Grace writes...

Hi Isaac, shalom.

How did Israel and Judah become separated from each other?

Shalom,

Grace

Rabbi Isaac Levy responds...

When Boaz took Ruth, a Moabite for a wife the people who were assembled prayed for her saying, "The Lord make thee like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel." The fact that these two women as the wives of Jacob were the builders of the house of Israel would of necessity divide the immediate household of Jacob into two families. Hence the pertinence of the question: "Considerest thou not the two families which the Lord hath chosen?" (Jeremiah 33:24)

Rabbi Isaac Levy