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Seal, Cord and Staff
by Yosef Y. Jacobson
A spiritual story
In one of the astonishing tales of the Torah portion, Vayeshev
(Gen. 38), we read about the unconventional union that transpired between
Judah, the son of Jacob, and his daughter-in-law Tamar, who disguised
herself as a harlot.
It is axiomatic among all of
the Jewish biblical commentators that the stories in the Torah are not
just tales relating ancient Jewish history. They also reflect spiritual
timeless experiences that take place continually within the human soul.
Nachmanides wrote, "The Torah discusses the physical reality, but
it alludes to the world of the spirit."
What follows, therefore, in
this week's essay, 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
In the writings of the kabbala,
the name Judah, or Yehuda (in Hebrew), containing within it the
four letters of the name of G-d, symbolizes the Creator. Tamar, on the
other hand, is the Hebrew name for a palm tree and represents the Jewish
people and their bond with G-d (1).
Why? The Talmud
explains, "Just as the palm tree has but one 'heart', so too do the
Jewish people have only a single heart, devoted completely to their Father
in heaven." (The heart of the date palm is its sap. Unlike the saps
of other trees, like the olive 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" (2)).
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 their ego and
self-centered cravings and to become one with G-d. But then, "Some
three months passed" (Gen. 38:24), and the spiritual inspiration
of the High Holy days wears off. Judah is informed that "Tamar, your
kalla (3), has committed harlotry, and moreover, she has become
pregnant by harlotry" (Gen. 38:24). The news arrives to G-d that
His bride has betrayed Him, substituting him with another partner.
Is this not the story of so
many of us? At one point during our lives we are inspired to transcend
our selfish identity and connect to the deeper Divine rhythm of life.
Yet, the cunning lore of numerous other gods captivates our imaginations
and ambitions and dulls our vision. We substituted the G-d of truth and
transcendence 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.
The purpose
of the Jew is to serve as the spiritual compass of human civilization
"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 conscious 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 he "was invited to the White House,"
or that he was praised in an editorial of The New York Times, his existence
is useless.
The truth emerges
Rabbi Isaac
Luria wrote 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 (4) and staff?'" (Gen. 38:25)
During that
fateful time, when the "prosecuting angels" have almost been
successful in demonstrating to G-d that the Jewish people are a failed
experiment, 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! If I have gone astray
here and there, it is merely a superficial, temporary phase. 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.
"Identify, 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 2000 years - 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.
The Hebrew term for "and
the staff," "v'hamateh," has the same numerological
value as the word "the vessel", "hakeli",
symbolic of the menorah in which we kindle the Chanukah flames.
Hence, this verse is alluding to the three components of the Chanukah
lights: the menorah, the wick and the oil - all of which testify to the
eternal allegiance of the Jew to G-d.
"Identify, 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.
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"
(Gen. 38:26).
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 Mashiach (5). 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 commit a sin? How can I expect that a Jew never try to cast his
luck with the materialistic world about him that seems so appealing, when
I held back for so long the light of Mashiach? "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.
Footnotes:
1) See Hoshanot recited on the third day of Sukkot. Psalms 92:13.
2) Rashi ibid.; cf. Ritva.
3) The conjugated Hebrew word can be translated as "your daughter-in-law,"
or, literally, as "your bride."
4) "Petila" in Hebrew literally means a string or a wick.
Judah gave her the string that he used to bind his sheep (Sechel Tov
on Gen. 38:18). Many commentators, including Rashi, translate the
word to mean a wrap or cloak.
5) See Gen. 49:12
My gratitude to Shmuel Levin, a writer and editor in Pittsburgh, for
his editorial assistance.
Copyright © 2001 by Yosef Y. Jacobson.
Rabbi Yosef Y. Jacobson is an acclaimed teacher, lecturer and writer,
based in the New York area. For a copy of his speaking schedule, or to
order his audio tapes or subcribe to his weekly essay, contact: YYJacobson@aol.com.
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