Tamar's Twins

The Torah is obviously fascinated with twins. Every time twins are born, we hear every detail of the birth; as if we are the grandparents who are desperate to hear about every step of the labor and delivery.  

When Tamar gave birth to her twins, the Torah gives us this detailed description:

While she was in labor, one [of the babies] stuck out his hand [from the womb]. The midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand to signify, "This one emerged first." [The baby then withdrew his hand.]

But as soon as he withdrew his hand, his brother emerged, and [his mother] said, "With what vigor have you pushed yourself ahead!" So [Judah] named him Peretz ["breaking through"].

Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his hand, emerged, and Judah named him Zerach ["shining"].

Why do we need to know that the one stretched out his hand, pulled it back, and the other burst ahead and emerged first? Why do we have to know that the midwife tied a crimson thread on his hand because she thought that he will be born first? What message is the Torah conveying?

The Two Paths

There are two paths we can walk on our journey on this planet.

We Can walk the bright and shiny path. We can strive to never succumb to evil temptation, and to always make the right choices.

Or we can take the more tricky path. We can follow our heart even when it directs us to places our mind cautions us to stay away from. Those of us taking this second path will make mistakes.

Like Tamar, we will stumble. Like Tamar we will lose our innocence. We will probably cause pain to ourselves and to the people who love us. We may even reach a place of total spiritual darkness, a place where we can no longer hear the whispering voice of our G-dly soul,  to direct us back to the path of life.

And then we burst forward.

We are not sure where we get the strength from. We are not sure if and how we will able to rebuild our shattered relationships, and we are not sure if we will have the strength of character to sustain us on the push forward and to escape old habits.

But we burst forward and push ahead. And do all it takes to make it back to where we need to be.

And then we discover, that taking the second path has it’s advantages.

While it is not the “firstborn” path, while that is not the path G-d wants us to choose, while at the outset we should have taken the first path, we nevertheless come out ahead in the game of life. For the journey through the raging sea of life forced us to dig deeper, to mine our soul for spiritual courage, and to discover treasures that most people never discover.

We discover within us the power to burst through any challenge, to overcome any obstacle, and to shatter any roadblock. We discover that our commitment to the people and ideas we hold dear, is bulletproof. As the strength needed to burst forward and get us back on the right path is is now channeled to sustain and nurture our commitments.  

We recognize that “one [of the babies] stuck out his hand [from the womb]. The midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand to signify, "This one emerged first.". We recognize that our midwife - The Torah and G-d - tells us us to take the first path. The path that has the shiny crimson string on it. It’s the path that will get you the name Zerach which means to shine. It’s the path that the Torah is point toward.

And yet, if we fail to take the preferred path. If we find ourselves in the dark, we must now that we can be a Peretz - the one who bursts forward. The Torah is telling us that ultimately Peretz is the one who achieves greatness, and becomes the ancestor of King David and the future Moshiach.  

For the perfection of the world will be achieved, not by those who never experienced pain, nut by those whose pain was transformed into fuel. Stunning themselves and the people around them who cry out in amazement: “"With what vigor have you pushed yourself ahead!"”

Strive to stretch out your hand and reach for the crimson path of Zerach, but if you fail, burst forward like Peretz. You will be the first born. You will achieve more than anyone would dream is possible

(Based on Leku"s Vayeshev Vol. 30, Sicha 2).  

Why Angles Won't Multitask

When I was in the first grade, just beginning to study the book of Genesis, I was fascinated by the stories, the personalities and the drama. But nothing captured my imagination more then the angles. There was something so mysterious about them, they would show up at the right place in the right time, often disguising themselves as ordinary people.

But, from the first time we learned about the angles, we knew that they had one weakness. They could not do more then one thing at a time. Why did three angles come to visit Abraham as he was sitting at the entrance of his tent hoping to find people to invite? Rashi explains:

And behold, three men: One to bring the news [of Isaac’s birth] to Sarah, and one to overturn Sodom, and one to heal Abraham, for one angel does not perform two errands. You should know that [this is true] because throughout the entire chapter, Scripture mentions them in the plural, e.g., (below verse 8): “and they ate” ; (ibid. verse 9): “and they said to him.” Concerning the announcement, however, it says (ibid. verse 10): “And he said: I will surely return to you.” And concerning the overturning of Sodom, it says (below 19:22): “For I will not be able to do anything”; (ibid. verse 21): “I will not overturn”. And Raphael, who healed Abraham, went from there to save Lot. This is what is stated: “And it came to pass when they took them outside, that he [the angel] said, ‘Flee for your life.’” You learn that only one acted as a deliverer.

So despite their super natural ability they can't do two things at the same time. To the young child I was at the time, this thought was comforting. Maybe I can't fly like an angel, but in some ways I am superior, after all one angel cannot even manage to 'walk and chew gum' at the same time; the angel cannot talk to Sarah while healing Abraham.

Now, a few years later, I ask myself why is it so important for Rashi to keep emphasizing?  Why is it so important for every child studying Genesis to know that angles cannot perform two things at once?

Perhaps it's because this is not a handicap; perhaps this is the greatest quality of the angel. Perhaps Rashi tells us about the angles as a critique of the human condition. Perhaps his point is that, although we will never able to achieve the goal completely, we must always try our best to be like the angel and loose the ability to multitask. 

The angel cannot do more then one thing because the angel identifies with the mission completely. The angel as no other dimension to his personality other then fulfilling God's mission. The angel has no personal name, no personal agenda and is completely identifies with the mission, to the point that he is nothing but the mission. As such he cannot perform two acts because it's impossible to be, fully, in two places at once. 

The human on the other hand, even when doing the will of G-d never looses his own ego, the human always maintains I sense of an independent identity engaged who happens to be engaged in the mission. As such he can never become one with the mission, and therefore, some aspect of his identity will always be able to engage in something else.

Rashi understood that the child reading the story is no angel. Yet Rashi is trying to teach me how to be more like an angel. How to be fully engaged in what I am doing to the point that I forget abut everything else. How to help someone else, and, while doing so, loose my own ego and know of nothing else in the world. How to speak to my child, look her in the eyes, and listen. Listen as if, at this moment, I have nothing else going on in my life. As if I have no emails, no deadlines coming up and no other interests.

He is teaching me listen like an angel.