the woman with no face in the bed
\r\nis the woman who waits on the road<\/p>\r\n
is the woman who never was
\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 so they said to me<\/p>\r\n
is the foreign woman
\r\nwho hurt my sons
\r\nmy good sons<\/p>\r\n
is the woman who holds my cord,
\r\nmy rope,
\r\nmy ring<\/p>\r\n
is the woman who holds my cruelty
\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 the sting of it
\r\ntucked for years in her heart<\/p>\r\n
is the woman who holds my lineage
\r\nright there in her belly<\/p>\r\n
is the woman whose great-great-great grandson
\r\nwill build the house of the Lord.<\/p>\r\n
My house will be called a house of prayer <\/em> image:\u00a0Rembrandt's school - Juda en Tamar, c. 1650 \/ wikimedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103447,"alt":"","title":"-6241c6958fb38--6241c6958fb39gen38-Rembrandt's_school_-_Juda_en_Tamar.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c6958fb38-6241c6958fb39gen38-Rembrandts_school_-_Juda_en_Tamar.jpg.jpg","width":1083,"height":899,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c6958fb38-6241c6958fb39gen38-Rembrandts_school_-_Juda_en_Tamar.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c6958fb38-6241c6958fb39gen38-Rembrandts_school_-_Juda_en_Tamar.jpg-300x249.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":249,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c6958fb38-6241c6958fb39gen38-Rembrandts_school_-_Juda_en_Tamar.jpg-768x638.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":638,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c6958fb38-6241c6958fb39gen38-Rembrandts_school_-_Juda_en_Tamar.jpg-1024x850.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":850,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c6958fb38-6241c6958fb39gen38-Rembrandts_school_-_Juda_en_Tamar.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1083,"1536x1536-height":899,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c6958fb38-6241c6958fb39gen38-Rembrandts_school_-_Juda_en_Tamar.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1083,"2048x2048-height":899,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c6958fb38-6241c6958fb39gen38-Rembrandts_school_-_Juda_en_Tamar.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":1083,"post_full_size-height":899,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c6958fb38-6241c6958fb39gen38-Rembrandts_school_-_Juda_en_Tamar.jpg-506x420.jpg","home_baner-width":506,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Judah Discovers Togetherness","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"the woman with no face in the bed \/ is the woman who waits on the 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Interruptus ","post_title":"Judah Interruptus","slug":"judah-interruptus","old_id":"103449","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"38","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Judah\u2019s escapades: Why now? Why here?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" Chapter 38 pumps the brakes on the Joseph story and instead gives Judah his turn in the spotlight. Judah\u2019s only significant reference until this point was his suggestion in the last chapter to sell Joseph instead of kill him. Reuben, Levi, and Simeon have all appeared more often. Why does Judah get his own chapter now?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Rashi quotes the midrash to explain that after the brothers saw how distraught Jacob was, they blamed Judah for suggesting the sale and not telling them to return him. Judah left the family in shame. This is a nice answer, but logically it seems weird that the brothers would not realize that telling their father that his favorite son was torn apart by wild animals would not go over well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Sforno picks up on the punishment for Judah\u2019s actions towards Joseph, but instead of Judah being shunned, Sforno explains that because Jacob was made to mourn over his \u201cdead\u201d son, Judah was punished to mourn over two dead sons. This explanation is quite harsh and does not explain why Judah was doubly punished. Also, it seems like the Torah gives another reason for Judah\u2019s son\u2019s deaths (see 38:7-10). One would have to have a creative reading of \u201cand God was displeased with what he did'' to mean God was displeased with what Judah did in the last chapter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Ibn Ezra explains that this chapter actually happened later on but was inserted here to compare Joseph\u2019s interaction with Potiphar\u2019s wife and Judah\u2019s interaction with Tamar. Joseph was able to refrain himself, while Judah slept with Tamar. This explanation offers a reason for the juxtaposition, but not the motivation behind the juxtaposition. There does not seem to be a consequence later on in the Torah for these disparate reactions of the two protagonists. In other words, so what?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Malbim looks ahead and sees the placement of the Judah story here to emphasize the future redemption that will come from the messiah, a descendant of Judah. This tension between the tribes of Judah and those of Joseph will continue for hundreds of years. While not relevant to the contemporary story in the Torah, Malbim\u2019s explanation does fit the grander narrative arc of Tanach. Joseph\u2019s descent to Egypt is the beginning of the slavery story and ultimately the story of the Israelite nation. At this point, the Torah foreshadows the end of that story.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n image: Judah and Tamar, by Richard McBee (courtesy of the artist)<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103450,"alt":"","title":"-6241c80809ca9--6241c80809cabgen38-richard mcbee - judah_and_tamar.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c80809ca9-6241c80809cabgen38-richard-mcbee-judah_and_tamar.jpg.jpg","width":617,"height":775,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c80809ca9-6241c80809cabgen38-richard-mcbee-judah_and_tamar.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c80809ca9-6241c80809cabgen38-richard-mcbee-judah_and_tamar.jpg-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c80809ca9-6241c80809cabgen38-richard-mcbee-judah_and_tamar.jpg.jpg","medium_large-width":617,"medium_large-height":775,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c80809ca9-6241c80809cabgen38-richard-mcbee-judah_and_tamar.jpg.jpg","large-width":617,"large-height":775,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c80809ca9-6241c80809cabgen38-richard-mcbee-judah_and_tamar.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":617,"1536x1536-height":775,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c80809ca9-6241c80809cabgen38-richard-mcbee-judah_and_tamar.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":617,"2048x2048-height":775,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c80809ca9-6241c80809cabgen38-richard-mcbee-judah_and_tamar.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":617,"post_full_size-height":775,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6241c80809ca9-6241c80809cabgen38-richard-mcbee-judah_and_tamar.jpg-334x420.jpg","home_baner-width":334,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Judah Interruptus","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Judah\u2019s escapades: Why now? 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Hody co-leads the Jewish Climate Action Network NYC, a grassroots sustainability and climate change group. He originally hails from St. Louis, Missouri. ","short_description":"Hody Nemes is a rabbinical student at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, and co-leads the Jewish Climate Action Network ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":39063,"alt":"","title":"hody nemes","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hody-nemes-e1535868128755.jpg","width":630,"height":785,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hody-nemes-e1535868128755-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hody-nemes-e1535868128755-241x300.jpg","medium-width":241,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hody-nemes-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hody-nemes-e1535868128755.jpg","large-width":630,"large-height":785,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hody-nemes-e1535868128755.jpg","1536x1536-width":630,"1536x1536-height":785,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hody-nemes-e1535868128755.jpg","2048x2048-width":630,"2048x2048-height":785,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hody-nemes-e1535868128755.jpg","post_full_size-width":630,"post_full_size-height":785,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hody-nemes-e1535868128755-337x420.jpg","home_baner-width":337,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"38","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"No character is a secondary character - in Tanakh or in our lives","post_main_content_content":" Someday, he\u2019ll be viceroy of Egypt, Hebrew eminence, Abraham\u2019s heir, center of a whirling galaxy of stars. But for now, Joseph is a slave, exhausted from a brutal journey.<\/span><\/p>\r\n We turn the page.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Out of nowhere: Judah. Descending upon the scene, he marries a Canaanite, scams his daughter-in-law, impregnates her, confesses.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Where is Joseph, our star? Why distract from Joseph's epic <\/span>bildungsroman <\/span><\/i>with Judah\u2019s affairs? Judah is yesterday\u2019s news. This should be Joseph\u2019s tale.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The rabbis spilled much ink on this scene change. What do you make of it?<\/span><\/p>\r\n Literarily, something profound has occurred. Until now, the Torah presented a single narrative (more or less), avoiding digressions from the main story. Genesis recounted the sagas of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob; now Joseph has earned the protagonist\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>mantle.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Previously, the Torah\u2019s \u201csecondary\u201d characters were foils \u2013 appearing primarily when relevant to our protagonist. Once Jacob departs Laban, Laban disappears from the text. While Abraham sacrifices Isaac, we hear nothing of Sarah\u2019s goings-on at home.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Now, for the first time, the Torah devotes <\/span>an entire chapter<\/span><\/em> to a secondary character.\u00a0<\/span>Joseph vanishes.<\/span><\/p>\r\n For God, the Author of history, there\u2019s no such thing as a \u201cmain character\u201d and \u201csupporting actors.\u201d <\/span>Everyone<\/span><\/em> has a story, profound and mundane, trundling forward alongside our own.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Joseph may have a starring role in Egypt, but unbeknownst to him, Judah is facing his own battles, his own moral transformation; he discovers that his daughter-in-law is not a disposable secondary character \u2013 she has her own saga of loss, betrayal, triumph.<\/span><\/p>\r\n By showing us Judah and Tamar\u2019s backstories, we realize that every character in the Torah <\/span>and in our own lives<\/span><\/em> has an emotional backstory as intricate as our own. Only by imagining others\u2019 lives, their challenges, can we find redemption, heal our brothers, make a Pharaoh weep.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":67827,"alt":"","title":"is48-drama","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama.jpg","width":1920,"height":1256,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama-300x196.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":196,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama-768x502.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":502,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama-1024x670.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":670,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1005,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1256,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama-1200x785.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":785,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama-642x420.jpg","home_baner-width":642,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Joseph\u2019s Vanishing Act","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"No character is a secondary character - in Tanakh or in our lives","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":67827,"alt":"","title":"is48-drama","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama.jpg","width":1920,"height":1256,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama-300x196.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":196,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama-768x502.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":502,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama-1024x670.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":670,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1005,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1256,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama-1200x785.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":785,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-drama-642x420.jpg","home_baner-width":642,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"38","chapter_main_number":"38","date":"20251021","wall_id":"38"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"394","name":"Emotions","old_id":"794"},{"term_id":"568","name":"Judah","old_id":"968"},{"term_id":"570","name":"Drama","old_id":"970"}]},{"order":5,"id":"39287","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The First Penitent ","post_title":"The First Penitent","slug":"the-first-penitent","old_id":"39287","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. 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He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"38","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The ability to recognize one\u2019s own wrongdoing, to feel remorse, and to change","post_main_content_content":" Judah is the first penitent \u2013 the first <\/span>baal teshuvah<\/span><\/em> \u2013 in the Torah. <\/span><\/p>\r\n Tamar had married Judah\u2019s two elder sons, both of whom had died, leaving her a childless widow. Judah, fearing that his third son would share their fate, withheld him from her \u2013 thus leaving her unable to remarry and have children. Once she understands her situation, Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute. Judah sleeps with her. She becomes pregnant. <\/span>Judah, unaware of the disguise, concludes that she must have had a forbidden relationship and orders her to be put to death. At this point, Tamar \u2013 who, while disguised, had taken Judah\u2019s seal, cord and staff as a pledge \u2013 send them to Judah with a message: \u201cThe father of my child is the man to whom these belong.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n Judah understood he placed Tamar in an impossible situation of living widowhood. He admits he was wrong. \u201cShe was more righteous than I,\u201d he says. <\/span><\/p>\r\n This is the first time in the Torah someone acknowledges their own guilt. It is also the turning point in Judah\u2019s life. Here is born that ability to recognize one\u2019s own wrongdoing, to feel remorse, and to change \u2013 the complex phenomenon known as <\/span>teshuvah<\/span><\/em> \u2013 that later leads to the great scene in chapter 44, where Judah is capable of turning his earlier behavior on its head and doing the opposite of what he had once done before. Judah is <\/span>ish teshuvah<\/span><\/em>, penitential man.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":85714,"alt":"","title":"ps78-mercy 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Canada","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38504,"alt":"","title":"BobChodos","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BobChodos.jpg","width":262,"height":147,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BobChodos-150x147.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":147,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BobChodos.jpg","medium-width":262,"medium-height":147,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BobChodos.jpg","medium_large-width":262,"medium_large-height":147,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BobChodos.jpg","large-width":262,"large-height":147,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BobChodos.jpg","1536x1536-width":262,"1536x1536-height":147,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BobChodos.jpg","2048x2048-width":262,"2048x2048-height":147,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BobChodos.jpg","post_full_size-width":262,"post_full_size-height":147,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BobChodos.jpg","home_baner-width":262,"home_baner-height":147}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"38","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"These words reverberate through the narrative of Genesis, the messianic line, and our own era.","post_main_content_content":" If you were asked to choose the most essential passage in the Torah, you might think of the <\/span>Shma<\/span><\/em>\u2019<\/span><\/i> in Deuteronomy, or maybe the commandment to love one\u2019s neighbor as oneself in Leviticus, <\/span>v\u2019ahavta l\u2019re\u2019acha kamocha<\/span><\/em>. Or you might go to Genesis and pick the creation of the world, or else the beginning of our Jewish story with God\u2019s call to Abram to go forth, <\/span>lech l\u2019cha me\u2019artz\u2019cha<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Those are all good choices. But to that list I would like to add two words from Genesis chapter 38: <\/span>tzadka mimeni<\/span><\/em>.<\/em> English, in its clunky way, needs eight words to say the same thing: \u201cShe is more in the right than I.\u201d With these words Judah takes responsibility for having wronged Tamar by not giving his son to her in marriage and for being the father of the twins in her womb. His words reverberate through three timelines: the narrative arc of Genesis, our royal and ultimately messianic line, and our own era.<\/span><\/p>\r\n In the Genesis timeline, <\/span>tzadka mimeni<\/span><\/em> marks the beginning of responsibility being a central feature of Judah\u2019s character. He becomes the responsible brother whose actions lead to reconciliation between Joseph and the rest of Jacob\u2019s sons. In so doing, he provides a resounding affirmative answer to the searing question posed by Cain at the beginning of the book: <\/span>Hashomer achi anochi?<\/em> <\/span>\u2014 \u201cAm I my brother\u2019s keeper?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n In the royal\/messianic timeline, the encounter between Tamar and Judah, culminating in his acceptance of responsibility, is one of four apparently questionable but ultimately redemptive sexual relationships that, in some mysterious way, lead to the Davidic line from which the messiah will come \u2014 the others being between Lot\u2019s daughters and their father, between Ruth and Boaz, and between Bathsheba and David.<\/span><\/p>\r\n And in our own time, Judah\u2019s words provide a more satisfactory response than we have generally heard from men confronted with evidence of their misbehavior towards women. Not \u201cI regarded it as consensual.\u201d Not \u201cI didn\u2019t abuse my power.\u201d Not \u201cIf I do it again, stop me\u201d (yes, I\u2019ve heard that too). Just <\/span>tzadka mimeni<\/span><\/em>. I can see it as a hashtag: #TzadkaMimeni. And this is where our various timelines converge, for if men, en masse, were to take responsibility for their behavior towards women, we would have taken a big step in the direction of the messianic age.<\/span><\/p>\r\n (Cover art by Elisheva Horowitz, courtesy of the artist)<\/em><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":39305,"alt":"","title":"gen38","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38.jpg","width":919,"height":1200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38-230x300.jpg","medium-width":230,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38-768x1003.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1003,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38-784x1024.jpg","large-width":784,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38.jpg","1536x1536-width":919,"1536x1536-height":1200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38.jpg","2048x2048-width":919,"2048x2048-height":1200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38-919x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":919,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38-322x420.jpg","home_baner-width":322,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"\u201cShe Is More In The Right Than I\u201d","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"These words reverberate through the narrative of Genesis, the messianic line, and our own era.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":39305,"alt":"","title":"gen38","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38.jpg","width":919,"height":1200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38-230x300.jpg","medium-width":230,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38-768x1003.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1003,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38-784x1024.jpg","large-width":784,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38.jpg","1536x1536-width":919,"1536x1536-height":1200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38.jpg","2048x2048-width":919,"2048x2048-height":1200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38-919x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":919,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/gen38-322x420.jpg","home_baner-width":322,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"38","chapter_main_number":"38","date":"20251021","wall_id":"38"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"302","name":"Elisheva Horowitz","old_id":"702"},{"term_id":"365","name":"Gender","old_id":"765"},{"term_id":"412","name":"Responsibility","old_id":"812"},{"term_id":"568","name":"Judah","old_id":"968"}]},{"order":7,"id":"39290","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Key To Redemption ","post_title":"The Key To Redemption","slug":"the-key-to-redemption","old_id":"39290","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. 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","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"38","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The idea of \u2018areyvut \u00a0- to be mixed up in someone else\u2019s fate","post_main_content_content":" A Canaanite woman with edgy methods named Tamar teaches the Jewish people one of its most important lessons in today's chapter. It's the message of <\/span>areyvut<\/span><\/em>, a word so rich with meanings that it is impossible to translate into a single English word.. The root <\/span>arev<\/span><\/em> is introduced for the first time in the Torah by Tamar in a seemingly innocuous way. When, disguised as a harlot, she demands an <\/span>'<\/span><\/i>eiravon<\/em> <\/span>from Judah, he thinks that she is asking for a loan guarantee, an object of significant enough value to Judah that ensures he repay the money rather than forfeit it. From this perspective, the guarantee is a failure. Upon encountering the first difficulty with locating his debtor, Judah readily gives up on the objects of symbolic value he had given Tamar.<\/span><\/p>\r\n But, in reality, Tamar has something much deeper in mind. She is concerned not with commodities, but with commitments. Her payment was not the first commitment Judah had shirked. Just as Judah's cost-benefit analysis brought him to give up on paying the harlot, it had brought him to leave Tamar as a chained woman, so as not to endanger his son, Shela. <\/span><\/p>\r\n Tamar demands that Judah abandon the cold calculations of an objective decision-maker, and become intimately, personally involved. The symbols of personal identification she asks for are a symbol of this, but her impregnation by Judah is the literal physical representation of her point. The word \u2018<\/span>arev <\/span><\/i>is closely related to the words meaning to mix. To be an <\/span>\u2018arev <\/span><\/i>is to be mixed up in the issue as more than a stake-holder. It is to make it part of ourselves. But deep, personal identification can't be forced. Tamar must allow Judah to make that leap himself. When he does, he acquires the key to convincing Jacob, to convincing Joseph, indeed, the very key to redemption. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54841,"alt":"","title":"jo24-Commitment","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Key To Redemption","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The idea of \u2018areyvut \u00a0- to be mixed up in someone else\u2019s fate","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54841,"alt":"","title":"jo24-Commitment","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"38","chapter_main_number":"38","date":"20251021","wall_id":"38"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"403","name":"Redemption","old_id":"803"},{"term_id":"412","name":"Responsibility","old_id":"812"},{"term_id":"567","name":"Tamar","old_id":"967"},{"term_id":"568","name":"Judah","old_id":"968"}]},{"order":8,"id":"39184","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Widow: From Periphery to Power ","post_title":"The Widow: From Periphery to Power","slug":"the-widow-from-periphery-to-power","old_id":"39184","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":39066,"post_title":"Avi Killip","slug":"avi-killip","old_id":"39066","first_name":"Avi ","last_name":"Killip ","description":"Rabbi Avi Killip serves as VP of Strategy and Programs and Director of Project Zug at Hadar. She was ordained from Hebrew College\u2019s pluralistic Rabbinical School in Boston. She was a Wexner Graduate Fellow and holds a Bachelors and Masters from Brandeis University in Jewish Studies and Women & Gender Studies. She serves on the advisory board of ShmaNOW and the Jewish Studio Project. 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The widow is, categorically, marginal to society and that position makes her vulnerable, but that same marginal status affords her a unique form of power.<\/span><\/p>\r\n We see this unique marginal power play out through biblical images of the widow that appear in both story and law. There are two famous biblical widows-- Tamar and Ruth-- and I will highlight a third, less well known widow, a woman who feeds Elijah in the book of Kings I. \u00a0Each of these women finds herself on the physical, and metaphorical, outskirts of the community. In the book of Genesis, Tamar sits at a crossroads between towns. Ruth finds herself among the poor, gleaning from the corners of a field. And the unnamed widow in the story in Kings is also found beyond the \u201cgates of the city.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n The women\u2019s physical locations drive home the point that they are indeed marginal to society. Yet, it is precisely these locations on the margins that offer each of them the ability to fly under the radar, break some rules, and become an active player in our biblical stories.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Judah, the patriarch and head of the tribe for which Judaism is named, is able to have sex with Tamar without <\/span>seeing<\/em> <\/span>her or recognizing who she is. This seeming power of invisibility allows Tamar to construct a situation that opens Judah\u2019s eyes to his failures-- the story ends with his declaration that Tamar is \u201cmore righteous than I. \u201d Similarly, Ruth becomes a hero of rabbinic imagination and the primary model after which we design the legal conversion process. \u00a0Finally, the widow of Kings I is able to feed the prophet Elijah, who otherwise has no access to food. Because of her widowed status, she finds her herself in a unique position to sustain a central Jewish prophet.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Each of these women advance the story of their own narrative, but they also advance the story of the Jewish people. Tamar and Ruth are each designated by the text as ancestors to King David, and thereby to the messiah, who is said to come from the Davidic line. And Elijah, we are told, is the prophet who will return to announce the coming of the messiah. Without widows, these stories teach us, we can never reach redemption.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Widows are marginalized and as a result, they need to be cared for, but they are not necessarily weak, pathetic, or powerless -- in fact, living on the margins offers a kind of power. People on the margins play a unique role in the fabric of society.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Today this framework, and the mandate of care that comes with it, may be expanded to include any group of people who are marginal but also empowered: The disability movement, the queer movement, and the women\u2019s movements all embrace and find pride in the ability to cultivate power and make change from not-the-center.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Image: James Tissot The Widow's Mite (Le denier de la veuve), 1886-1894 \/ Brooklyn Museum<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65245,"alt":"","title":"is10-Widows_Mite_Le_denier_de_la_veuve_-_James_Tissot","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is10-Widows_Mite_Le_denier_de_la_veuve_-_James_Tissot.jpg","width":747,"height":483,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is10-Widows_Mite_Le_denier_de_la_veuve_-_James_Tissot-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is10-Widows_Mite_Le_denier_de_la_veuve_-_James_Tissot-300x194.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":194,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is10-Widows_Mite_Le_denier_de_la_veuve_-_James_Tissot.jpg","medium_large-width":747,"medium_large-height":483,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is10-Widows_Mite_Le_denier_de_la_veuve_-_James_Tissot.jpg","large-width":747,"large-height":483,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is10-Widows_Mite_Le_denier_de_la_veuve_-_James_Tissot.jpg","1536x1536-width":747,"1536x1536-height":483,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is10-Widows_Mite_Le_denier_de_la_veuve_-_James_Tissot.jpg","2048x2048-width":747,"2048x2048-height":483,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is10-Widows_Mite_Le_denier_de_la_veuve_-_James_Tissot.jpg","post_full_size-width":747,"post_full_size-height":483,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is10-Widows_Mite_Le_denier_de_la_veuve_-_James_Tissot-650x420.jpg","home_baner-width":650,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The 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Plan B ","post_title":"Tamar\u2019s Plan B","slug":"tamars-plan-b","old_id":"39186","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34891,"post_title":"Miriam Gedwiser","slug":"miriam-gedwiser","old_id":"34891","first_name":"Miriam","last_name":"Gedwiser ","description":"Miriam Gedwiser teaches Talmud and Tanakh at Ramaz Upper Upper school and is a core faculty member at Drisha. She has a BA from the University of Chicago in the History and Philosophy of Science and a JD from NYU School of Law. She studied in the Drisha Scholars Circle as well as at other programs in Israel and Boston, and has taught at a variety of synagogues and Hillels. She previously practiced commercial litigation at a large law firm, and completed a judicial clerkship in the Southern District of New York","short_description":"Miriam Gedwiser teaches Talmud and Tanakh at Ramaz and at Drisha.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":60045,"alt":"","title":"Miriam Gedwiser 2 cropped","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","width":453,"height":522,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1-260x300.jpg","medium-width":260,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","medium_large-width":453,"medium_large-height":522,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","large-width":453,"large-height":522,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":453,"1536x1536-height":522,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":453,"2048x2048-height":522,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":453,"post_full_size-height":522,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1-364x420.jpg","home_baner-width":364,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"38","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"In the end, she gets what she came for, and the fruits of the encounter continue to grow","post_main_content_content":" Many wish to read Tamar as the master manipulator of this story: She guides Judah into both impregnating her and admitting it later, and her brashness makes her the mother of a line of bold leaders.<\/span><\/p>\r\n But what, exactly, was Tamar\u2019s plan? Trick Judah into sleeping with her and then - what? \u00a0What if Judah had had payment with him, making collateral unnecessary? What would she have shown him when he later ordered her burned? Tamar the master planner seems to have left a lot to chance. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The medieval Italian commentator R. Ovadiah Sforno offers a surprising take: \u201cShe thought that when Judah saw her without widow\u2019s garments he would ask her why she had shed those garments. She would answer him that the time had come for Shelah to marry her.\u201d \u00a0Tamar never planned to lure Judah into a sexual encounter - she just wanted a conversation! <\/span><\/p>\r\n Judah, however, failed to recognize her (more on that in a minute), so when he propositioned her she started asking questions. \u00a0When it became clear that he would give her identifying objects, she leaned in to plan B: establishing the name of her dead husbands not through their brother, but through their father.<\/span><\/p>\r\n How could Judah not recognize his own daughter-in-law? \u00a0Her face was covered, but what of her voice? Here, R. Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (\u201cNetziv\u201d) offers a fascinating insight: \u00a0Once Judah had decided from afar that the veiled women at the intersection was a sex worker, he was predisposed not to recognize her. Since it did not occur to him that his daughter-in-law would engage in such work, her voice did not register. <\/span><\/p>\r\n Where Tamar had hoped to have a reasonable conversation between adults, she encounters a man who cannot see her as a conversation partner once he has classified her as a sexual partner. Judah therefore traps her into a plan B that is much messier than what she had intended.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Tamar-the-master-manipulator is often held out as a powerful female role model. \u00a0What can we do with Tamar-the-still-powerless, who sleeps with her father-in-law only because he is incapable of registering her as a person worthy of talking things over with? In the end, she gets what she came for: a child form Judah\u2019s line--and also an admission from Judah. <\/span><\/p>\r\n After that, \u201che was not intimate with her again.\u201d The sexual relationship that had been founded on ignoring Tamar\u2019s voice could not survive the recognition that \u201cShe is more right than I.\u201d \u00a0But the fruits of the encounter continue to grow, however, until the end of history.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":39309,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_462453199","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199.jpg","width":6000,"height":3000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Tamar\u2019s Plan B","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"In the end, she gets what she came for, and the fruits of the encounter continue to 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His Brother's Keeper ","post_title":"Becoming His Brother's Keeper","slug":"becoming-his-brothers-keeper","old_id":"39299","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":39167,"post_title":"Jacqueline Osherow","slug":"jacqueline-osherow","old_id":"39167","first_name":"Jacqueline ","last_name":"Osherow ","description":"Jacqueline Osherow is an American poet, and Distinguished Professor at University of Utah.","short_description":"Jacqueline Osherow is an American poet, and Distinguished Professor at University of Utah.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":39168,"alt":"","title":"jaqueline osherow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/jaqueline-osherow.jpg","width":310,"height":163,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/jaqueline-osherow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/jaqueline-osherow-300x158.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":158,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/jaqueline-osherow.jpg","medium_large-width":310,"medium_large-height":163,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/jaqueline-osherow.jpg","large-width":310,"large-height":163,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/jaqueline-osherow.jpg","1536x1536-width":310,"1536x1536-height":163,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/jaqueline-osherow.jpg","2048x2048-width":310,"2048x2048-height":163,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/jaqueline-osherow.jpg","post_full_size-width":310,"post_full_size-height":163,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/jaqueline-osherow.jpg","home_baner-width":310,"home_baner-height":163}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"38","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Judah was the first person in the entire Tanakh to admit he was wrong\u2026","post_main_content_content":" [Judah] sells his brother into slavery and deceives his father into thinking his son is dead. But Judah will <\/span>actually<\/span><\/em> lose not one, but two sons, in quick succession, in the very next chapter. We\u2019re told that Judah\u2019s eldest Er is \u201cevil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord slew him\u201d (Gen. 38:7); next Onan, asked by his father to \u201craise up seed to his brother\u201d refused to act as a brother should \u2026\"and the Lord and he slew him also\u201d (Gen. 38:9\u201310).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Again, we have an increasingly intensified measure-for-measure scenario. Onan\u2019s failure to serve as brother is very like the failure of his father, Judah, to act as a true brother, which in turn, was like his own father, Jacob\u2019s failure to treat his own brother in a brotherly way. Indeed, thus far in Genesis, from the time of the very first set of brothers, Cain and Abel, we have found no individual even remotely willing to serve as a \u201cbrother\u2019s keeper.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n But what is remarkable within Judah is that change\u2014genuine human change\u2014takes place. Judah redeems himself. And with Judah, the book of Genesis moves from being primarily a narrative of human beings in relation to God to becoming a narrative of human beings in relation to one another. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the great patriarchs; Judah becomes a great human being\u2014not only the forefather but the archetype of his nearly larger-than-life descendant, David.<\/span><\/p>\r\n From being the man who masterminded the sale of his brother into slavery, Judah becomes the ideal of a \u201cbrother\u2019s keeper.\u201d The great transformation in him begins with a life-changing encounter with his resourceful daughter-in-law, Tamar. Robert Alter has demonstrated the resonance of the word \u201crecognition\u201d in the narratives of Joseph and his brothers and Judah and Tamar (<\/span>The Art of Biblical Narrative<\/span><\/em>). <\/span>Haker-na<\/span><\/em> \/ \u201cPlease recognize the coat,\u201d the brothers demand of their father (Gen. 37:32): <\/span>haker-na<\/span><\/em> \/ \u201cRecognize to whom this seal cord and staff belong,\u201d asks Tamar, who has been impregnated by Judah when she\u2019s disguised herself as a harlot by the side of the road (Gen. 38:25)\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u201cTake her and burn her,\u201d he says when he learns that his daughter-in-law is pregnant. But when she shows him the \u201cseal-cord and staff\u201d of the \u201cman by whom\u201d she \u201chas conceived,\u201d he changes his position (Gen. 38:25). Interestingly, the text in Hebrew says simply <\/span>vayikar yehudah<\/em> <\/span>\/ \u201cand Judah recognized\u201d (Gen. 38:26); the verb here lacks a direct object. Of course, one possible meaning is that he recognized the staff and seal cord, but another is that\u2014seeing his own staff and signet ring out of context, in the hands of the pregnant woman he would so readily have had burned\u2014\u201che recognized\u201d his flawed self. It\u2019s that \u201crecognition\u201d of his own flaws that enables him to become the true \u201cflesh\u201d of his brother, and, in doing so, the true \u201cflesh\u201d (as opposed to spiritual) hero of Genesis.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The words that follow are remarkable: <\/span>tzadkah mememi<\/span><\/em> \/ \u201cShe\u2019s more righteous than I.\u201d Here we have, in Genesis 38, the first instance in the Bible of a person admitting he\u2019s in the wrong. All other accused people either blame someone else\u2014\u201cThat woman you gave me gave me of the tree,\u201d says Adam; \u201cthe snake deceived me,\u201d says Eve (Gen. 3:12\u201313)\u2014or ask rhetorical questions, like Cain\u2019s \u201cam I my brother\u2019s keeper?\u201d (Gen. 4:9).<\/span><\/p>\r\n (Excerpted and reprinted with permission from the essay \u201c'That We May Live and Not Die': Judah as Life Force of Genesis,\" by Jaqueline Osherow, in:<\/span> Reading Genesis Beginnings<\/span><\/a><\/em>,<\/em> Beth Kissileff, editor, Bloomsbury, 2016, pp.<\/span> <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103468,"alt":"","title":"-62420d1a58be6--62420d1a58be7gen38-excuse apologize 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Place of the Opened Eyes ","post_title":"The Place of the Opened Eyes","slug":"the-place-of-the-opened-eyes","old_id":"39271","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36663,"post_title":"Beth Kissileff","slug":"beth-kissileff","old_id":"36663","first_name":"Beth ","last_name":"Kissileff ","description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (2016 - https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/us\/reading-genesis-9780567381521), and the forthcoming Reading Exodus, and the author of the novel Questioning Return - https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Questioning-Return-Novel-Beth-Kissileff\/dp\/1942134231. \r\nHer journalism appears in many publications; she has taught most recently at the University of Pittsburgh. Visit her online at www.bethkissileff.com. ","short_description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (Bloomsbury\/ T and T Clark, 2016) , a journalist and teacher.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36664,"alt":"","title":"BethKissileff","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","width":3478,"height":3200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-300x276.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":276,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-768x707.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":707,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-1024x942.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":942,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1413,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1884,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-1200x1104.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1104,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-456x420.jpg","home_baner-width":456,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"38","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Tamar is the rare Biblical woman able to make right a situation in which she has been wronged and to be publicly acknowledged","post_main_content_content":" Tamar is a character who does not believe her fate is sealed and that she has no say in planning a destiny for herself.<\/span><\/p>\r\n In chapter 38, the childless twice-widowed Tamar opens her eyes, changes her clothes (38:14) and creates a new destiny \u2013 for herself and the Jewish people as a whole. Tamar does not let how others see her determine who she is, and for that reason she is one of the most interesting feminist heroines of Genesis. She comes up with a plan to get what she is owed and a crafty way of executing it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n In fact, as Robert Alter pointed out so well in his <\/span>The Art of Biblical Narrative<\/span><\/em>, and as the midrash highlights, one of the linguistic leitmotifs of Genesis 37-50 is \u201crecognition,\u201d who recognizes who and what they see. In Genesis 38, Tamar, on being informed that her father in law Judah is going to Timna for sheep shearing(38:13), goes to a place named \u201cthe opening of the eyes,\u201d <\/span>petach eynaim <\/span><\/em>(38:14)<\/span><\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\r\n Though we credit Tamar with taking the initiative in the relationship, it is actually Judah\u2019s assumptions that trap him. He assumes a woman sitting at the side of the road with a \u00a0covered face must be a woman who is looking for customers and asks to \u201ccome in\u201d (38:16) to her. His suspicions that she is a willing sex worker are confirmed when she asks what he will give her for the privilege (38:16). <\/span><\/p>\r\n The deed is consummated and readers learn that the episode is a success for Tamar as she becomes pregnant, her quest for a sperm donor from this family successful. (Levirate marriage is later codified in law in Deuteronomy 25:5-10). The oddity here, as in the lack of recognition of Joseph when his brothers meet up with him again (42:7 and 43:24, 44:2 and 44:14-34) is that Judah is unaware of his proximity to his own daughter-in-law. <\/span><\/p>\r\n
\r\nfor all peoples<\/em>
\r\nthe prophet will say.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n___
\r\nGenesis 38; Isaiah 56:7<\/p>\r\n
\r\n<\/span>224-226).<\/span><\/p>\r\n