“What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hand upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.”
(Bereshit 37:26–27)

Yehuda spares his brother’s life, yet in doing so, he orchestrates his suffering—a compromise whose consequences will unfold over decades and shape the course of Jewish history. This initial act reveals a flawed model of leadership: Yehuda avoids murder by deflecting moral responsibility onto others. Compassion and calculation are intertwined. He spares himself the guilt of bloodshed while allowing injustice to proceed. At this stage, he is willing to live with the outcome so long as he does not personally bear its weight.

It is precisely against this morally gray landscape that the Torah interrupts the Yosef narrative and introduces Tamar. This is no narrative detour. The Torah does not rehabilitate Yehuda through remorse or a divine decree, but through an encounter with uncompromising moral clarity embodied by a single, unassuming woman.

Chazal portray her as one of the most consequential figures in Bereshit: the moral catalyst who reshapes Yehuda and lays the foundation for enduring Jewish leadership. Only through this encounter can Yehuda later stand before Yosef in Vayigash with moral credibility. The man who will offer himself for Binyamin must first learn how to own his failure.

The sages describe Tamar as a woman of extraordinary clarity. Bereshit Rabbah teaches that she acted........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)