Spiritual and
Ethical Issues For the next number of weeks, Dr. Tamari's column will focus on an important and sadly neglected area of Torah Life. We hope that Dr. Tamari's words will not only be of academic value, but will also impact on a "Tachlis level" to help improve our behavior as individual Jews and as Klal Yisrael. Yosef and his Brothers [5] "When the brothers saw the despair of their father, they pronounced a ban on Yehuda and deposed him. If he would have told them not to sell Yosef they would have obeyed him, so he could no longer be king" (Midrash Tanchuma). "One who starts a mitzva but does not carry on is removed from greatness. Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani taught, he even sees the death of his wife and his sons, as we read: 'and the wife of Yehuda died and Er and Onan his two sons" (Sota 13b). We see this idea of the responsibility of leadership repeated when Shmuel renounced Shaul's reign. "Even if you are small in your own eyes, you are the head of the tribes of Israel" (Shmuel Alef, 15:17); and as such he solely was responsible for the failure to obey G-d's commandment regarding Amalek. Yehuda's leadership was replaced temporarily by Yosef's, just as Mashiach ben Yosef precedes Mashiach ben David, who will be permanent salvation. Nevertheless, as his descendants have done throughout Jewish history, Yehuda continued to play a major role. It was his logical suggestion to sell Yosef rather than leaving him in the pit where he would have died, that the brothers followed. "His death in the pit would have been tantamount to covering up their crime. Since, while one who indirectly kills is still guilty in the eyes of Heaven, what will they profit by leaving him there" (Ramban). "Yehuda asked what benefit there would be in covering up his blood; any secret or cover up is evil, being a form of theft (Menachem Mendel of Kotsk). Although the Torah explicitly says that Reuven intended to save him, it is Yehuda that Yaakov in his blessings credits with actually saving Yosef. "Your hand will be at your enemies nape (Bereishit 49:8) if it would not have been for Yehuda, Shimon and Levi would have killed Yosef, therefore not only will your brothers recognize your rule, but all the descendants of Yaakov will bear your name, Yehudim" (Yalkut Shimoni). "The Tribes were busy with the sale of Yosef; Yosef, Reuven and Yaakov were all busy with their mourning and sackcloth; Yehuda was seeking a wife and G-d was busy with creating Mashiach (B'reishit Rabba 85:2). Simcha Bunem of P'shischa taught that Yehuda despaired of his own spirituality after the sale of Yosef and therefore sought to have a son who would redeem that spirituality. The Admor Menachem Mendel of Kotsk said "G-d forbid that one should even think that it is possible for a person to find salvation through the efforts of another; rather, despite all the setbacks, Yehuda, nevertheless would not despair and was determined to start anew and achieve redemption". This was a redemption to be achieved through Yibum, the levirate marriage. The two sons first born to Yehuda, died as punishment for their own actions in refusing to have children from Tamar; their rationale was the selfish fear of marring her beauty through childbirth [Radak]. This left only the son Sheila, but Yehuda feared to let Tamar marry him since he may die as a result of being too young to marry (Ramban). However, in not agreeing to the marriage even when Sheila was of age, he was not permitting the future of Israel's royalty and Tamar was prepared to sacrifice herself to achieve bearing such royalty. Like Ruth many years later, she was determined that the obligation of levirate marriage should be fulfilled to give a son to those who died without issue. In pre-Torah days such an obligation applied to all of the deceased relatives, including the father-in- law and therefore when Sheila was denied to her, Tamar saw the obligation as devolving on Yehuda himself. Such a marriage, while not identical to the Yibum described in the Torah [Devarim 25:5-10] obligatory there only on a brother and forbidden to the father, nevertheless maintained many of its moral ideas. Known as Geula (Ruth 4:7), it was exactly that, a redemption whereby the relative assumed responsibility for ensuring a continuation for the deceased through raising and providing for what in effect was his son and by implication also for his widow. Ramban sees great mystical insights in such a marriage; the soul of the brother would be reincarnated in the son (Chavel-Ramban). He shows that Ruth's levirate marriage to Boaz was intended to enable the offspring to be spiritually born to the deceased; "A son is born to Naomi" instead of to Ruth (Ruth 4:17) shows that now Naomi now had a son instead of Machlon. Where a person refused to agree to such a marriage, the widow was to remove his shoe and spit in front of as a humiliation of one who would not rebuild his brother's house. "As Chava was created out of Adam's body, a wife is physically part of her husband. Now that the husband has died childless, she is the only memorial of him and his works in the physical world. It is Divine Righteousness that commanded us to establish with his wife a continuation of the deceased's place in this world and his service of G-d, through his brother who after all is physically part of him." (Sefer Hachinuch, mitzva 598). Yibum is a pinnacle of Jewish chesed, so that it is fitting that we read of pious women, Tamar and Ruth who beyond any obligation, risked shame and even death to ensure that this chesed would be done. It is even more significant that redemption comes to Israel through these mothers of Kingship of Israel, the first to Peretz and the second through Boaz to Oved to Yishai to David. Chesed is an integral part of this Kingship, as befits the nation of whom Hashem said: "For I know that he [Avraham] will teach his children to keep the way of G-d, to do acts of righteousness and justice" (B'reishit 18:19). [The Parshat Chayei Sara Homepage]
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