The convert as a holy soul redeemed from impurity

עוד בענין מגילת רות בשבועות להראות אם כי הקב"ה בחר בנו ונתן לנו התורה מ"מ אנו מוכנים לקרב כל מי שבא להתגייר כמ"ש ואהבתם את הגר כי גרים הייתם בארץ מצרים.

Further regarding Megillas Rus on Shavuos: to show that, although the Holy One chose us and gave us the Torah, nevertheless we are ready to draw near anyone who comes to convert, as it is written, "And you shall love the ger, for you were gerim in the land of Mitzrayim" (Devarim 10:19).

Rus, herself a convert, is read on Shavuos to teach that being Hashem's chosen people does not breed exclusivity: Bnei Yisrael are commanded to welcome and love the ger (convert), remembering their own experience as strangers in Egypt.

נראה לפרש כי הגר נקרא על זה שהי' עד עתה מגורש ומעורב בסט"א שבודאי כשנתגייר מוכן הוא להיות בכלל ישראל רק שהי' עד עתה מובלע במ"א.

It appears one may explain that the ger is so called because until now he was banished (megorash) and intermingled in the sitra achra (the "other side"); for certainly, when he converts, he is fit to be among Klal Yisrael — only that until now he was absorbed in another place.

The Sefas Emes reads "ger" as related to "garush" (banished): such a soul truly belonged to Yisrael all along but was, until now, exiled and embedded within the realm of impurity. Conversion simply releases the soul to its true place.

וע"ז נאמר ה' שומר את גרים שהקב"ה שומר הנשמות שהם מובלעים בסט"א.

Of this it is said, "Hashem guards the gerim" (Tehillim 146:9) — that the Holy One guards the neshamos that are absorbed within the sitra achra.

Hashem watches over these holy souls even while they are trapped amid impurity, preserving them until they can be redeemed and brought into Yisrael.

וכן הי' כלל ישראל במצרים שהוציאו משם הנשמות שהיו מובלעים ת"י הסט"א.

So too was it with Klal Yisrael in Mitzrayim, where they brought out from there the neshamos that were absorbed under the sitra achra.

Yetzias Mitzrayim was itself such a rescue: holy souls submerged within Egyptian impurity were drawn out and gathered into the nation of Yisrael.

ואיתא ג' מציאות מצא הקב"ה מצאת את לבבו נאמן שהוא אברהם אע"ה ראשון לגרים.

And it is taught: three "findings" did the Holy One find. "You found his heart faithful" (Nechemiah 9:8) — this is Avraham Avinu, the first of the gerim.

The Midrash speaks of three things Hashem "found." The first is Avraham, whose heart was found faithful; he is the first convert, the prototype of one who left the world of impurity to cleave to Hashem.

כענבים במדבר מצאתי ישראל הם עיקר הגירות שזכו להיות נבחרים להשי"ת לעם נחלה.

"Like grapes in the wilderness I found Yisrael" (Hoshea 9:10) — they are the essence of conversion, for they merited to become chosen by Hashem as a nation of inheritance.

Bnei Yisrael at Sinai are the heart of the whole concept of "conversion": the entire people emerged from Egyptian impurity and became Hashem's chosen, treasured nation.

מצאתי דוד עבדי הוא מלך המשיח שהוא סוף הגרים שבימי משיח אין מקבלין עוד גרים.

"I have found David My servant" (Tehillim 89:21) — this is Melech HaMashiach, who is the last of the gerim, for in the days of Mashiach we no longer accept gerim.

The third "finding" is David, ancestor of Mashiach (himself descended from Rus the convert). He represents the end of the process of "conversion," for once Mashiach comes, no further converts are accepted.

והטעם כי כבר יהי' מתוקן ונבדלין כל נשמות הראוין להתדבק בקדושה:

And the reason is that everything will already be rectified, and all the neshamos fit to cleave to holiness will have been separated out.

By the time of Mashiach, the great work of berur will be complete: every holy soul that was scattered and submerged within impurity will already have been extracted and joined to kedushah, leaving no more souls to "convert."

Summary: Rus is read on Shavuos to teach that the chosenness of Yisrael does not exclude the convert — on the contrary, the ger is a holy neshamah that was "banished" and absorbed within impurity and now returns to its true place. The whole arc of history is one of redeeming such souls: Avraham, the first ger; Bnei Yisrael at Sinai, the essence of conversion; and David/Mashiach, the last, after whom every soul fit for holiness will already have been gathered in, and conversion ends.