Hello Readers,
Welcome to the last part of Genesis where we explore the story of Joseph. Parshat Vayeishev is full of brilliant coats, unmasked jealousies and the ultimate act of sibling rivalry, as the siblings plan for their brother's murder. As practiced readers we already know where this story is going, but even as we wish to shout words of warning to Joseph, we know the story must take its course.
Sandwiched after the beginning of the Joseph narrative and it’s continuation is the story of Tamar and Yehudah. Please read chapter 38 of Breisheet in order to understand today’s post. Perhaps, given the importance of the Joseph story, the story of Tamar is given less attention, but both stories continue to reverberate now. One brings us to our story of liberation, while Tamar’s story shows one woman’s efforts to liberate herself from a life she could not have imagined.
The story of Tamar is complicated and holds many twists and turns, but the bottom line is that Tamar becomes an agunah, a woman chained to a marriage without the possibility to remarry. Tamar resorts to deception to solve her problem through a clever, though very dangerous ruse. Through this story we can laud the efforts of a bold and brave woman, but also the ability of Yehudah to admit that he was wrong, no small thing for a biblical character.
Unfortunately, the plight of the aguna exists even now. Sometimes a woman becomes an agunah when her spouse disappears in battle and sometimes it happens that through vindictiveness a husband refuses to grant his wife a Jewish bill of divorce, called a get. According to Jewish law a man cannot be forced to give his wife a divorce and so the wife is left without a way to remarry.
So today we will put aside the dominant story of Joseph and his brothers and focus for a few moments on Tamar and her efforts and the women today who fight to free themselves from marriages gone wrong.
Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom. perhaps we will hear good news soon.
Leann
PS- I had a bit of a problem with publishing this post, so all of my links to other Words Have Wings posts don't appear below. Rather than republishing, I am adding them here. https://www.wordshavewings.net/post/chance-encounters, https://www.wordshavewings.net/post/coat-of-many-colors https://www.wordshavewings.net/post/that-kid
Tethered
The aguna, tethered to a an empty shirt
to an empty bed and empty pockets
chained to a hope that turned sour,
to a wedding album now packed away,
to a dream turned nightmare
The aguna
tethered to a signature
and to two witnesses
who in good faith signed her life away.
The Aguna, tethered like a skiff in a hurricane
to wild winds that shift violently,
unpredictably, she cannot find rest in still waters.
The Aguna cries out
in anger, sorrow,
at the injustice of her world.
She shouts into the wind,
but it seems that no one can hear her words
for they are also tethered
to the imperfections of the law, to the weakness of man,
to a torn system of justice,
chained to a ketuba, whose ink spreads black on the page
2. The Agunah and Her Husband
The bride, now tattered and stained, stands alone at the rabbinical courts
her nails bitten to the quick,
eyes reddened for lack of sleep.
Trying once again to bid for her freedom.
Still the world continues to spin.
Traffic stalls in front of local market,
children pass by on their way to school
noisily,
for what do they know of injustice?
She is still alone, the Agunah
He is all business as usual as though nothing is out of the ordinary
He prays his morning prayers, not paying heed to prying eyes.
He hums a carefree tune to himself as he takes the train to work,
as if the sound of his own voice will staunch the guilt that has taken up residence in his body, as works its way through him
like a worm through an apple.
He passes over a bridge to the city and then through revolving office doors, which remain open to him.
She suffers needlessly
as the powers of the law fail her,
slipping through her reddened fingers.
It is spring but she is always dressed for winter now,
covered from head to toe.
She is forever cold, frozen in her solitude
He continues his day, never bothering to look back
whistling a noncommittal tune,
and while he lives his dream,
he has gifted his bride a nightmare.
Justice is only sometimes found under the veil at the gates of the city.
So she took off her widow’s garb, covered her face with a veil, and, wrapping herself up, sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had not been given to him as wife.
וַיִּרְאֶ֣הָ יְהוּדָ֔ה וַֽיַּחְשְׁבֶ֖הָ לְזוֹנָ֑ה כִּ֥י כִסְּתָ֖ה פָּנֶֽיהָ׃
When Judah saw her, he took her for a harlot; for she had covered her face.
Genesis 38:14-15
Learn More
To learn more about the concept of the agunah
More From Words Have Wings on Parshat Vayeishev
כִסְּתָ֖ה פָּנֶֽיהָ
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