And she took off her widow's garb and covered herself

With a veil and wrapped herself and sat by petach

Enaim which is on the road to timna

(Bereishit 38:14)

 

(The meaning of "Petach Enayim" is not clear. "Petach" means opening or entrance. "Ayin", singular of "Enaim" may mean "eye" or "spring". 'Ayin' appears in many Hebrew idioms; its exact meaning is contextually determined and therefore subject to varying interpretations - Translator).

 

She sat by Petach Enaim - http://www.halakhah.com/sotah/sotah_10.html - 10a_33#10a_33 R. Alexander said: It teaches that she [Tamar] went and sat at the entrance [of the hospice] of our father Abraham, to see which place all eyes ['enaim] look. R. Hanin said in the name of Rab: It is a place named Enaim, as it states: Tappuah and Enam. R. Samuel b. Nahmani said: [It is so called] because she gave eyes to her words. When [Judah] solicited her, he asked her, 'Art thou perhaps a Gentile?' She replied: 'I am a proselyte'. 'Art thou perhaps a married woman?' She replied: 'I am unmarried'. 'Perhaps thy father has accepted on thy behalf betrothals?' She replied: 'I am an orphan'. 'Perhaps thou art unclean?' She replied: 'I am clean'.

(Bavli, Sotah 10a, Soncino Edition)

 

"…and covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself and sat by Petach Enaim - Said Rabbi Ami: We have reviewed the entire Bible, but found no location named Petach Enaim; what, then, is Petach Enaim? It comes to teach that she raised her eyes towards that entrance which all eyes look, and said, "May it be your will, my Lord God, that I not leave this house empty". An alternative explanation: "Petach Enaim" - She opened her spring to him, saying to him, "I am (ritually) clean, and I am single".

(Bereishit Raba 85;7)

 

She sat by Petach Enaim - All she did was for the sake of Heaven, as my father and master [Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter of Gur, author of the "S'fat Emmet") said: By Petach Enaim is written in order to teach us that her intentions were for the sake of Heaven, She sat by Petach Enaim, because no sinner sins unless a spirit of foolishness enters him and blinds him, whereas she was at the Opening of Eyes. The Talmud relates that she went and sat at our Father Abraham's entrance, etc., Father Abraham had a good eye ['was generous], as is written [in the Mishnah] "the disciples of our Father Abraham are distinguished by 'a good eye' etc., and this is the explanation of 'she sat at our Father Abraham's entrance', and also it is similarly written of King David, o"h, who was her descendent, that he was "bright-eyed and handsome", and this is the meaning of "by Petach Enaim".

(Rabbi Abraham Mordecai Alter of Gur; Imrei Emet on Parashat Vayeshev)

 

 

The distinction of a princess is also from outside

Dalia Marx

Not all of a princess's distinction is "inside" - in private¹ , not every problem can be solved in the innermost rooms. Tamar can teach us that there are times when the greatest of sins are executed in inner sanctums, and seemingly unknowingly. To achieve justice, we must air them out, bring them into the open, and raise a loud voice, without fear.

After Yehuda's two sons, whom he had married to Tamar, died because of their sins, he feared to give her his third son. He orders: "Sit as a widow in your father's house until Shelah my son grows up" (Bereishit 38:11). It is clear, however, that he has no intention of giving him to her "for he said lest he also die like his brothers" (ibid.). Yehuda is playing for time. And although his fatherly concern is understandable, it is difficult to justify his decision to leave Tamar chained to her blood-family (because of the levirate laws) and at the same time prevent her from realizing motherhood. It is also difficult to overlook the trace of Yehuda's veiled accusation of Tamar; it is easier for him to consider her a "femme fatale" than to muse on his sons' sins and perhaps also about the education they received. Tamar's desires are not taken into consideration, and throughout the tragic events, we never get to hear at all about her actions and her feelings.

Tamar's sentence is decided upon inside the shadows of tents, far from the public eye. She is sentenced to the life of a living widow; her hair will turn grey, her teeth will fall out, her skin will wrinkle, and she will never be privileged to love a man or hug a baby. This is how the story could have ended, and who knows how many of such stories, unknown to us, could be told by the curtains of tents and the walls of houses through the generations.

But not so Tamar. When she sees that Yehudah refuses to give her his third son, yet leaves her in chains, she decides to act. When she understands that "For Shelah had grown, yet she was not given to him as wife" (ibid., 14), she knows that unless she takes extreme initiatives, she will have no salvation. Tamar refuses to be unseen; she leaves her widowhood and the clothes of her widowhood and waits for Yehuda in a public open place, at "Petach Enaim" ["At the entrance to Einaim" or "two wells" but literally "Opening of eyes"] - dressed as a harlot - the complete opposite of the living widowhood, incarcerated in loneliness, in her home. Tamar moves from the closed space of the home and goes out to public realm and, for a short moment, transforms herself into this very space. Later in the narrative, she will return to public space, this time to plead for her life and that of the fruit of her womb. She discards the rules of propriety and disrupts accepted solely to achieve her worthy goal - to conceive and bring progeny into the world.

When Yehudah discovers that Tamar is pregnant, he proclaims "Take her out to be burned" (ibid.,24). At this point, Tamar shows her resourcefulness and reveals her plan. She does not seek to solve the crisis inside the privacy of closed rooms. On the contrary, she confronts Yehuda with the fact of his paternity only when "Out she was taken" (ibid., 25), when she is taken to the public space, there to find true justice. Indeed, she finds justice, but not as expected by spectators present. Forefend that we suspect the fathers of the nation, but who knows what the dénouement might have been had not Tamar decided to cease being "a princess". She knows that in her case, her honor is not to be found "inside". Were she to have confronted Yehudah with his paternity in private, he might have shrugged off his responsibility, or even worse. The public confrontation, from Tamar's point of view, is not always pleasant or complimentary, but it is essential!

When Tamar publically shows Yehuda his identifying items, the seal, the cord, and the staff, he realizes what has happened and reacts quickly (as he will - to his credit - in crises relating to Joseph). He understands that Tamar is the woman he met at Petach Enaim, he digests the fact that he is the father of Tamar's baby. Yet more, he shows understanding of the irregular tactic which Tamar chose. "She is more in the right than I" he says, and explains to the surprised public, just has he explains to himself: "For have I not failed to give her to Shelah, my son?" (ibid. 26).

Yehudah's touching confession "She is more in the right than I" may be understood in different ways: "She was more right than I" (Rashbam), "She is right; she is impregnated by me" (Rashi), or "She is right, I testify that it is so". Each of these interpretations evinces the justice of a clear and strong voice of a woman who fearlessly remonstrates against the father of the tribe.

Following a statement by our Sages, Rashi adds another explanation, according to which the truth was revealed to Yehudah by supernatural means. Rashi writes: "She is right in her words; 'from Me' …a bat kol [literally, 'a daughter of a voice'] issued forth saying: from Me did these events evolve."² According to this explanation, it was cooperation between divine and mortal which led to Tamar's exoneration, Yehudah admitting the justice of her action, and the heaven-sent voice supplying Yehudah's admission with verification³. Yet more, two clear female voices - the voice of Tamar and that of the 'daughter of a voice' from above - joined to protest the injustice done to the alien woman.

In the story of Tamar and Yehudah, the voice of the woman is explicitly 'ervah" - of a sexual nature - but in the pure sense of the word. Biblical tradition does not censure Tamar for her irregular sexual behavior. On the contrary, her actions receive silent approval; it is Yehudah's reputation which is sullied. Tamar, who longed to be a mother, becomes mother to a dynasty which will produced Ruth the Moabite (also an alien who joined the Jewish people), and therefore, according to the tradition, she is also the ancient mother of King David and of the Messiah son of David. Perhaps even Peretz and Zerach, the names given Tamar's sons, indicate her z'chut ['virtue', 'privilege'] - she who opened a breach [translation of Peretz] was privileged that from her shone [Zarach] forth the light of the Jewish kingdom and in the future will shine the light of redemption.

We also learn from Parashat "Vayeshev" that not only is the presence of women in the public sphere essential, beneficial and often life-saving; imprisonment of women is deleterious. We read in our parasha about the wife of Potiphar who attempted to rape Joseph inside her house. She damaged his reputation and subsequently his freedom was denied him, all without taking a step outside her house. The inequity was perpetrated within her four cubits. From this we may conclude that not only is the exclusion of women improper, it is also not necessarily effective.

Today, as many conspire to exclude the voice, the image, and the presence of woman from public domain, when community leaders publically desecrate God's name with demands to distance women from public podiums, from ceremonies, from cemeteries, and even from city streets, we must remember the lesson taught by Tamar to the father of the tribe after whom we are named, and to resist vigorously. Were today not Shabbat I would suggest that we recite viduy - confession - to not having done enough to prevent the exclusion of women from Israeli society, and that we commit ourselves to resist it: For the sin we have sinned before you openly and in secret, for the sin we have sinned before you openly in secret, for the sin we have sinned before you secretly in the open.

1. At least not according to the accepted and inaccurate interpretation of the Biblical phrase (Psalm 35:14)

2. ""She is more in the right than I". How did he know? A bat kol issued forth down and said: From me have come "kvushim" (Bavli 10b). The meaning of 'kvushim" is not sufficiently clear. Perhaps it the reference is to the fact that Tamar's pregnancy was secret (Rashi). RaDaK quotes a commentary to the effect that from this pregnancy ussued forth 'conquerers' ['secrets' and 'conquerers' share a common root), the conquerers of the Land. Steinzaltz quotes a Gaonic tradition, that "kvushim" means 'twins'".

3. See Nechama Leibowitz, "Parashat Hashavula Sheets" 5723. Regarding homiletical, explicatory, and poetic traditions relevant to the passage under study, see: Yair Zakowitz and Avigdor Shinan, The story of Yehudah and Tamar, Jerusalem 5752, pp.170-189.

 

 

"An ill report of them" - of whom?

"And Yosef brought and ill report of them to their father." What did he say? Rabbi Meir says: They are suspect of eating flesh of a living animal. Rabbi Yehuda says: They are contemptuous of the sons of the maids, treating them as slaves. And Rabbi Shimon says: They are eyeing the local girls.

(Yerushalmi, Peah 1:1)

 

"And Yosef brought an ill report of them to their father." Certainly all the brothers, sons of the wives, disdained the sons of the maids, calling their others concubines and maids, and calling their sons slaves, and Yosef alone was friendly with the sons of Bilha and Zilpa, for he said that they were true wives of his father, and this is the reason that Reuven was disrespectful of Bilha, considering her to be a concubine rather than a wife, and therefore he lay with her. From he we clearly derive that all the sons of the wives reported ill of the sons of the maids, calling them slaves, and this is the meaning of "And Yosef brought an ill report of them to their father" - that same slander which the brothers spoke against the sons of the maids, Yosef brought to their father - father of the sons of Bilha and Zilpa. They should have considered their fathers' honor and not call his sons slaves. He thought that their father would defend their honor… and even though he too reported ill of them, "firm remained his bow", for he drew his bow and aimed it firmly in justice, for it is permissible to slander contentious persons (Yerushalmi, Peah, 1:1), and it was the brothers who had begun this quarrel by scorning the sons of the maids.

(Kli Yakar, ibid.)

 

What Do We Gain? Pragmatic Considerations vs. Ethical Considerations

Rabbi Meir said: The word botzeiya (grasping) was used only in reference to Judah, for it says: Then Judah said to his brothers, "What do we gain (ma betza) by killing our brother?" Anyone who blesses Judah reviles and scorns [God], and regarding this it is said, The grasping man reviles and scorns the Lord (Psalms 10: 3).

(B. Sanhedrin 6b)

 

"In reference to Judah": For he should have said, "let us return him to our father", since his brothers hearkened to his words.

(Rashi loc cit)

 

What do we gain: Anyone who blesses Judah reviles and scorns, for he saved Joseph with the words what do we gain, which imply that if there is something to be gained, we will kill him, and regarding this it says The grasping man reviles and scorns the Lord.

(Hizkuni - Bereishit 37: 26)

 

The Leader Must Not Have Delusions of Perfection: King David (and, subsequently, the Messiah), Descendent of Peretz and of Ruth the Moabite.

Said Rav Yehuda in the name of Shmuel: Why was the kingship of Shaul's family discontinued? Because they were without blemish, for Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotsadak: One is not appointed leader over the public unless he has a basket of impurities hanging behind him, so that should he become self-satisfied, he can be told: ' Look behind you.'

(Bavli, Yoma 22b)

 

"Amram took himself Yokheved, his aunt, for a wife." The Holy One acquiesced that a great person such as Moshe should descend from a relationship which was destined to be prohibited, because one is not appointed leader over the public unless he has a basket of impurities hanging from his neck, lest he be arrogant towards the people, as we found in the case of David.

(Hizkuni, Shemot 6:20)

 

It is proper to appoint as public official only one who is known to be modest, humble, and patient. This is because he must deal with different people in different and changing ways. He must love each according to his character. If such (leaders) are not to found, but in any case brave and arrogant persons must be appointed, they should be careful not to appoint people so authoritarian as to feel that the appointment is theirs forever, that they are more deserving than their neighbors because of their might; their realization that they are assisted by their father's qualities causes their conceit and arrogance to increase. (Rather chose) people who know that in their society are persons more deserving. If they deny this, there should be found someone to tell them the truth and to recall the past. As is said, in light and exaggerated vein, "One is not appointed leader over the public unless there is a sack of impurities hanging behind him." This means, that even though he himself is decent, should he become light-headed and behave haughtily towards the public not for the sake of Heaven, we tell him, "Return and judge yourself, and look behind you." So did they say, "Why was the kingship of Shaul's family discontinued? Because it was without blemish." - meaning a family blemish, and because of this they would behave toward the public arrogantly - not necessarily for the sake of Heaven.

(From Beit HaBehira of Rabeinu Menahem Hameiri, 1249-1315, on Yoma 22b).

 

 

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