Dove Spices Box

“The song of songs of  Charity”

The alms box designed in the shape of a barley seed section decorated with spikes was inspired by the book of Ruth, also called “Song of Songs of Charity”.

In the Book of Ruth we find a special kind of  charity. Boaz invites Ruth to glean in his field and asks her not to glean in someone else’s field. Ruth returns to her mother in law, Naomi,and tells her where she gleaned the barley. She says: “The name of the man I spent the day with is Boaz” (Ruth 2/19).

The Midrash says: It is explained in the name of  Rabbi Yoshua, that more than the Owner does for the poor, the poor does for the owner. That is why Ruth said: “The name of the man I spent the day with” and not “who spent the day with me” .