Community Magazine March 2003

T he mighty Yehudah, inched backwards in trepidation before his father. Yaakov Avinu (Our Patriarch) had gathered all his sons together at the end of his life to bless them before his death. The blessings of the first three sons, Reuben, Shimon, and Levi sounded more like rebukes for bad behavior than blessings. Reuben was yelled at for moving his father’s bed from the tent of Bilhah to the tent of his mother, Leah. After the death of Rachel, Reuben had thought it was unfair that Yaakov’s bed had been moved to Bilhah’s tent, rather than that of his mother, who was the first wife and mother to half of the tribes. Yaakov told Reuben, that because he acted hastily, he lost out on having kings and Kohanim come from him. Following this, Yaakov cursed the anger of Shimon and Levi, because the tan- dem had jeopardized the family by teaming up to kill the entire city of Shechem for the honor of their sister. As Yehudah anxiously prepared for his turn, Yaakov reassured him not to worry. “You will merit to be the king. Not only you, but your descendants are all going to be kings and ultimately the Mashiach will come from your tribe.” What did Yehudah do to merit such magnanimous blessings? Yehudah’s physical power was matched by his strength of character to confess his mistakes. Rashi says that this was apparent when the brothers wanted to kill Yosef. Yehudah suggested that he be sold instead. Why is his suggestion greater than Reuben’s, who had a loftier intention of saving Yosef from the outset? Reuben never had to change his mind. Yehudah, however, had to admit that he was wrong when he agreed with the brothers in the original plot of murder. Changing an opinion is an admission of guilt; it takes an enormous amount of courage and humility. The second time that Yehudah con- fessed was during the episode with Tamar, his daughter-in-law. When Tamar became pregnant after the death of her husband, the Beit Din, with Yehudah at the head, judged her guilty of Zenut, adultery. At the time, Tamar’s modesty (her face had been cov- ered) kept Yehudah from knowing that he was in fact the one she had been with. Before her death sentence, she sent a walking stick to the court with the message, “The owner of this stick is the father of my baby.” Yehudah recognized the stick as his own. He could have saved himself from shame and stayed quiet by simply acquitting Tamar without publicizing the reason behind his decision. Instead, he got up in front of the entire court and told them that he was to blame for Tamar’s preg- nancy (The union of Yehudah and Tamar was of course not a sin, because in those days it was a Mitzvah for a father-in-law, or another close relative, to marry his son’s widow). Even Yehudah’s name, from the root Lehodot, “to confess” infers his intellectual honesty and the willingness to shame himself for the truth. A Gemarah in Masechet Makkot brings down a surprising account of Yehuda’s ulti- mate fate. When Yehudah had promised his father that he will be responsible for Benjamin’s welfare, he swore, “If I don’t bring him back, take my Olam Haba (after- life).” Even though Yehudah did keep his word to reunite Yaakov with his youngest son, the Gemarah explains that the words of the righteous are so powerful, that even though the conditions may be met, what he declares still comes true. Yehudah did not enter Olam Haba when he passed away, despite bringing back Benjamin as he prom- ised. When the Jews left Egypt, they brought the bones of all the tribal patriarchs with them to bury in Israel. During the entire 52 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE s ” xc THE PYRAMID SCHEME B Y : R A B B I E L I M A N S O U R Dedicated in Memory of Marcelle a”h & Jack a”h Shasho by Elliot Shasho