Greatness Born of Humility
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Greatness Born of Humility |
Greatness
Born of Humility
This
week’s portion is the first of three portions which discuss the saga of Yoseph
(Joseph). [We will discuss the relationship between Yoseph and his brothers in
two weeks.] After
Yoseph’s brothers sell him to a caravan, a different episode is related. The story
of Yehuda (Judah) and Tamar. This is one of the most misunderstood
pieces in the Torah. Let
us look at the sequence of events. Yehudah’s son, Er, marries a woman
named Tamar. Er soon dies because, rather than impregnate Tamar and
perhaps mar her beauty, he chooses to spill his seed. Yehudah’s son Onan
then fulfills yibum and marries Tamar (Yibum is a levirate marriage: if a man
dies with no children, his brother and widow marry — willingly of course —
in order to have a child and perpetuate the deceased brother’s name). Onan,
alas, also spills his seed, but for a different reason: he knew that the child
would be in merit of his brother, so instead of grabbing this tremendous
opportunity to perform chesed — lovingkindness — Onan also strikes out. At
this point Yehuda wrongly blames Tamar and sends her away, as he does not want
to give his third son, Shaloh, to her. Tamar dresses herself like a harlot and
waits for Yehudah on the side of the road. Yehudah then consorts with her, not
knowing her identity, as she is veiled. (The commentators discuss why Yehudah
would perform such an act. As we have seen in the previous weeks regarding
the lives of our ancestors, they were sometimes “pushed” into seemingly
undesirable situations in order to test their mettle.) When
it comes time to pay her, Yehudah strangely finds himself with no money. He
gives her his signet ring and staff as collateral. Later,
Tamar returns and soon shows the signs of pregnancy. She is taken to court on
grounds of harlotry. Sitting on the court were Yehudah, his father Yaakov
(Jacob), and his father Yitzchok (Issac). Refusing to name the father, Tamar
only says the man who gave her the signet ring got her pregnant. Only now
does Yehudah realize that it is he
who is the father. Yehudah then stands up in front of his father
and grandfather and admits it is he who impregnated Tamar: “She is right; it
is from me, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah” (Gen. Ch.38
V.26). From this pregnancy twins were born: Peretz, who would be the
forebear of the Messiah, and Zerach. It
is through this act of greatness (admitting that he was the father) that the
seeds of the Messiah—the Jewish redeemer, whom would come from the tribe of
Yehudah — were planted. The reason for this is that one of the prerequisites
of the Jewish king was humility. Because a Jewish king, unlike his
non-Jewish counterparts, is not infallible. He answers to
G-d.
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