12 Dec THE JEWISH HEART IS BEATING STRONGER THAN EVER NO, WE HAVE NOT BETRAYED OUR MISSION: YEHUDAH, TAMAR AND A CHANUKAH DRAMA

The Judah-Tamar
Drama
It is a fascinating
story: Judah has three
sons, Er, Onan and
Shalah. His oldest
son, Er, married a
woman named Tamar, but died prematurely,
without children. His bereft father, Judah,
suggested to his second son, Onan: “Consort
with your brother’s wife and enter into
levirate marriage with her, and establish
offspring for your brother.”
Here, we are introduced, for the first time, to
the concept of levirate marriages, discussed
later in the book of Deuteronomy: “When
brothers live together, and one of them dies
childless, the wife of the deceased man shall
not marry outside to a strange man; her
brother-in-law shall come to her, and take her
to himself as a wife, and perform a levirate
marriage. The first-born son whom she bears
will then perpetuate the name of the dead
brother so that his name will not be obliterated
from Israel.”
One of the great biblical commentators,
Nachmanides, writes that this mitzvah
embodies “one of the great mysteries of the
Torah” and that even before the Torah was
given, people knew of the spiritual benefits of
a levirate marriage. The biblical
commentators explain that the child born of
the union between the brother of the dead
man and his former wife — both of whom are
intimately connected with the deceased man
— is considered the spiritual son of the
deceased. The Kabbalists even explain that
the first-born child of the levirate marriage is
a reincarnation of the soul of the first husband,
bringing the deceased man, as it were, back
to life.
So Judah suggested to his second son Onan to
marry his brother’s widow and perpetuate the
legacy of the deceased brother.
Now, Judah’s second son also died
prematurely without having any children.
Judah refused to allow her to marry his third
son, Shalah. This put her in an impossible
situation: she could not go out and marry
anyone else, because she was bound to
Shalah, but her father-in-law would not allow
her to marry Shalah.
Now, during those early times prior to the
giving of the Torah, Nachmanides explains,
other relatives, in addition to brothers, used
to carry out this obligation of levirate
marriages. So following the death of both of
Tamar’s husbands, she went and lured her
former father-in-law, Judah, into a
relationship with her, that impregnated her.
As a guarantee that he would pay her for the
relationship, Judah gave Tamar his seal, cord
, and staff.
“Some three months passed,” the Torah

relates , “and Judah was told, ‘Your daughter-
in-law Tamar has committed harlotry, and

she has become pregnant by harlotry.’”
“Take her out and have her burned,” said
Judah.
“When she was being taken out, she sent
word to her father-in-law, saying, ‘I am
pregnant by the man who is the owner of
these articles. Identify, I beg you, these
objects; who is the owner of this seal, this
cord, and this staff?’
“Judah immediately recognized them, and he
said, ‘She is right; it is from me [that she has
conceived]. She did it because I did not give
her to my son Shelah.’”
A Spiritual Story
The stories in the Torah are not just tales of
ancient Jewish history. They also reflect
spiritual timeless experiences that take place
continually within the human soul. In his
commentary on the book of Genesis,
Nachmanides wrote: “The Torah discusses
the physical reality, but it alludes to the world
of the spirit (4).”
Here is a classical Chassidic interpretation on
the episode of Judah and Tamar, treating the
story as symbolic of the inner spiritual life of
the Jew.
Betrayal and Its Consequences
The name Judah, or Yehudah, containing
within it the four letters of the name of
Hashem, symbolizes G-d. Tamar is the
Hebrew name for a palm tree, represening the
Jewish people and their bond with G-d . The
Talmud explains, that “just as the palm tree
has but one ‘heart,’ so too do the Jewish
people have only a single heart, devoted to
their Father in heaven.”
(The heart of the date palm is its sap. Unlike
the saps of other trees, like the alive or
almond tree, the sap of the palm is found only
in its trunk, but not in its branches or leaves.
This is the meaning behind the Talmudic
statement that the palm tree possesses only a
single “heart”).
The intimate union between Tamar and
Judah, the Jew and G-d, occurs during the
sacred days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur. During those days, G-d, or Judah,
exposes Himself to His people, evoking
within them a yearning to transcend and to
become one with G-d.
But then, some time passes, and the spiritual
inspiration of the High Holy days wears off.
Judah is informed that “Tamar, your Kallah ,
has committed harlotry, and she has become
pregnant by harlotry.” The news arrives to

G-d that His bride has
gone looking elsewhere
for bliss.
At one point during our
lives, we may be
inspired to connect to
the deeper Divine
rhythm of life. Yet, the
cunning lore of
numerous other gods
captivates our
imaginations dulls our
vision. We substituted
the G-d of truth with
the ego-god, the

power-god, the money-god, the temptation-
god, the addiction-god, the manipulation-
god, and the god of self-indulgence

What is even sadder for Judah is the news
that “Tamar” is so estranged that she became
pregnant by harlotry. This symbolizes the
stage in life when the Jew rejects the G-d of
his forefathers permanently and decides to
build his future with superficial sources of
gratification.
“Take her out and have her burned,” says
Judah. The purpose of the Jew is to serve as
the spiritual compass of human civilization,
to bear witness to the truth of the One G-d,
the moral conscience of the world. When the
Jew loses sight of the raison d’être of his
existence when he believes that his salvation
lies in the fact that the word loves him, that
he was praised in an editorial of The New
York Times, his existence is in danger. The
world will come to loathe him, and he will
have no anchor.
The Truth Emerges
The great Jewish mystic, the Arizal, Rabbi
Isaac Luryah, writes that “the judgment that
began on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is
completed some three months later, during
the days of Chanukah.” That’s why it is at
this period of time, three months after the
intimate union between Judah and Tamar,
that Judah (the metaphor for G-d) is
“informed” regarding the spiritual status of
Tamar (the Jewish people) and the verdict is
issued that Tamar has no future.
“When Tamar was being taken out, she sent
word to Judah, saying, ‘I am pregnant by the
man who is the owner of these articles.
Identify, I beg you, these objects. Who is the
owner of this seal, cord, and staff?’”
During that fateful time, when the
“prosecuting angels” have almost been
successful in demonstrating to G-d that the
Jewish people have become alienated, at that
very moment, the Jew sends word to G-d,
saying, “I am pregnant by the man who is the
owner of these articles!” The information you

received that I abandoned you, is a blatant
lie! Gaze into the deeper layers of my identity
and you will discover that I belong to You,
that my intimacy is shared only with You,
G-d. “I am pregnant from Judah and not from
anybody else!” the Jew declares.
“Identity, I beg you, these objects. Who is the
owner of this seal, cord, and staff?” For
during the festival of Chanukah, when the
judgment of Rosh Hashanah is finalized, the
Jew kindles each night a wick, or a cord,
soaked in oil, commemorating the event of
the Jews discovering a sealed single cruse of
oil after the Greeks had plundered the holy
Temple in Jerusalem .
The Jew further points to the staff in his arm.
In order to preserve his faith, he was forced
time and time again, for millenia, to take the
wandering staff in his arm, abandon his
home, wealth and security, and seek out new
territory where he could continue to live as a
Jew.
“Identity, I beg you, these objects. Who is the
owner of this seal, cord, and staff?” the Jew
asks G-d. “It is to this man that I am
pregnant!” Our loyalty and commitment
remain eternally to the owner of the “seal”
and “cord” of the Chanukah flames; our
deepest intimacy is reserved to the owner of
the “staff” of Jewish wandering.
Sure, the insanity of exile and the traumas of
millenia have confused so many of us. But —

as we have all seen since the last Hamas-
Israeli war on October 7th, 2023 — the Jewish

heart is beating stronger than ever. The
Divine holiness embedded in the core of
every Jewish soul is shining.
Who Is the Traitor?
“Judah immediately recognized the articles,
and he said, “She is right; it is from me that
she conceived. She did it because I did not
give her to my son Shelah.”
When G-d observes the burning flames of the
Chanukah menorah, He immediately
recognizes that indeed, His people have
never left Him. True, the Jew does fall prey at
times to the dominating external forces of a

materialistic and
immoral world, yet
this enslavement is
skin deep. Probe the
layers of his or her soul
and you will discover
an infinite wellspring

of spirituality and love.
“If the Jew has, in fact, gone astray here and
there, it is my fault,” G-d says, not his.
“Because I did not give Tamar to my son
Shelah.” Shelah is the Biblical term used to
describe Moshiach, the leader who will usher
in the final redemption. G-d says that for two
millennia I have kept the Jewish nation in a
dark and horrific exile where they have been
subjected to horrendous pain and savage
suffering. Blood, tears, and death have been
their tragic fate for twenty centuries, as they
prayed, each day and every moment, for
world redemption. But redemption has not
come.
How can I expect that a Jew never commits a
sin? How can I expect that a Jew never seeks
a nest in the outside gentile world, when I
held back for so long the light of Moshiach?
“It is I, G-d, who is guilty of treason,” G-d

says. Not the Jew. Tamar is an innocent,
beautiful palm tree, which still has only one
heart to its Father in heaven.
Cold Soup
Rabbi Manis Friedman once shared the
following thought :
Three thousand, three hundred and fifteen
years ago G-d asked us if we would marry
him. We had an extraordinary wedding
ceremony, with great special effects–we were
wowed. After the wedding, He said, “I have a
few things I’d like you to take care of for me
so, please… I’ll be right back.” He hasn’t been
heard from since. For more than three
thousand, three hundred years. He has sent
messengers, messages, postcards–you know,
writing on the walls… but we haven’t heard a
word from Him in all this time.
Imagine, a couple gets married, and the man
says to his new wife, “Would you make me
something to eat, please? I’ll be right back.”
She begins preparing. The guy comes back
3300 years later, walks into the house, up to
the table, straight to his favorite chair, sits
down, and tastes the soup that is on the table.
The soup is cold.
What will his reaction be? If he’s a wise man,

he won’t complain. Rather
he’ll think it’s a miracle that
the house is still there, that his
table and favorite chair are still
there. He’ll be delighted to see
a bowl of soup at his place. The
soup is cold? Well, yes, over
3300 years, soup can get cold.
Now we are expecting
Moshiach. If Moshiach comes
now and wants to judge, what’s
he going to find? Cold soup?
He will find an incredibly
healthy Jewish people. After
3300 years we are concerned about being
Jewish, which means we are concerned about
our relationship with G-d.
Yes, if Moshiach comes today, he’ll find that
our soup is cold. We suffer from separation
anxiety. We suffer from a loss of connection
to our ancestors. We suffer a loss of connection
even to our immediate family. The soup is
cold. The soup is very cold. But whose fault is
that? And who gets the credit for the fact that
there is soup altogether?
We are a miracle. All we need to do is tap into
it. We are the cure. Not only for ourselves, but

also for the whole world. So let Moshiach
come now and catch us here with our cold
soup because we have nothing to be ashamed
of. We are truly incredible. When G-d decided
to marry us, He knew He was getting a really
good deal.
A Jew is a child of G-d. A Jew is a prince. A
Jew is the holiest of the holy. A Jew is truly
one with G-d. And even when you look at
yourself in the mirror and you feel disloyal,
the truth is that your ultimate loyalty remains
to G-d, to truth, to holiness, to purity.
Moshiach is ready to come. May we see him
now!