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Orchard of Delights
switch. Having to exert one’s self is not a punishment; rather, it is a
blessing. God has created a world in which people must work to earn
their own rewards and consequently experience the satisfaction of
having done so. Indeed, even though the earth was cursed because
of Adam’s sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil – and as a consequence he was forced to exert himself to earn his
daily bread (“by the sweat of your face you will eat bread” [Genesis
3:19]) – this too was a blessing in disguise, as the “curse” becomes an
opportunity for rectification.
In the section devoted to “Run and Return” above, we learned
that there is no rest for the righteous, neither in this world nor in
the World to Come, for the soul and the spirit constantly strive to
ascend. Indeed, the soul as “an actual part of God above” shares in
the Divine aspect of infinity, so there really is no end to our potential
for spiritual elevation. How we view the trials and tribulations of life
becomes a matter of perspective. Some of us view them as unwanted
struggles and others view them as opportunities for spiritual
advancement. The Midrash’s unsettling vision of perpetual struggle
in this world ironically prods us to turn adversity into hope.
Rabbi Ari Kahn in his book Explorations recalls a very different
reading of this Rashi offered by Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik. Rabbi
Soloveitchik explains that God’s proclamation – “Is it not enough
for the righteous what is prepared for them in the World to Come
that they seek to sit in tranquility in this world [as well]?!” – is not a
question or exclamation, but a statement. Despite the challenges of
this world and the seemingly endless stream of tests that confront us
daily, the righteous seek to bring a sense of tranquility and calm to
every situation. The righteous want to bring heaven down to earth
and it is in this sense that what awaits the righteous in the World to
Come is not enough. Although struggle ultimately has a positive role
to play in this world, life can still be experienced with a sense of inner
tranquility and peace of mind. These two seemingly antithetical
ways of experiencing life need not be mutually exclusive.
The root word of Vayeishev, the name of this Torah portion, means
“to sit” or “to return.” The word “Shabbat” stems from the same
root. Although we know that the world continues to function on
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The Talmudic dictum that “the actions of the fathers are a sign to
the children” (Sotah 34a) plays a central role in the Torah and in our
own lives. In Vayeishev, Judah’s words and actions pave the way
for his descendants to engage in teshuvah, sincere repentance, one of
Judaism’s cornerstones. No portion could be more appropriate for this
theme than Vayeishev, as the words “teshuvah” and “vayeishev” both
have a common two-letter root, shev, which means “to return.”
After selling Joseph into slavery on Judah’s advice, his brothers
realized their error and blamed Judah for not having stood up to
them and foiled such a plan. Judah was so upset at the turn of events
and his part in selling his brother that he went into voluntary exile:
“And it came to pass at that time that Judah went down from his
brothers” (Genesis 38:1).
During this period, Judah married and had three sons. His first son
married Tamar but died because rather than impregnating Tamar,
he spilled his seed. She then married Judah’s second son in a levirate
marriage, but he too died as punishment for the same misdeed.
Judah then promised her his third and last son, but he did not fulfill
his promise
Tamar, a righteous and holy woman, was driven by a prophetic
sense that she was destined to have children from the family of Judah
and that their descendants would be kings and redeemers. In order to
ensure that this would happen, she disguised herself as a harlot and
enticed Judah, her father-in-law, into unknowingly sleeping with
her. When she became pregnant, Judah condemned her to death for
sleeping with another man and not waiting for his promised third
son. She sent Judah proof only he would understand that she had
slept with him. Judah now had a choice: he could either admit his
deed and free her or let her go to her death. He takes the high road,
publicly proclaiming that “she is more righteous than I” (Genesis
38:26) and expresses remorse that he had not given her his third son
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