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  • Writer's pictureHarel Dadon

The Book of Ruth in Micro-calligraphy


Microcalligraphy of the Book of Ruth. The entire book of Ruth is written in MICRO letters inside of the painting מגילת רות במיקרוקליגרפיה

The Book of Ruth (Hebrew: מגילת רות‎, Ashkenazi pronunciation: [məˈɡɪləs rus], Megilath Ruth, "the Scroll of Ruth", one of the Five Megillot) is a book of the Hebrew Bible In the Jewish canon it is included in the third division, or the Writings (Ketuvim); in the Christian canon it is treated as a history book and placed between Judges and Samuel. It is named after its central figure, Ruth the Moabitess, the great-grandmother of David.

The book tells of Ruth's accepting the God of the Israelites as her God and the Israelite people as her own. In Ruth 1:16 and 17 Ruth tells Naomi, her Israelite mother in law, "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me." The book is held in esteem by Jews who fall under the category of Jews-by-choice, as is evidenced by the considerable presence of Boaz in rabbinic literature. The "Book of Ruth" also functions liturgically, as it is read during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot ("Weeks").

The book is traditionally ascribed to the prophet Samuel, but does not name its author. A date during the monarchy is suggested by the book's interest in the ancestry of David, but Ruth's identity as a non-Israelite and the stress on the need for an inclusive attitude towards foreigners suggests an origin in the fifth century BCE, when intermarriage had become controversial (as seen inEzra 9:1 and Nehemiah 13:1)

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