By removing his sandal the kinsman redeemer means that he has given up his rights of redeeming the property and also Ruth. Mark 6:9.The ordinary oriental sandal is a mere sole, of leather or wood, fastened to the bottom of the foot by thongs, one passing around the great toe and over the fore part of the foot, and the other around the ankle. This was repeated again, at the confirmation of Joshua as the new Moses. There are no surviving artefacts or descriptions of Jewish shoes from the period of the early Bible (Nahshon 2008 p2). However, footwear does hold an important significance to early Israelites. So Boaz the next kinsman redeemer is free to redeem now and that included marrying Ruth and redeeming her husband’s property. It was not that the actual ground on which Moses stood was holy; rather, it was the presence of the holy God that made it holy. 'And the captain of the LORD's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot: for the place whereon thou standest is holy. The Removing of the Shoes. The direction to Moses to remove his shoes was in conformity with what was well known to Moses, for, having been brought up in Egypt, he would have known that the Egyptian priests observed the custom in their temples. According to the Scriptures, God gave man a ‘coat of skins’ to wear. Among some Chasidic groups, leather shoes are removed before visiting the grave of a holy person. One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he went deep into the wilderness near Sinai, the mountain of God. Ex 3:1-6. “The commander of the Lord’s army replied, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did so.” (Josh. ODC Aug 04. Sandals. The meaning is clear: God demanded that Moses humble himself in the presence of a holy God. "Remove your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground." Moses removing his shoes at the Burning Bush and the kohanim removing their shoes for the Birkat Kohanim differ despite some element in common. First, we should be clear on the literal meaning of the text in Exodus 3. The significance of having Moses remove his sandals is to have him start the journey of bringing the nation out of Egypt without wearing sandals, the same manner in which the first man began his journey out of the Garden of Eden. The shoe has an entirely different symbolism in the halitza ceremony and in the transaction in the Book of Ruth. But as you suggested, there is a deeper meaning as well. 2 Suddenly, the angel of the LORD appeared to him as a blazing fire in a bush. Ex 3:1-6. NOTES (1.) Moses was instructed to remove his sandals, because he was standing on holy ground. The removal of the sandal was a symbol of the transaction having taken place. There is no word for shoes in the Old Testament, but there is a word for going without shoes, being barefoot—Yahef, “to be without shoes.” The ultimate root of Yahef lies in the primary roots notion “of peeling, removing the bark of shell,” exposing it naked and hence shameful. The wearing of shoes is thus symbolic of pride, or the lifting of oneself not only physically but also spiritually. This tradition is adopted from the episode of the Burning Bush in which Moses is commanded to “Remove your shoes from your feet, for the place on … Removal of shoes in a place where God has declared Himself to be present is therefore an act of humility and respect, and a recognition of one's own unworthiness compared to a holy Being infinitely greater than oneself. The reference to the shoe in Amos is a social commentary but not a ritual.