Tamar's story is a story of a woman who refuses to accept injustice done to her and works to change it • The biblical heroine teaches - patriarchal society is clearly wrong
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"The place of woman in the house," "All the dignity of a king inward," "Humble women receive salvation" - Who does not know these slogans that express a worldview that women should be submissive and obedient, stay in the home and hide themselves from men's eyes? Patriarchal society in antiquity - and nowadays - does not consider it a feminine initiative, especially when it seeks to challenge the power relations between men and women or change world order.
And how does the Torah view this? Is she condemning a woman's use of her feminine charm to achieve a goal, and perhaps encouraging her? In the Vishesh affair, two successive women are presented one after the other: Tamar and Potiphar. They both seduce a man they know well. Both have a purpose, and they work in unorthodox ways to reach it, and yet - what's the difference between them?
Tamar's story, as featured in a damp episode, is a story of a woman who refuses to accept the injustice she has suffered and acts cunning to change her fate. Tamar, apparently a Canaanite woman in descent, is taken by Judah as a wife to his eldest son awake, but soon the son dies because he was evil in the eyes of God. He and Tamar had no children, so according to the Yibum mitzvah, his brother, Onan, commits to marry Tamar. But he too sinned and died. Judah, who fears now for the safety of his youngest son, Slh sent his palm to her father's house, "and said Judah Jill Clto Sbi Almnh Bit Abic until Igdl Slh Bni" (v k) and the Bible also explains: "For Amr Penn Imot Neither do Hoa Cahio" ( Name).
The days are gone, Judah's wife is dead, while Tamar "looked like she was growing up and she was unfaithful to him". Another woman might have tacitly accepted her bitter fate, but Tamar decides to act: she disguises herself as a prostitute, seduces Judah, and actually forces him to return her to his family.
Initially, Judah does not understand what happened, and when it is revealed that Tamar is being abducted he demands to kill her, but she gently hints at him and without shaming him because he is the father of the children in her womb. Yehuda acknowledges his mistake and marries her. This pairing will emerge from a king in Israel, and there is no better evidence of Tamar's justice.
Immediately after, in the Lett chapter, the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife is presented. Apparently, there is no connection between the two stories - one tells about the history of Judah's family and the other about Joseph's story in Egypt. But with a deep look you can see that Potiphar's wife is a kind of perverted mirror image of Tamar: Potiphar's wife, of high status ("privilege" we would call her today), is not only untapped, but she herself exploits Joseph, the beautiful slave. She craves it, and demands that he sleep with her.
Joseph refused, explaining his refusal persuasive argument: "aye Adni not Ida Ati What's Bbit ... and La Hsc Mmni Maomh Ci supposing Aotc wherever At Asto, and Aic Aash Hrah Hgdlh Hzat and Htati Lalhim" (v h), but Potiphar's wife did not give up. She seizes an opportunity where they are both home alone and grabs it by force. Joseph escapes her face, and in response, she delivers a false plot to him that results in his imprisonment. Potiphar's wife works for selfish motives and is only interested in satisfying her desire. She does not gently imply, but makes an explicit claim, unwilling to hear a refusal, and her efforts fail - rushing to address Joseph's false guilt and whiten his face.
How different is this way from Tamar's restraint and discretion. Even when Judah condemns her to death, she does not disclose his actions to many, and only says the pilgrim to whom the seals and incantations are, and leaves the decision to confess.
It is no coincidence that these two stories are presented one after the other. They come to teach us that even bold and unorthodox female action, such as the Tamar act, can be considered a worthy and good act if it is performed purely and out of respect for others, while the same act, when blatantly and abusive out of selfish motives and irrespective of another, ends up failing .
The female initiative in itself is not an invalid act as Tamar teaches us, but on the contrary - the woman's stay at home does not guarantee her modesty, as the Potiphar woman teaches us.
Dr. Gilo Wachman is a lecturer in Midrash and legend at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies and lecturer in Hebrew Literature at the Hebrew University.
