Parshat VaYehsev

The Isolation of Yehuda

Soon after Yoseph is sold into slavery, the Torah brakes off from this narrative to tell us about Yehuda's episode with Tamar.

The episode begins with the words: "Now it came about at that time that Yehuda went down from his brothers (Bereshit 38:1).

The Rabbis understand Yehuda's descent to be a direct result of the selling of Yoseph. Yehuda's position as leader of the brothers had been diminished as he had the power to lead them differently and not sell Yoseph. And so, Yehuda separated from his brothers.

History was to be repeated. In the future, when Israel was a tribal confederation, Yehuda was distant, cut off from the rest of the tribes.

The tribe of Yehuda was a strong tribe in Israel's south, distant from the rest of Israel, and so did not play a major role in the confederations history. In fact, its name is barely mentioned in Sefer Shoftim.

Furthermore, when Devora, the judge who united the tribes more than any other judge, criticizes the tribes that did not help her in her campaign against Sisera, she does not even mention Yehuda. She never even considered that Yehuda would aid her and so, they were not worthy of criticism.

Indeed, the story of the tribe of Yehuda during the era of the Judges is recorded in a book totally separate from the Sefer Shoftim: the Book of Ruth.

Therefore, when Sha'ul, Israel's first king, mobilized his first army, "he counted them in Bezek, and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Yehudah thirty thousand (I Shmuel 1:8). The prophet could have just written "the children of Israel were 330,000", but he did not. Instead, Israel and Yehudah were numbered separately.

The prophet is trying to say that not only did Sha'ul manage to unify Israel, he even managed to bring the tribe of Yehuda on line.

The tribe of Yehuda then succeeds to remain with Israel, throughout Sha'ul, David and Shlomo's reign. However, in the first days of Shlomo's son, Rehavam, Israel splits from Yehuda, and once again, Yehuda is isolated from the rest of Israel

This split was never restored.

The Rabbis explain that the early seeds of this split are in this week's parsha, when Yehuda went down from his brothers.

Last Year's Sedra Short on Parshat VaYeshev entitled "Yoseph and Yehuda", appears at: http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/11/parshat-vayeshev-yoseph-and-yehuda-from.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat VaYeshev entitled "Who sold Yoseph?" appears at: http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006/12/parshat-vayeshev-who-sold-yoseph-silly.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat VaYeshev entitled "Yoseph: The Fourth Patriarch", appears at: http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2005/12/parshat-vayeshev-yoseph-fourth.html

Parshat VaYeshev

Yoseph and Yehuda

From this week's parsha until the end of Sefer Bereshit, Yoseph is the central character. We witness his attempt and failure to set up himself up as the fourth patriarch. However, one episode in the parsha ignores Yoseph completely. Between Yoseph's sale and his descent to Egypt, the Torah recounts the Yehuda/Tamar episode.

What is the purpose of this episode and why does it interrupt the Yoseph narrative. The obvious answer is that it is in chronological order. "Around that time (i.e. when Yoseph was sold) Yeuhda went down from his brothers…"

However, if we consider the time span, we will see that this cannot be correct. Yoseph was 17 years old when he was sold to Egypt (Bereshit 37:12). He "was 30 years old when he stood before Pharoah" (ibid 41:46). There were then 7 years of plenty and two years of famine before his family went down to Egypt – a total of 22 years.

Yet the following things occur in the Yehuda/Tamar episode:

• He leaves the family, goes to Timna and marries Batshua.
• He has three children: Er, Onan and Shela.
• Er marries Tamar
• Er dies. Tamar marries Onan.
• Yehuda tells Tamar to wait for Shela to grow up.
• "Many days passed and Batshua died" (ibid 38:10).
• Tamar entraps Yehuda and she becomes pregnant.
• Tamar gives birth to Peretz and Zerach.
• Peretz has two sons when they go down to Egypt (ibid 46:12).

It is unlikely that all this could have occurred in only 22 years.

So why does the Yehuda/Tamar episode interrupt the Yoseph narrative.

It is true that many themes in this episode parallel the Yoseph narrative:

• Certain words appear in both, e.g.ירד (go down), ,הכר(recognize), נחם (comfort), ערב (pledge)
• Deception - the brothers to Yaakov, Tamar to Yehuda
• Temptation – Yehuda/Tamar, Yoseph/Potiphar's wife
• A kid goat - Yoseph's coat was dipped in its blood, payment for Tamar's services

These parallelisms clearly show that there is a thematic link between these episodes. Indeed, both show the rise of leaders and the eclipse of Reuven. The route to Yoseph's leadership was through his position in Egypt. Yehuda's, however, was far more natural. At first Yehuda strays away from his brothers, perhaps signifying the tribe of Yehuda''s secession from the rest of Israel in the pre-monarchial era, i.e. the Judges. However, circumstance brings Yehuda to leadership. His older brothers Reuven, Shimon and Levi have fallen out of favor with Yaakov. Yoseph, Yaakov's favorite son was missing, presumed dead. Yehuda, therefore, found himself taking on the mantle of leadership when the brothers run into trouble in Egypt, he placates Yaakov into releasing Benyamin, he negotiates with Yoseph over Benyamin and he is sent by Yaakov to prepare for heir descent to Egypt.

These two represents two distinct realms of leadership within Israel, and show fulfillment of God's promise to Yaakov that "kings shall come forth from your loins" (ibid 35:11).

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat VaYeshev entitled: "Who sold Yoseph?" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat VaYeshev entitled "Yoseph: The Fourth Patriarch", appears at: http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2005_12_01_parshablog_archive.html