הלכה על רות 1:17

The Gemara, Gittin 61a, posits an obligation, at least under some conditions, to support the gentile poor, to assist the gentile sick and to inter the gentile dead in order to foster amicable and neighborly relations. That obligation does not, however, entail burial in a Jewish cemetery. Indeed, Rashi, in his commentary ad locum, emphasizes that the Gemara does not refer to burial in a Jewish cemetery. Ruth, in declaring her desire to join Naomi as a member of the Jewish faith declares, "… where you shall die, I shall die, and there will I be buried" (Ruth 1:17). This statement reflects Ruth's awareness that burial in Jewish cemeteries is reserved to Jews.³³R. Shlomoh Kluger, Teshuvot Tuv Ta‘am va-Da‘at, Mahadura Telitai’i, II, no. 253, adds that, in declaring “if aught but death shall part you and me” (Ruth 1:17), Ruth was referring to her status should she not convert, i.e., that she would remain with Naomi in any event but, were she not to convert, they would be separated in death since a Jew and a gentile cannot be buried together.