Our parsha begins with Hashem telling Moshe to take a census of the Jewish people. In the Ramban’s commentary to our parsha (1:45-46,) he quotes Chazal who teach: “Hashem told Moshe to count the people in a manner that accords honor and greatness to each and every one of them. Thus Hashem warned Moshe, “You shall not say to the head of a family, ‘How many [men] are in your family’? or ‘How many sons do you have?’ Rather, they shall all pass before you with awe and respect, and you will count them.”
I heard an insight into this Ramban from R’ Binyamin Luban (who may have been quoting from R’ Moshe Chait) who seemed to suggest that based on the structure of the Ramban’s commentary above, it sounds like he is quoting Chazal as a means of explaining that the purpose of counting the Jewish people was in order to accord them honor and greatness. It was a way of raising their self-esteem. Now, the Jewish people consisted of spiritually great people. Hence, we see that even great people can gain from being accorded honor and greatness, for this boost to their self-esteem can promote even more growth.
That even great people may benefit from feeling respected and valued might also be seen from Rut. The Midrash quotes R’ Yehoshua who taught: “More than the householder (i.e. the benefactor) does for the poor person, the poor person does for the householder. For thus Rut said to Naomi, ‘The name of the man for whom I worked (lit., did) today is Boaz.’ ‘Who did for me’ is not written here; rather, ‘for whom I did.’ (That is, Rut is not speaking of what Boaz did for her by giving her food but rather of what she did for him by accepting it.) Rav Henach Leibowitz asks: How could it be that Rut would say this? Did Rut the righteous not appreciate and feel grateful to Boaz for the great kindness that he performed for her?! Furthermore, it is explicit (from earlier in Megillat Rut) that Rut did, in fact, demonstrate her tremendous gratitude to Boaz, for the verse states that Rut “fell on her face, bowing down to the ground, and said to him (Boaz), ‘Why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take special note of me though I am a foreigner?’” If so, why would Rut say that she benefitted Boaz more than Boaz benefitted her?
Rav Leibowitz seems to explain that while certainly Rut was grateful to Boaz and did not intend to diminish Boaz’s kindness towards her, nevertheless, she said that she benefitted Boaz more than Boaz benefitted her in order to preserve her self-respect. For Rut was concerned that if she would say that she was fully dependent on people’s kindness, she might lose some of her sense of self-respect. Hence, to ensure that she would not lose some of it, Rut emphasized that she did a kindness to Boaz, and that the kindness she did to Boaz was greater than the kindness that Boaz did to her (see Chidushei HaLev, Behar, 25:25).
We can perhaps suggest from here that the measures Rut took to maintain her dignity may highlight the importance of self-esteem, and that even great people like Rut may benefit from feeling respected, valued and recognized for their good deeds.
Binyamin is a graduate of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, and Wurzweiler School of Social Work
