Dreaming of Moshiach

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Rut: The Righteous Convert

Rut and her twin sister were born in South Africa to a catholic family. The parents decided to call the twins Rut and Elisheva and when the twins reached age 6, the parents placed them in a Jewish school. Rut asked her parents why they named them with Jewish names and the father replied, "I love the holy Bible." When she asked her parents why they placed them in a Jewish school, her father replied that the Jews are the chosen nation and only by learning with the Jewish nation, his daughters will grow up to be proper ladies.

They purchased their home from a Jewish family and when they moved in, the Jewish family did not remove the Mezuzot and her father decided to keep the Mezuzot in its place. When Rut asked her father why he doesn't remove the Mezuzot, after all, it belongs to the Jewish nation, her father replied that the Mezuzot protects the Jews and it's prohibited to throw them away.

Occasionally on Sundays, the parents took the twins to church but Rut didn't feel connected to the church and at some point, stopped attending it. Her sister, Elisheva, on the other hand, and the 2 older brothers felt very connected to the Church and kept trying to convince Rut to return to the Church claiming that the Church has much to offer. But Rut would not hear of it and stayed away.

At the age of 14, Rut was attacked by 2 men, one stole her purse and the other attempted to put a knife in her stomache. She yelled out, "God help me," and at that second, both men fled away. At the time she didn't think it was a miracle and did not give it much thought.

At 19, she went out to a nightclub. Her mother was against the idea and asked G.od to protect her daughter and her father said that there are 2 types of girls, one that wastes on life on 'boyfriends' and the other kind, a proper girl that meets a man and gets married. But Rut felt she was old enough to make her own decisions and went out. When she got to the club, she felt very empty and didn't understand why people are dancing, drinking, and talking only nonsense.

At some point, she heard someone speak in Hebrew (she recognized the language from the Jewish school) and when she turned around, she saw a young man. She greeted him in Hebrew and said Shalom. The young man asked her how she knows the word Shalom and she replied, "Can you acquaint me to your Creator?" The young guy told her that he is a secular Jew and does not know the Creator of of the World. But he offered her that together they can acquaint themselves with HaShem.

She invited him to her home for the following day, Friday night, and her father was very happy that she met a Jewish man. She wanted to go to a synagogue and Ovadia (the young Israeli Jewish man) not knowing any better, took her on the bus to a shul. When they returned home, Rut saw that her mother prepared a white tablecloth with plenty of food as well as grape juice. Ovadia wasn't sure how to make Kiddush but somehow, managed.

They went out for a month when Ovadia offered her to come to Israel and purchased a flight ticket for her. During the flight, they stopped in England. She purchased a long modest skirt as well as a modest shirt and changed from her jeans and t-shirt. Ovadia asked her why she changed her clothing and she told him, "I'm going to the Holy Land and must dress appropriately in honor of the Holy Land."

When Ovadia's mother saw Rut, she asked Ovadia, "Why did you have to go all the way to South Africa to bring home an Orthodox girl?. You could have stayed in Israel and brought home a secular girl." Ovadia explained that Rut is a catholic girl and she dressed this way in honor of the Holy Land. Unfortunately, this information relieved the parents and felt unconcerned that their Jewish son brought home a catholic girl.

During her stay in Israel, she became very sad and disappointed that the Jewish nation are not observing the Torah. She saw immodest girls on the streets and men without Kipa. She decided that she wants to leave Israel and return to South Africa. She told Ovadia that she's returning home and will look into conversion but they must separate their ways. She stayed till the day after Yom Kippur and attended shul. When she heard the Shofar blown at the end of the holiday, she fainted. She told Ovadia that the sound of the Shofar was very familiar to her and she heard it before but did not know where.

The day after Yom Kippur, she returned to South Africa. When she arrived home, she felt a very strong urge to return to the Holy Land but her father would not hear of it. Every day Ovadia would call her 3-5 times to return to Israel but this time, she took her father's advice and told Ovadia that she's not returning. Wednesday, Ovadia called her 10 times begging her to return but she stopped taking his phone calls. 2 days later, he showed up at her home in South Africa. He offered her marriage and she agreed. Her parents were very happy that her daughter is marrying a Jewish man and eventually, they will be grandparents to Jewish children. They got married the following week in city hall.

They returned to Israel and she began attending classes to learn more about Judaism. After a year of Rut's classes, Ovadia found a book written by the RaMCHaL HaKadosh, zs'kl, Derech Hashem ("The Way of G-d)",and began to read it. Eventually, Ovadia became interested in Judaism and together, they began keeping Shabbat and family purity.

On the day of Rut's conversion, while dunking in the Mikveh, she gave birth to Daniella. Rut placed Daniella also in the Mikveh water and together, both were officially Jewish.

After the conversion, Ovadia strengthened in Judaism even more and offered Rut to remarry him but this time, with a Jewish wedding. They got married according to the Jewish Law in a shul and even had a separate wedding (men and women celebrated in separate rooms for modesty reasons).

At this point, although the couple were observing Shabbat and family purity, Rut didn't dress modestly and did not cover her hair. She got pregnant again and in the 3rd month of pregnancy, she got very ill and was medically advised to abort the pregnancy. Ovadia would not hear of it and took Rut to the Posek Rav Elyashiv Shlita of Bnei Brak. Rav Elyashiv told Ovadia that if they will observe the Shabbat more carefully, the baby will be born 100% healthy and there is nothing to worry about. Rut wasn't so sure because the doctors told her that the baby will be born deaf and dumb if she decides to keep it. After meeting Rav Elyashiv, Rut told her husband that doctors have a better understanding in babies and therefore, she will go ahead with the abortion.

Ovadia pleaded with Rut to go to one more Rav before making a final decision and Rut agreed. They went to Rav Zilberstein Shlita, the son-in-law of Rav Elyashiv, and Rav Zilberstein was very impressed that Rut converted to Judaism and felt it was an honor for him to be able to advise her. The Rav was very gentle with Rut and promised her that her baby will be born 100% healthy. Rut wasn't convinced so Rav Zilberstein offered her that if the baby will be not born 100% healthy, he is willing to adopt the baby. Rut wasn't sure that the Rav means what he says and when the Rav offered to write a contract with a lawyer, Rut was convinced not to abort the baby.

Rav Zilberstein Shlita told Rut that if anyone tries to harm her because she is a convert, she should call his office any time and he'll personally take this person to Bet Din for emotionally harming Rut.

Her mother and sister came to Israel when the baby was born. B'h, The baby was born 100% healthy. Rut named her second daughter Naomi.

Rut's mother told her that she must make a Seuda (meal) of thanks to the G.od of Israel for giving her a healthy baby. Her mother also told her that it's not proper that her Jewish daughter is dressed like 'Madonna' and she should begin dressing like a Jewish girl, with modest clothing. Her twin sister also told her sister that she should begin covering her hair because this is the Jewish law. Rut argued with her sister that covering her hair is a very difficult step and it's so hard for her to give up her beautiful blond hair. Her catholic twin sister told her that she'll also cover her hair with a kerchief while in Israel and this way, it will be easier for Rut to accept covering her hair. Together, the Catholic and Jewish twin sisters covered their hair with a kerchief. After her twin sister left to South Africa, Rut never removed her hair covering but switched to wigs.

Rut also has amazing spiritual dreams. She dreamed that her adoptive Jewish father, Reb Gabriel, zs'k, who passed away after a long illness, told her that Gog uMagog is coming shortly and she should not be afraid. In the dream, Reb Gabriel requested from Rut that she should stop wearing wigs and cover her hair properly only with kerchiefs. She called Rav Zilberstein Shlita to ask him if it's a true dream and Rav Zilberstein Shlita told her it's a true dream and Moshiach is very near and we are towards the end.

From that day on, Rut began covering her hair only with kerchiefs and gives lectures all over Israel to strengthen Jewish women and girls.

To hear Rut's story told by her personally, click here. To hear Rut, Ovadia and Rut's father in English, skip to 36:43 minute.

Please share this story with all your friends, family, relatives, neighbors, co-employees to awaken them - because time is short!

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והיה השם למלך על כל הארץ, ביום ההוא יהיה השם אחד - ושמו אחד ישתבח שמו לעד לנצח נצחים בכל העולמות Blessed is His name for eternity in all worlds אין עוד מלבדו