Naomi tried again and again to send Rus home, and each answer Rus gave became a law for every future ger.
Naomi and her two widowed daughters-in-law were walking toward Eretz Yisroel when Naomi stopped. Go back, my daughters, she pleaded. I have no more sons to give you as husbands, and my lot is bitter. Orpah kissed her and turned for home. Rus would not let go. The Midrash tells that Rus said to her: do not weigh me down with your doubts. I am going to become a Jew in any case; better that it be through you than through anyone else.
When Naomi heard this, Chazal relate, she began to teach her the laws of a ger. On Shabbos, my daughter, we may not walk beyond the techum. Rus answered: where you go, I will go. We may not be alone with a man forbidden to us. Rus answered: where you lodge, I will lodge. We have been given six hundred and thirteen mitzvos. Your people are my people. We are forbidden to serve idols. Your God is my God. Naomi spoke of the four death penalties of the beis din, and Rus said: where you die, I will die. She spoke of the two burial places set aside by the court, and Rus said: and there I will be buried.
When Naomi saw how firm her resolve was, she stopped trying to turn her back. From that moment, Rashi notes, the verse speaks of the two of them together, as equals, for the two of them walked on until they came to Beis Lechem. From this conversation the chachamim learned the way a ger is received to this day: he is told of the mitzvos and their weight, but he is not overwhelmed.
Source: Rus 1:8–19; Gemara, Yevamos 47b (Talmud Bavli); Midrash Rus Rabbah 2:22–24; Rashi on Rus 1:16, 1:18–19. English: The William Davidson Talmud (Koren–Steinsaltz); The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022); The Metsudah Five Megillos (Lakewood, 2001).
Rus did not answer Naomi with one grand speech. She met each hard question with a short, clear commitment. If there is a mitzvah you have been hesitating to take on, such as davening with a minyan, a set time for learning, or more care with your words, write down the one thing that makes it feel hard. Then write one short sentence of answer, the way Rus did: where you go, I will go. Take that single step this week, and let the next question wait for its turn.