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switch. Having to exert one’s self is not a punishment; rather, it is a £Judah, King David, and RepentanceJudah, King David, and RepentanceJudah, King David, and RepentanceJudah, King David, and RepentanceJudah, King David, and RepentanceJudah, King David, and Repentance
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 The Talmudic dictum that “the actions of the fathers are a sign to
Evil – and as a consequence he was forced to exert himself to earn his the children” (Sotah 34a) plays a central role in the Torah and in our
daily bread (“by the sweat of your face you will eat bread” [Genesis own lives. In Vayeishev, Judah’s words and actions pave the way
3:19]) – this too was a blessing in disguise, as the “curse” becomes an for his descendants to engage in teshuvah, sincere repentance, one of
opportunity for rectification. Judaism’s cornerstones. No portion could be more appropriate for this
theme than Vayeishev, as the words “teshuvah” and “vayeishev” both
In the section devoted to “Run and Return” above, we learned have a common two-letter root, shev, which means “to return.”
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 After selling Joseph into slavery on Judah’s advice, his brothers
ascend. Indeed, the soul as “an actual part of God above” shares in realized their error and blamed Judah for not having stood up to
the Divine aspect of infinity, so there really is no end to our potential them and foiled such a plan. Judah was so upset at the turn of events
for spiritual elevation. How we view the trials and tribulations of life and his part in selling his brother that he went into voluntary exile:
becomes a matter of perspective. Some of us view them as unwanted “And it came to pass at that time that Judah went down from his
struggles and others view them as opportunities for spiritual brothers” (Genesis 38:1).
advancement. The Midrash’s unsettling vision of perpetual struggle During this period, Judah married and had three sons. His first son
in this world ironically prods us to turn adversity into hope. married Tamar but died because rather than impregnating Tamar,
Rabbi Ari Kahn in his book Explorations recalls a very different he spilled his seed. She then married Judah’s second son in a levirate
reading of this Rashi offered by Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik. Rabbi marriage, but he too died as punishment for the same misdeed.
Soloveitchik explains that God’s proclamation – “Is it not enough Judah then promised her his third and last son, but he did not fulfill
for the righteous what is prepared for them in the World to Come his promise
that they seek to sit in tranquility in this world [as well]?!” – is not a Tamar, a righteous and holy woman, was driven by a prophetic
question or exclamation, but a statement. Despite the challenges of sense that she was destined to have children from the family of Judah
this world and the seemingly endless stream of tests that confront us and that their descendants would be kings and redeemers. In order to
daily, the righteous seek to bring a sense of tranquility and calm to ensure that this would happen, she disguised herself as a harlot and
every situation. The righteous want to bring heaven down to earth enticed Judah, her father-in-law, into unknowingly sleeping with
and it is in this sense that what awaits the righteous in the World to her. When she became pregnant, Judah condemned her to death for
Come is not enough. Although struggle ultimately has a positive role sleeping with another man and not waiting for his promised third
to play in this world, life can still be experienced with a sense of inner son. She sent Judah proof only he would understand that she had
tranquility and peace of mind. These two seemingly antithetical slept with him. Judah now had a choice: he could either admit his
ways of experiencing life need not be mutually exclusive. deed and free her or let her go to her death. He takes the high road,
The root word of Vayeishev, the name of this Torah portion, means publicly proclaiming that “she is more righteous than I” (Genesis
“to sit” or “to return.” The word “Shabbat” stems from the same 38:26) and expresses remorse that he had not given her his third son
root. Although we know that the world continues to function on

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