Weekly D'var

PARASHAT VAYESHEV
Dr. Vita J. Land

This week’s Torah portion begins with the story of Joseph and his conflict with his brothers.  Just after the brothers show Jacob the blood stained tunic of Joseph and Jacob expresses his grief, the Joseph narrative stops, and we have the story of Judah and Tamar.

We are told that about that time, Judah left his brothers and camped near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah.  There Judah saw the daughter of a merchant, whose name was Shua and he married her.  A nice match, a daughter of a merchant according the Art Scroll English translation.  In the Hebrew she is the daughter of “ish kena’ ani.”  Just a few weeks ago we read that Abraham made his servant swear that he would not take a wife for Isaac from the daughters of “kena’ani” which Art Scroll translates as “daughters of a Canaanite."

What’s going on? Merchant or Canaanite?

Would Judah have betrayed his forefathers and married a Canaanite?  Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish in Tractate Pesachim states categorically she was the daughter of a merchant.  That the meaning of kena’ ani in the context of this passage is merchant because Judah would never have married a Canaanite.

Rashi followed Rabbi Shimon’s defense of Judah as did Art Scroll and other traditional translations.  It seems to me that this is no more persuasive than the many times we hear or say ourselves that so-and-so could never do THAT and the conviction is in our feelings, not the evidence.

In the JPS translation Judah married the daughter of a Canaanite.  And in Midrash Tanchuma Buber we have a rabbinic indictment based on passages in Malachi:

When Judah left his brothers, he did so physically and spiritually.  The commentary states
“Judah has been faithless, and he has married the daughter of a foreign god.”

Whether a Canaanite or merchant, Judah did not have much nachas from the marriage to this man’s daughter.

The story goes on to tell us that the marriage produced three sons.  Judah finds a wife for the eldest son, Er.  Her name is Tamar----no indication where she came from.

The narrative is driven by Tamar’s widowhood with no offspring.  First, Er must die without siring a child.  No need for a fatal fall from a camel.  We have a biblical deux et machina.  Chapter 38: verse 7: “The Lord took his life because he was displeasing to the Lord. “No other explanation given---somewhat disconcerting that one could be taken without specified cause; and we cannot even derive a lesson from what displeased the Lord.

One midrash says Er had unnatural intercourse with Tamar, so that she would not become pregnant---because he felt that pregnancy would diminish her beauty.  This suggests to me that the chatter among the rabbis was that a pregnant woman was not attractive.

According to the law at the time---Judah instructs his second son Onan to join with Tamar and “provide an offspring for your brother.”  We can ask what good is an offspring to the dead Er.

But, Onan knows that any offspring will be considered in the lineage of his dead brother.  He does not want merely to be a biologic father---a sperm donor.  Some commentators give him the insight of an estate attorney.

If Onan provides the dead Er with a son---that son, considered the eldest, would get ½ of an inheritance (as Er would have received had he lived)---and Onan and his brother, only ¼ each.  However, if there is no child in the Er lineage, Onan becomes the eldest and the estate is divided in 3 he gets 2/3 and his younger brother 1/3.

We are told that, knowing that his seed would not count as his, he let it go to waste whenever he joined with his brother’s wife.

Whenever---means this was a repeated practice of Onan.  He not only spilled his seed, but humiliated Tamar by having sex with her but not letting her have a child.  For this the Lord takes Onan.

The youngest brother, Shelah, is too young for marriage and Tamar is sent off.  Judah’s promise to Tamar to marry her to Shelah when he gets older is not kept.  Then Judah’s wife dies.  So, at that time he could have married Tamar.

We suspect he is looking for a wife---in Chapter 38, verse 12---when his period of mourning was over, Judah went to Timnah---together with his friend Hirah.  Remember Judah camped with Hirah when he saw Shua’s daughter, his first wife.  Hirah seems to be the go-to guy for a bride.

We know that the Lord took both Er and Onan.  But Judah does not know that.  Maybe he was thinking that Tamar was the first black widow murderess---he feared for his third son and for himself.

Tamar schemes to seduce Judah.  There are some interesting parallels with the story of Rebekah.  This narrative parallel is one example of how motifs are repeated in the bible.  Repeated motifs serve to have the listener recall previous stories and to enhance memory of the narratives, important in a society without printed books.

The first parallel involves the veil.  When Rebekah asks Abraham’s servant who is that man walking in the field, he answers---that is my master.  Then we read:  So she took her veil and covered herself.

When Tamar learns that Judah is coming up to Timnah she takes off her widow’s garb and covers her face with a veil.

The second parallel is the multiple births.  Rebekah has twins.  So does Tamar.

The first of Rebekah’s twins emerged red.  The first of Tamar’s twins presents his hand, upon which the midwife ties a crimson thread.  But he draws his hand back and the second twin emerges.  Peretz had pushed ahead.  His intrauterine behavior presages the assertiveness and vigor of his descendant, King David.

I will assert that assertiveness is the theme of this Judah-Tamar narrative.  Tamar was assertive in finding a path to motherhood.  Peretz was assertive in achieving first-born status.  We know how assertive King David was in love and battle.  So don’t shy away from assertiveness.  I don’t.