6/22/2013

Parashat 9 Portion 35 - Beresheet 38:1-30 Haftarah/Yesh 37:31-37 Matt 1:1-17


Blessing for the Torah:
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-O’lam, asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim,
v’natan lanu eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.” 

(Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim , King of the Universe,
you have selected us from among all the peoples,
and have given us your Torah. Blessed are you, YHVH, giver of the Torah. Ameyn.)  



This Torah portion reminds us that YHVH’s promise to bring about the promised Messiah through the bloodline of Yehudah did not change and in spite of man’s unfaithfulness YHVH remains faithful.

    Gen 3:15  “And I put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed1. He shall crush your head, and you shall crush His heel.” Footnote: 1First promise of the Messiah.

Hebraically the heal can refer to our “halacha” the way we walk. Satan has often succeeded in causing our ways to be contrary to YHVH’s ways.
It is more significant than we realize that when Adam and Chava (Eve) became aware of their sin, they also became aware of their nakedness and covered themselves. It is noteworthy that Adam and Chava covered their genitals and not their eyes or ears.

It is generally believed that before they sinned they were covered with YHVH’s light.
The Hebrew word for "Light" is "OR", spelled "aleph  vav  resh"
(Remember, Hebrew is written from right to left)
The Hebrew word for "Skin" is also "OR", but is spelled "ayin  vav  resh.

“The letter Aleph represents an ox or bull, and means strength, leader, or first.  The letter Ayin is represented by an eye and means to see, know or experience!   Thus, when Adam and Chava  ate the forbidden fruit their eyes were opened and they began to know and experience good and evil.”  
YHVH immediately seeks to make an atonement – at one ment – with man by covering them with a skin.
Gen 3:21  And יהוה Elohim made coats of skin (ayin vav resh) for the man and his wife and dressed them.

Man would have to wait until he would once again be covered by “the Perfect light of the world” – (Moshiach)  and so be restored to perfect fellowship with YHVH once again.
This promise of perfect restoration to YHVH is brought to our attention every time we engage in sexual intercourse becoming one with our covenant partner.

This Torah portion reminds us that sexual intercourse and the emission of the male seed can only take place according to the instruction given in the Torah.
This also reminds us that in reality only the true Yisrael can show the world what proper sexual conduct entails. Sadly this has not been the case even Yisrael has been deeply influenced by the world’s influence on sexuality.

Rom 8:6  For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace.
Rom 8:7  Because the mind of the flesh is enmity (hatred) towards Elohim, for it does not subject itself1 to the Torah of Elohim2, neither indeed is it able, Footnotes: 1Or does not obey. 2John 15:5, 1 John 4:4, 1 John 3:9, 1 John 5:18.
Rom 8:8  and those who are in the flesh are unable to please Elohim.

Yehudah means praise. This name is spelled “yud, hey, vav, daleth, hey”  –  the same as YHVH except with the “daleth” added. “Daleth” in Hebrew is symbolized as meaning a door. The tribe of Yehudah (Jews) were destined by the Almighty to show us the way back to YHVH. Messiah himself comes from this tribe – the way, the truth and the life back to YHVH. (Yoch/Jn14:6)

Yahshua himself said that salvation comes from the Jews (Yehudaim)
Yoch/Joh 4:22  “You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because the deliverance is of the Yehuḏim.1 Footnote: 1Ps. 147:19, Isa. 2:3, Isa. 14:1, Isa. 56:6-8, Ezek. 47:22-23, Zech. 2:10-11, Zech. 8:23, Rom. 2:20, Rom. 3:2, Rom. 9:4, Rev. 21:12 & 24.

Zec 8:23  “Thus said יהוה of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all languages of the nations take hold, yea, they shall take hold of the edge of the garment of a man, a Yehuḏite1, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that Elohim is with you.” ’ ” Footnote: 1John 4:22.

Rom 3:1  What then is the advantage of the Yehuḏite, or what is the value of the circumcision?
Rom 3:2  Much in every way! Because firstly indeed, that they were entrusted with the Words of Elohim.1 Footnote: 1See 2:20.

Every word of YHVH is like a seed that brings life to all who receive it.
Gen 38:1  And at that time it came to be that Yehuḏah left his brothers, and turned aside to a man, an Aḏullamite whose name was Ḥirah.

This could really be a prophetic picture of how the destiny of Yehudah unfolded over the centuries.
Yehudah was and still is separated from his brothers.
Yehudah turned aside - The Hebrew states that from that time Yahudah left his brothers he “went down”….” “yered”
Yehudah will not be separated from his brothers forever.

There is no idle word in the Torah.

Deu 32:46  he said to them, “Set your heart on all the words with which I warn you today, so that you command your children to guard to do all the Words of this Torah.
Deu 32:47  “For it is not a worthless Word for you, because it is your life, and by this Word you prolong your days on the soil which you pass over the Yardĕn to possess.”

Why does the Torah mention the Adullamite whose name was Hirah?

H2437    חירה
chı̂yrâh  BDB Definition: Hirah = “a noble family”1) an Adullamite, the friend of Yehudah/Judah

H2357חרר
chârar BDB Definition:
1) (Qal) to be white, grow white, grow pale
Part of Speech: verb

H5726עדלּמי
‘ădûllâmı̂y BDB Definition:
Adullamite = see Adullam “justice of the people”
If we put these words together we can come to the following conclusion:

 Yehudah turns aside to a man (Chirah) who represents justice and goodness; a man who comes from a noble family.
This man was a Canaanite and whatever he could offer Yehudah was PALE in comparison to what his inheritance and calling was amongst the tribes of Yisrael.

Ya’akov/James 4:4  Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity (hatred) with Elohim?1 Whoever therefore intends to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of Elohim. Footnote: 1Mt. 13:22, Lk. 4:5-6, Lk. 14:33, Rom. 12:2, 1 John 2:15-17.
Jas 4:5  Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose? Does the Spirit which dwells in us intensely crave unto envy?

“Intensely crave” in the Greek is as follows:

G1971 ἐπιποθέω epipotheō ep-ee-poth-eh'-o
From G1909 and ποθέω potheō (to yearn); to dote upon, that is, intensely crave possession (lawfully or wrongfully): - (earnestly) desire (greatly), (greatly) long (after), lust.

Relationships with the Canaanites were forbidden.

Devarim/Deu 7:1  “When יהוה your Elohim brings you into the land which you go to possess, He shall also clear away many nations before you: the Ḥittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Kenaanites and the Perizzites and the Ḥiwwites and the Yeḇusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you.
Deu 7:2  “And when יהוה your Elohim gives them over to you, you shall smite them and put them under the ban, completely. Make no covenant with them, and show them no favour.
Deu 7:3  “And do not intermarry with them – you do not give your daughter to his son, and you do not take his daughter for your son,
Deu 7:4  for he turns your sons away from following Me, to serve other mighty ones. Then the displeasure of יהוה shall burn against you and promptly destroy you.

Gen 38:2  And Yehuḏah saw there a daughter of a certain Kenaanite whose name was Shuwa. And he took her and went in to her.

Note we don’t even know what the name was of Yehudah’s wife.

The names in Messianic genealogies are clear and well kept, here we find no mention of her name. It’s almost as if the Torah is showing contempt for Yehudah’s actions.

Gen 38:3  So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Ěr.
Gen 38:4  And she conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.
Gen 38:5  And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name Shĕlah. And he was at Keziḇ when she bore him.

“Er” can mean to be awakened or sexually aroused. His name spelled backwards is “ra” which means evil.

“Onan” can mean “strong” and could imply the strength of self –control and determination to do what is evil in the Eyes of YHVH.

“Shelah” can mean “request” Tamar was waiting for Shelah to become her third husband but Yehudah delayed this and because of his fear about what happened to his first two sons was reluctant to give away his third son. Sometimes one can wait and wait and your expectations/requests are never realized.

Gen 38:6  And Yehuḏah took a wife for Ěr his first-born, and her name was Tamar.

According to the Midrash, Tamar was the daughter of Noach’s son (Ber Rabbah 85:10) Obviously she was the daughter of a foreigner who lived in Canaan. It would be inconceivable to believe that Tamar was of Canaanite decent as her offspring were to become part of the Messianic line.

Gen 38:7  But Ěr, Yehuḏah’s first-born, was evil in the eyes of יהוה, and יהוה took his life.
Gen 38:8  And Yehuḏah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.”
Gen 38:9  And Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. And it came to be, when he went in to his brother’s wife that he spilled on the ground, lest he should give an offspring to his brother.
Gen 38:10  But what he did displeased יהוה, so He took his life too.
Gen 38:11  Then Yehuḏah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shĕlah is grown.” For he said, “Lest he also die as his brothers did.” And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

Gen 38:12  And after a long time the daughter of Shuwa, Yehuḏah’s wife, died. And Yehuḏah was comforted, and went up to his sheep-shearers at Timnah, he and his friend Ḥirah the Aḏullamite.

Gen 38:13  And it was reported to Tamar, saying, “See, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”
Gen 38:14  And she took off her widow’s garments, and covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and sat at the entrance to Ěnayim which was on the way to Timnah. For she saw that Shĕlah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.
Gen 38:15  And Yehuḏah saw her, and reckoned her for a whore, for she had covered her face.
Gen 38:16  And he turned aside to her by the way, and said, “Please let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What do you give me to come in to me?”
Gen 38:17  And he said, “Let me send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “Do you give me a pledge until you send it?”

Gen 38:18  So he said, “What pledge should I give you?” And she said, “Your seal and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” And he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

The offspring of Tamar would be part of the Messianic line – the signet ring speaks of royalty and the staff speaks of authority.

Gen 38:19  And she arose and went away, and removed her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.
Gen 38:20  And Yehuḏah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Aḏullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.
Gen 38:21  And he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the cult prostitute who was beside the way to Ěnayim?” And they said, “There was no cult prostitute in this place.”
Gen 38:22  And he returned to Yehuḏah and said, “I have not found her. And the men of the place also said there was no cult prostitute in this place.”
Gen 38:23  And Yehuḏah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we become despised, for I sent this young goat and you have not found her.”
Gen 38:24  And it came to be, about three months after, that Yehuḏah was informed, saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has whored, and see, she has conceived by whoring.” And Yehuḏah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!”
Gen 38:25  When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please examine whose these are: the seal and the cord and the staff.”

Tamar uses the Hebrew words “haker na” meaning “please identify”. These were the very same words Yehudah used when he asked his father Yakov to identify the bloodied garments of his son Yosef in 37:22.
This is most probably why Yehudah is so quick to repent as he realizes his own guilt in this brother’s disappearance.

Gen 38:26  And Yehuḏah examined and said, “She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shĕlah my son.” And he never knew her again.
Gen 38:27  And it came to be, at the time for giving birth, that see, twins were in her womb.
Gen 38:28  And it came to be, when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand. And the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”
Gen 38:29  And it came to be, as he drew back his hand, that see, his brother came out! And she said, “How did you break through? This breach be upon you!” So his name was called Perets.
Gen 38:30  And afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. So his name was called Zeraḥ.

Peretz is a picture of Messiah who “breaks forth” The red string speaks of redemption and it appears only for a short time, as Messiah appeared first only for a short time.
Apparently it is highly unlikely that an unborn child will cause one of his limbs to protrude from his/her mother before they are born. This was a highly unusual event pointing us to Messiah.


Some practical guidelines on sexuality as found in the Talmud (All of these are not necessarily the views of the author of this study)

The Rabbinic requirement of regular relations in a marriage does put some responsibility on the wife. It is considered desirable for her to solicit her husband to the act. (Nevertheless, the laws of modesty suggest that she be a bit less brazen and subtler than her husband.) "R Samuel b. Hahmani, citing R. Johanan, stated: A woman who solicits her husband to the (marital) obligation will have children the like of whom did not exist even in the generation of Moses. (Eruvin 100b)

Jewish Law is concerned not only with the frequency of the act but with the manner in which it is performed. The Talmud recommends nudity:
"R. Joseph taught: ‘Her flesh’ implies close bodily contact, i.e., that he must not treat her in the manner of the Persians who perform their conjugal duties in their clothes. This provides support for a ruling of R. Huna who laid down that a husband who said, "I will not perform (conjugal duties) unless she wears her clothes and I mine’ must divorce her and give her also her ketubbah" (Kettubot 48a).

The sexual act was meant to bring pleasure for both husband and wife. In the event that either one or both parties experience sexual frustration due to lack of fulfilment great problems can arise if this situation is not remedied.


The myth that religious Jews are required to make love through a hole in a sheet is nonsense. Pleasure was a concern of the rabbis; they understood that it is enhanced by nudity. In fact, if one of the partners does not wish to have relations in the nude, it is considered grounds for divorce (Shulchan Arukh, Even ha-Ezer 76-13).

A tension exists in Rabbinic literature between what the Rabbis regard as modest and proper on the one hand and what they know will maximize a couple’s pleasure on the other hand. Modesty requires that scholars of the law not be with their wives too frequently like roosters (Berakhot 22a), yet even a scholar is responsible for maximizing his wife’s pleasure. Rabbinic teachings reflect this tension in their discussions about intercourse by day or night, proper positions, and natural or un-natural relations.

According to tradition, relations should take place at night and in the dark. The Talmud forbids relations during the day or by the light of a lamp (Niddah 17). Maimonides teaches that, although intercourse on the Sabbath is a special mitzwah, if the Sabbath light has not yet gone out and there is no separate room to which they can move, the couple should wait (Mishnah Torah Issurei Biah 21:10). In fact, midnight was considered the ideal time for intercourse.
Behind this law stands the principle "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev 19:18). The rabbis were concerned that a man might see his wife’s blemishes and that she would then become undesirable to him. Niddah 17a –. However, there are exceptions.

"Although intercourse was reserved for the night, if because of one’s nature one finds himself forced to sleep at night and ought not be aroused or excited, or if the woman’s nature is such that she is overtaken by sleep at night and is not receptive at that time, one is permitted to have intercourse during the day, with due modesty, in order that intercourse be performed with acceptance and love and not by force"—(Meiri Niddah 17a).

Although they set normative guidelines, the ultimate concern of the Talmudic rabbis is maximizing the joy of relations. Traditionally most Jewish couples have made love in the dark out of a sense of modesty, but if a couple finds their relations enhanced when they "relate" the light, they are free to do so.

Similarly, in Rabbinic Judaism a tension exists between mandating a particular position for couples and allowing for variety and experimentation. On the one hand, the Rabbis recommend the missionary position: "She on top and him below—this is the way of brazenness; she below and him on top—this is the way of proper intercourse" (Gittin 70a). According to Rabbi Johanan ben Dahabai, it is forbidden to "overturn the table" (practice unnatural intercourse or unusual positions), but the Rabbis explicitly disagree with him: "A man may do whatever he pleases with his wife (at intercourse). A parable: Meat which comes from the abattoir may be eaten salted, roasted, cooked, or seethed, so with fish from the fishmonger… A woman once came before Rabbi and said, "Rabbi, I set a table before my husband and he overturned it." Rabbi replied, "My daughter, the Torah has permitted you to him. What can I do for you?" (Nedarim 20b)

Maimonides, usually quite conservative on "relations", proves quite liberal on this question:
"A man’s wife is permitted to him. Therefore a man may do whatever he wishes with his wife. He may have intercourse with her at any time he wishes and kiss her on whatever limb of her body he wants. He may have natural or un-natural relations , as long as he does not bring forth seed in vain. However, it is a sign of piety not to show too much levity but to sanctify himself at the time of intercourse… A man should not depart from the way of the world and its custom because its ultimate purpose is procreation. (Mishnah Torah Issurei Biah 21:9)

The issue of un-natural relations (biyah lo kedarkah) is particularly difficult form a Jewish perspective. Un-natural relations refers to any sexual activity in which semination does not occur in the traditional place, (Rassi on Yevamoth 34), such as oral sex, anal sex, or what the rabbis termed "threshing within and without" (premature withdrawal). Talmudic sources talk freely about such activity, permitting it under certain circumstances between husband and wife. Nonetheless there is a concern with the wasteful spilling of seed, which Judaism forbids based on the biblical story of Er and Onan. Tosefot raises this contradiction and cites the position of Rabbi Isaac to resolve it:
"It is not considered like the act of Er and Onan unless it is his intention to destroy the seed and it is his habit to always do so. However, if it is occasional and the desire of his heart is to come upon his wife in an unnatural way, it is permitted. (Tosefot on Yevamoth 34)."

In other words, un-natural relations is permissible only if it is occasional and not exclusive, and if the intent is mutual pleasure. Both husband and wife must agree on any unnatural forms of sex, for Jewish law forbids a man from forcing his wife into any sexual act against her will. This includes getting her drunk.
The Rabbis of the Talmud disagree on whether a man is permitted to fantasize about another woman when he has relations with his wife.


“Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”

(Blessed are you Yahweh, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, Yahweh giver of the Torah – Ameyn

Please note these notes are under construction and are subject to correction and are in no way a final authority on any subject.