Korach 5773: WIfe of Korach and Wife of On ben Pelet

In this week’s Torah portion (Bamidbar/Numbers 16:1-18:32), Korach plots to overthrow Moshe (Moses). “Korach…took [himself to one side] along with Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eliav, and On ben (son of) Pelet, descendants of Reuven. They confronted Moshe together with 250 men...” The earth opens and swallows Korach and his followers, but the Sages teach that On ben Pelet is spared, and that it is his wife who saves him.

The story is found in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 109b): “On ben Pelet was saved by his wife. She said [to her husband], ‘What difference does it make to you who is Rebbe [in charge]? In any case, you will [always just] be a student/follower…They [the men who are rebelling] are all virtuous. Sit back and I will save you.’ She got him drunk with wine and put him inside the tent. She sat outside with uncovered hair [so that] anyone who came to get On turned away, so he was never called to come [to the rebellion].” The wife of On understands that the Congregation of Israel is holy and modest, so she could be sure that no man would dare enter her tent if she were to appear immodest (with uncovered hair).

The Midrash continues the story. “When death struck the evildoers, the bed in which On slept began to slide toward the abyss. On’s wife gripped its edge and prayed [for his salvation].”  Tiferet Tzion explains that the letter taf at the end of Pelet indicates the feminine gender to hint that On was saved by his wife. (Pele, ending in aleph, is the Hebrew word for miracle.)

Talmud (Sanhedrin 110) goes on with the story of the wife of Korach, relating conversations between Korach and his wife. A shaven and bald Korach returns from the purification ceremony inaugurating the Levites and his wife hardly recognizes him. She says, “He [Moshe] treated you like excrement, he made you shave all your hair, he wants that only he will look important…He made a mockery of you…Also, he tells you to put [fringes of] techelet (blue) on your garments. If it is so important, you should clothe your entire academy in garments of techelet [not just the fringes].”  She incites Korach against Moshe by implying that Moshe has made up the mitzvot (commandments) that Levites must be shaven and that only the fringes must be the color techelet.

Talmud (Sanhedrin 110) says that King Solomon wrote about these two wives in Mishlei/Proverbs 14:1: “The wise woman [Wife of On] builds her house; the foolish one [Wife of Korach] tears it down with her own hands.”

In her book, Women at the Crossroads (p. 142), Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Sielgelbaum cites the explanation of author Shoshanna Lepon: “A man is motivated by the respect of his wife. On’s wife was interested in building him up.  She expressed concern for her husband’s esteem when she asked, ‘What are you going to get out of Korach’s rebellion?’ On’s wife was able to persuade her husband by caring about his respect and demonstrating that he had nothing to gain by joining Korach.”

“Korach’s wife, on the other hand, related to her husband in precisely the opposite way. Instead of building him up, she put him down and degraded him by making fun of the way he looked after complying with Moshe’s command to shave all the hair of his body. It was thus Korach’s attempt to regain the respect of his wife that incited him to rebel against the authority of Moshe. He wanted to save face and show his wife that he was enough of a man to stand up against Moshe and prevent being made a fool in her eyes.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/2452#.UafMD5zDmM0

http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/dafyomi2/sanhedrin/points/sn-ps-109.htm

http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/dafyomi2/sanhedrin/points/sn-ps-110.htm

http://books.google.com/books?id=4HVwBMI5zK0C&pg=PR12&lpg=PR12&dq=women+at+the+crossroads+siegelbaum

    

Bamidbar 5773: Gomer, Wife of Hosea

 

This week’s Haftorah always is read on the Shabbat preceding the festival of Shavuot, the anniversary of the giving of the Torah. (This year, Shavuot will be observed in the Diaspora the evening of Tuesday, May 14 through Thursday, May 16.)  Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks explains that the way to understand the giving of Torah is to understand the relationship between G-d and His people. One of the most beautiful and intimate metaphors for G-d is husband, with Israel as bride and Torah as marriage contract.

This week’s Haftorah (Hosea 2:1-22) is about the marriage of the prophet Hosea and the harlot Gomer. In the opening chapter that precedes the Haftorah, G-d tells Hosea: “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land goes astray from following the L-rd.  And he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Divlayim.”

It is not clear whether Gomer was a wanton woman before her marriage, or if she becomes licentious only after her marriage to Hosea. The Talmud (Pesachim 87a-b) comments on Gomer’s name: All would gratify their lust on her (gomerim) and they would tread on her like pressed fig (d’vilah) [which is a euphemism for sexual conduct].

The “back story” to the marriage also is found in Pesachim 87a-b. G-d tells Hosea that His people have sinned. Instead of asking G-d for mercy, Hosea suggests that G-d “exchange them for another nation.”  G-d responds: “What shall I do with this old man? I will tell him to go marry a harlot and have children by her. Then I will tell him to send her away. If he can, then I, too, will send Israel away.”

Gomer bears three children who may not even be Hosea’s biological offspring. She then leaves home, is unfaithful to Hosea many times and with multiple men, and eventually she is forced to sell herself into slavery. Hosea still loves her: he purchases Gomer’s freedom from slavery and provides her with clothing and food. Writes the Chief Rabbi: “In a flash of prophetic insight, G-d leads him [Hosea] to understand that his own personal experience mirrors that between G-d and the Israelites.”

In the Haftorah, G-d goes on to tell Hosea that in the future He will return the people to the wilderness where they were betrothed so that they can renew their relationship with Him.  “And it will come to pass on that day, declares the L-rd, that you will call Me ‘Ishi’ and you will no longer call Me ‘Baali.’”   

The Hebrew words ish and baal both mean “husband”. Baal has the additional meaning of “master” or “owner”.  Baal also is the name of a pagan god, the powerful god of lightning as well as the fertility god who sends rain to “impregnate” the ground.

Writes the Chief Rabbi: “Hosea…hints at the kind of world that emerges when you worship sex and power. It is a world without loyalties, where relationships are casual and people are taken advantage of and then dropped. A marriage predicated on the word baal is a relationship of male dominance, in which women are used, not loved; owned, not honored.”

“Daringly, Hosea suggests that the making of woman from man mirrors the creation of humanity. First they are separated, then they are joined again, but now as two distinct persons, each of whom respects the integrity of the other. What joins them is a new kind of relationship built on fidelity and trust.”

The Haftorah ends with the words Jewish men recite as they wrap the tefillin (phylactery) strap like a wedding ring around their finger: “I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice, loving kindness and compassion; I will betroth you in fidelity, and you will know G-d.”  A loving and faithful relationship with G-d is thus the foundation and model for the ideal marriage.

http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/2212376/jewish/Love-as-Law-Law-as-Love.htm

http://www.thefoundationstone.org/en/bible/haftarot/3504-haftarah-bamidbar-experiencing-gods-love.html

Mishpatim 5773: Women's Rights

This week’s Torah portion is called Mishpatim, which means “laws”. It lays out 53 civil laws, including several designed to protect the rights of women -- the unmarried, the married and the widowed.

In Biblical times, a woman without a dowry was unmarriageable and, sadly, destined to live without a husband or children. Therefore, if a Jewish father was so poverty-stricken that he could not afford the dowry required to eventually marry off his daughter, he could sell his young daughter as a “bondmaid” to a wealthier Jewish family. The girl could work for the family, usually as a “mother’s helper” taking care of smaller children and doing household chores. When she came of age (12 and a day), she would have earned enough money to marry. Usually she would marry the purchaser/master or his son. This practice ensured that every woman, regardless of her economic status, could be in a position to marry.  

This week’s Torah portion establishes the laws concerning the bondmaid and teaches, by extension, a husband’s basic obligations to his wife -- how he must provide for her and care for her: “And if he [the master] designates her [the bondmaid] for his son, he [the son] shall deal with her according to the law of the daughters [of Israel]. If he takes another [wife] for himself, he shall not diminish her [the bondmaid’s] sustenance, her clothing or her frequency of marital relations.”

From these verses, we learn that a married man must fulfill three basic Torah obligations to his wife: he must supply 1. food, 2. clothing and 3. intimacy. Talmud (Ketubot 61b, 62b) elaborates on the third provision, which varies depending on the husband’s occupation. A sailor is required to be intimate with his wife twice a year; a camel driver, once a month; a Torah scholar, once a week, preferably on Friday evening.

The rabbis later imposed additional spousal obligations to protect a woman and ensure that she would be taken care of in the case of death (her own or her husband’s) or divorce.  The rabbis also mandated that a husband pay his wife’s medical expenses and pay ransom if she is kidnapped.

http://rabbibuchwald.njop.org/2007/02/12/mishpatim-5767-2007/

http://rabbibuchwald.njop.org/2011/01/24/mishpatim-5771-2011/