Bill Gates built one of the most successful companies in the world. Yet today, much of his public legacy is tied not only to what he earned, but to what he chose to give away – investing vast resources into global health, education, and poverty alleviation.
By contrast, history is filled with enormously wealthy industrialists and financiers who spent their lives focused almost exclusively on accumulating and preserving wealth. Many were celebrated in their own time, but left little enduring moral legacy behind.
In Megillas Rus, we see a striking contrast between the beginning of the story and its end.
We are first introduced to Elimelech, a wealthy and important individual living during a famine. As poverty spreads and people begin turning to the affluent for help, he leaves Eretz Yisrael and flees to the land of Moav. His fate is ultimately sealed there: he dies in exile, and eventually his children do as well.
Later, we meet Boaz. He is known for his kindness and generosity. Rus, too, embodies that same spirit of chessed. She accompanies her widowed mother-in-law back to Israel and cares for her through difficult circumstances. She also shows loyalty to her deceased husband by marrying his relative, Boaz, despite his advanced age, in order to continue his legacy.
As a result, Boaz and Rus become the progenitors of King David and, ultimately, the Messianic line.
This contrast is not happenstance. Jewish tradition teaches that the central message of Megillas Rus is to highlight the reward and enduring impact of kindness.
We often think that helping others means giving something up from ourselves. Megillas Rus teaches otherwise. Elimelech attempts to preserve his wealth and comfort by distancing himself from communal responsibility, and he loses everything. Boaz and Rus give of themselves to others, and in doing so build a legacy that echoes across generations.
The message feels just as relevant today. In life, the people who leave the deepest impact are often not those most focused on protecting what they have, but those willing to invest in others.
Only when we give of ourselves to others do we create something that truly lasts.