Final Session, Widows, Prostitutes and Prophetesses - Women with Autonomy:
RAHAB:
Joshua
2: 1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two
spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said,
“especially Jericho.” So, they went and entered the house of a prostitute named
Rahab and stayed there. 2 The
king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight
to spy out the land.” 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to
Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they
have come to spy out the whole land.”
4 But the woman had taken
the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but
I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time
to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go
after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” 6 (But she had taken
them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid
out on the roof.)7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road
that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the
pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.
8 Before the spies lay down
for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, “I know
that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of
you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear
because of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried
up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of
Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the
Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely
destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and
everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your
God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
12 “Now then, please swear
to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family,
because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you
will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all
who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.”
14 “Our lives for your
lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will
treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the
land.”
15 So she let them down by a
rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the
city wall. 16 She said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will
not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then
go on your way.”
17 Now the men had said to
her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on
us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet
cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have
brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into
your house. 19 If any of them go outside your house into the street,
their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for
those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a
hand is laid on them. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will
be released from the oath you made us swear.”
21 “Agreed,” she replied.
“Let it be as you say.” So, she sent
them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
22 When they left, they went
into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had
searched all along the road and returned without finding them.23 Then the
two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and
came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to
them. 24 They said to Joshua, “The Lord has surely given
the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in
fear because of us.”
Zevachim 116a-b: “And it came to pass, when all the kings of the
Amorites, heard... And even Rahab the prostitute said to Joshua’s
messengers: “For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red
Sea before you” (Joshua 2:10)….And
how did Rahab know this? The Gemara replies: As the Master said:
You do not have any prince or ruler at that time who did not engage
in intercourse with Rahab the prostitute. The Gemara adds that the
Sages said about Rahab: She was ten years old when the Jewish
people left Egypt, and she engaged in prostitution all forty years that the
Jewish people were in the wilderness. After that, when she was fifty
years old, she converted when the two spies visited
her. She said: May all of my sins of prostitution be forgiven as
a reward for having endangered myself with the rope, window, and
flax, by means of which I saved Joshua’s two spies.
Meg 15a: the Sages taught: There were four women of extraordinary
beauty in the world: Sarah, and Abigail, Rahab, and Esther….The Sages
taught in a baraita: Rahab aroused impure thoughts by her
name, i.e., the mere mention of her name would inspire lust for
her; Yael, by her voice; Abigail, by remembering her; Michal, the daughter
of Saul, by her appearance. Similarly, Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Anyone who
says “Rahab, Rahab,” immediately experiences an emission due to the
arousal of desire caused by Rahab’s great beauty. Rav Naḥman said to him:
I say “Rahab, Rahab,” and it does not affect me. Rabbi Yitzchak said
to Rav Naḥman: When I said this, I was specifically
referring to one who knows her personally and recognizes her beauty.
Ex. Rabbah 27:4: When Rahab
heard of the miracles that God had performed for Israel when He parted the Red
Sea for them, she wanted to cleave to Israel, as it says in Jer. 16:19: “O
Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in a day of trouble, to You
nations shall come from the ends of the earth.” When the Lord performs miracles
for Israel, the non-Jewish nations shall come to adhere to Him.
Meg 14b: Eight
prophets, who were also priests, descended from Rahab the prostitute,
and they are: Neriah; his son Baruch; Seraiah; Mahseiah;
Jeremiah; his father, Hilkiah; Jeremiah’s cousin Hanamel;
and Hanamel’s father, Shallum. Rabbi Yehuda said: So too, Huldah the
prophetess was a descendant of Rahab the prostitute, as it is written
herewith regard to Huldah: “The son of Tikvah,” and it is written
elsewhere in reference to Rahab’s escape from the destruction of
Jericho: “This cord of [tikvat]
scarlet thread” (Jos. 2:18).
Seder Eliyahu Zuta 22: The
Rabbis deduced from the story of Rahab the superiority of repentance over
prayer, for Moses prayed exceedingly, but God did not accept his entreaty to
enter Israel,
while the repentance of Rahab the harlot was accepted, and seven kings and
eight prophets issued forth from her.
DEBORAH:
Judges 4 1 Again the Israelites did
evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was
dead.2 So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king
of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of his army,
was based in Harosheth Haggoyim.3 Because he had nine hundred chariots
fitted with iron and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty
years, they cried to the Lord for help.
4 Now
Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that
time.5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between
Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites
went up to her to have their disputes decided. 6 She sent for Barak
son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him,
“The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten
thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount
Tabor. 7 I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with
his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your
hands.’”
8 Barak
said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I
won’t go.”9 “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of
the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for
the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So, Deborah
went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 There Barak summoned Zebulun and
Naphtali, and ten thousand men went up under his command. Deborah also went up
with him…
12 When
they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount
Tabor,13 Sisera summoned from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon
River all his men and his nine hundred chariots fitted with iron.
14 Then
Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera
into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?” So,
Barak went down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following
him. 15 At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all
his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and
fled on foot… 5 1 On that day
Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song: 2 “When the
princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly
offer themselves— praise the Lord! 3 “Hear this, you kings!
Listen, you rulers! I, even I, will sing
to the Lord; I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel, in
song…
Meg 14b: The Gemara asks
with regard to the prophetesses recorded in the baraita: Who were the
seven prophetesses? The Gemara answers: Sarah, Miriam, Deborah,
Hannah, Abigail, Huldah, and Esther.
Meg 14b: Deborah was a
prophetess, as it is written explicitly: “And Deborah, a
prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth” The Gemara asks: What isthe
meaning of “the wife of Lappidoth”? The Gemara answers: For she
used to make wicks for the Sanctuary, and due to the flames [lappidot] on
these wicks she was called the wife of Lappidoth, literally, a woman of
flames.
Elijah Rabbah 10: Deborah’s
husband had three names: Barak, Michael and Lappidoth: Barak, because his face
was like lightning; Michael, because he would lower (memikh) himself, or after the angel by this name; Lappidoth,
because of the wicks that he would bring to the Tabernacle at Shiloh. Deborah
caused Lappidoth to be one of the fit individuals who would merit the life of
the World to Come.
Meg. 14b: With regard to
Deborah, it says: “And she sat under a palm tree”. The Gemara
asks: What is different and unique about her sitting “under a
palm tree” that there is a need for it to be written? Rabbi Shimon
ben Avshalom said: It is due to the prohibition
against being alone together with a man. Since men would come before her
for judgment, she established for herself a place out in the open and visible
to all, in order to avoid a situation in which she would be secluded with a man
behind closed doors. Alternatively, the verse means: Just as a
palm tree has only one heart, as a palm tree does not send out separate
branches, but rather has only one main trunk, so too, the Jewish people in
that generation had only one heart, directed to their Father in Heaven.
Pesachim 117a: The Sages
taught: This hallel, who initially recited it?... Rabbi Elazar
HaModa’i says Deborah and Barak recited it when Sisera stood against them. They
said: Not to us, and the Divine Spirit responded and said to them: For My own
sake, for My own sake, will I do it.
Meg. 14b: Rav Naḥman said: Haughtiness is not befitting a woman. And
a proof to this is that there were two haughty women, whose names were
identical to the names of loathsome creatures. One, Deborah, was
called a hornet, as her Hebrew name, Devorah, means hornet; and
one, Huldah, was called a marten, as her name is the Hebrew term
for that creature. From where is it known that they were haughty? About Deborah, the
hornet, it is written: “And she sent and called Barak” but she herself did
not go to him. And about Huldah, the marten, it is written:
“Say to the man that sent you to me” (II Kings 22:15), but she
did not say: “Say to the king.”
TAMAR
Genesis 38:
6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was
Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s
sight; so the Lord put him to death.
8 Then
Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to
her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your
brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so
whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he wasted his seed on the ground to
keep from providing offspring for his brother.10 What he did was wicked in
the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.
11 Judah
then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s
household until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may
die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s
household.
12 After
a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had
recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were
shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with
him.
13 When
Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his
sheep,” 14 she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself
with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to
Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though
Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.
15 When
Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her
face. 16 Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he
went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”
“And
what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked. 17 “I’ll send you a young goat from
my flock,” he said. “Will you give me
something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked. 18 He said, “What pledge should I give
you?”
“Your
seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So he
gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by
him. 19 After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s
clothes again.
20 Meanwhile
Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his
pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. 21 He asked
the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside
the road at Enaim?”
“There
hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said.
22 So
he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived
there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’”
23 Then
Judah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will become a
laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t
find her.”
24 About
three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of
prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.”
Judah
said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!”
25 As
she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am
pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you
recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.”
26 Judah
recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t
give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.
27 When
the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her
womb.28 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the
midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said,
“This one came out first.” 29 But when he drew back his hand, his brother
came out, and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was
named Perez. 30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his
wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah.
Sotah 10b: When Judah solicited
her to engage in sexual intercourse with him, he first attempted
to verify her status and said to her: Are you perhaps are a
gentile? She said to him: I am a convert. He asked: Perhaps you are a
married woman? She said to him: I am an unmarried woman. He
asked: Perhaps your father accepted betrothal for you and you are
unaware of it? She said to him: I am an orphan. He asked: Maybe
you are impure? She said to him: I am pure.
“When Judah saw her, he thought
her to be a prostitute, for she had covered her face” (Genesis 38:15). The Gemara
asks: Because she had covered her face, he thought her to be a
prostitute? Prostitutes usually uncover their faces in order to attract
men.
Rabbi Elazar says: The verse
means that Tamar covered her face in the home of her
father-in-law, Judah. Therefore, he did not recognize her when her face
was uncovered. As Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani says that Rabbi
Yonatan says: Any daughter-in-law who is modest in the house of her
father-in-law merits that kings and prophets emerge from her.
The verse concerning Tamar then
states: “She sent to her father-in-law, saying: By the man whose these
are, am I with child” (Genesis 38:25).
The Gemara comments: And let her say to him explicitly that she was
impregnated by him. Rav Zutra bar Tuviyya says that Rav says,
and some say Rav Ḥana bar Bizna says that Rabbi Shimon Ḥasida says,
and some say that Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben
Yoḥai: It is more amenable for a person to throw himself into a fiery
furnace if faced with the choice of publicly embarrassing another or
remaining silent even if it leads to being burned, and not humiliate
another in public. From where do we derive this? From Tamar, as
she was prepared to be burned if Judah did not confess, rather than humiliate
him in public.
Rabbi Elazar says: After her
signs, which she was using to prove that she was impregnated by
Judah, were brought out, the evil angel Samael came and
distanced them from each other in an attempt to prevent Judah’s admission
and Tamar’s survival, which would enable the birth of King David. The
angel Gabriel then came and moved the
signs closer again.
Sotah 7b: For
example, Judah admitted that he sinned with Tamar and was not embarrassed to
do so, and what was his end? He inherited the life of the
World-to-Come.
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