The Truth In Context? A Ten Commandments’ Moment in Vayeshev

vayeshev in the “adult” version of the torah offers a mature ten commandments’ moment. while an unfitting tale for a young scholars’ bible story books, the lesson concerning the truth is not. truth telling is not as easy as one thinks; the truth, also, does not always set one free.

acknowledging the truth can be an admission of one’s failure, shortcoming or procrastination. often the truth that one sees early morning in the mirror after a night of debauchery is not pretty. despite our best intentions, our actions are not always proper; there are times when the “real” truth conflicts with one’s impression of reality.

in vayeshev, judah’s daughter-in-law tamar exacts a moment of righteousness. tamar married judah’s oldest son- er [note: yes, er. no error here] the marriage did not last long as er was bad in the eyes of the lord and the lord killed him. genesis 38:7. with existing tradition, tamar was then to marry judah’s second son, onan. onan, however was also bad in the lord’s eyes and was also killed by the lord.

these two deaths must have shocked judah. most likely associated these tragic losses to tamar as opposed to his sons’ wrongdoings, he withheld his third son shelah from tamar. she was sent away to live as a widow in her father’s house and was to wait for him to grow up.

judah, however, did not honor his words. tamar saw that shelah had grown up and that there was no matrimony in sight. she decided to take action.

after the death of his wife, judah took a trip with some companions. while on the road, he encountered tamar. he did not recognize her as she disguised herself as a prostitute. not having two zuzim on hand, he agreed to deliver her a goat kid for her services. until the animal was delivered, she received- for security- a pledge which was his seal, cord and staff. the pretty woman moment became a pregnant woman moment; tamar was carrying judah’s children. [note: there would be twins]

after his roadside passion, judah sent his friend- with goat- to pay the prostitute’s fee for services rendered. his friend, however, was unsuccessful in doing so; the individual could not find her. judah was informed by the friend that he could not locate her.

tamar’s pregnancy came to judah’s attention. assuming she had whored, he sought to have her burned. at that moment, tamar confronted judah. she told him that she was pregnant by the man who owned the seal, cord and staff that she possessed. judah, in that moment, admitted “she’s more right than i am, because of the fact that i didn’t give her to my son shelah.” genesis 38:26.

while some believe that individuals can possess their own personal version of the truth or textualize matters, there is a truth. the truth, at times, can have many layers which require peeling back. ultimately, tamar’s truth was the actual truth. judah painfully understood this truth; while believing he was doing right in protecting his third son from possible death, he was doing wrong by tamar. [note: the story is unclear as to whether judah appreciated the fact that the master of the universe felt his first two sons were so bad that he killed them.] in the end, it takes a big person to admit the painful truth. judah’s admission did not set him free. rather, he did so with a moment of embarrassment and obligation.

be well!!

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[for humor’s sake, goat’s value was elicited from a non-torah source.]