Shavuot- Never Allow a Mitzva Opportunity to Pass You By
Megilat Rut tells the story of the Moavite woman, Rut, who, after the death of her husband, returned to Israel with her Jewish mother-in-law and ultimately married a man named Boaz. Rut begot a son named Oved, who became the grandfather of King David.
Boaz married Rut in fulfillment of the Mitzva known as "Yibum," requiring a relative of a deceased, childless man to marry the widow. Boaz was a relative of Rut's husband, and thus had a Mitzva to marry her after her husband's death. When Rut first approached Boaz to ask that he marry her, he informed Rut that there was a closer relative, a man named Tov, whom he must first consult and offer the right of first refusal. The next day, Boaz spoke to Tov and asked him if he would marry Rut, and Tov declined. That same day, Boaz arranged the reclamation of the property that had belonged to Rut's husband's family, which was required as part of this Mitzva. In addition, there was some controversy surrounding the permissibility of the marriage, given that Rut descended from the nation of Moav. Boaz therefore had to convene a special session of the Sanhedrin in order to determine the Halachic viability of the marriage. Boaz arranged all this in a single day, and that night he married Rut, who conceived from that first union. The Sages tell us that Boaz, sadly enough, died the next day.
Imagine if Boaz had not exerted himself to make all the necessary arrangements the day before. He would have lost the opportunity to perform this Mitzva, and he would never have become the great-grandfather of King David! Fortunately, Boaz understood the importance of "Zerizut," zeal and alacrity in the performance of Mitzvot. Most people in his situation would not have exerted themselves to complete all the arrangements in a single day. True, the meeting with Tov likely took just a few minutes, but he also had to arrange a major real estate transaction and convene the Sanhedrin. Both these tasks often take weeks if not months to accomplish. But Boaz, in his determination to perform this important Mitzva as swiftly as possible, ensured that his marriage to Rut would not be unnecessarily delayed for even a single moment. Had he not worked so quickly, he would have lost his eternal destiny as the progenitor of the Davidic dynasty.
If a king offered us access to his treasury, even if the offer would extend for several years, we would undoubtedly rush to fill our pockets immediately, without delay. We would be concerned that perhaps the king will change his mind, maybe he will allow somebody us to take all the treasures, or maybe the treasures will somehow be lost. With such a valuable fortune at stake, nothing else would seem to us important enough to take precedence over this opportunity.
This must be our attitude towards Mitzva observance. A Mitzva is worth a billion dollars, or more. When a Mitzva opportunity comes our way, we must rush to grab it and not let the opportunity slip. The story of Boaz shows us what could happen when one does not pounce on a Mitzva opportunity, how much one stands to lose if he does not act immediately. There is no greater treasure in the world than the performance of a Mitzva, and it therefore behooves us to jump at every opportunity; nothing else can be important enough to take precedence over the immediate fulfillment of a Mitzva.
